JVC - GZ-HD7 HDD HD Hard Drive Camcorder

by JVC

Product Details

• ASIN: B000YZCI4C
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,097 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 17, 2003

Product Description

JVC - GZ-HD7 HDD HD Hard Drive Camcorder (60GB) Product Features and Technical Details * Model Name: JVC Everio * media_type: Hard disk drive Unknown modifier * Lens Type: Zoom lens * Optical zoom: 10 * maximum_aperture_range: F/1.8-1.9 Unknown modif

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More positive reviews elsewhere on Amazon.com, May 7, 2010

By 

Paul K. Mckneely - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: JVC - GZ-HD7 HDD HD Hard Drive Camcorder (Electronics)

For those of you who want to see some more reviews of the product (most of which are more positive), there is another product page with this very same camcorder on it with many more reviews on the item (including a review by me).

JVC Everio GZHD7 3CCD 60GB Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

I have been using the GZ-HD7 for 3 years now and it has been a very good camcorder. I would like to offer a few thoughts that might interest some of you. The picture quality is really quite good and the colors are excellent. After having used the camcorder for only three weeks when I wrote my first review, I had some questions about the quality of the files that were generated after converting the internally generated TOD file to MPG. The images viewed straight off the camcorder using the built-in HDMI output to our flat panel HDTV /w native 1080p look terrific. But when I converted them to MPG files using the included CyberLink software and played them on my laptop I saw some very annoying artifacts when there was motion in the image. I have since bought a new computer that I built specifically for HD work using an AMD Phenom II x4 955 (quad core) running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edition. I must tell you that those artifacts are gone in some of my original footage and the video is gorgeous. Turns out that a lot of older XP 32-bit systems can't keep up with the HD data rates so the images suffer. I am glad that it is not the fault of the JVC GZ-HD7.

I edit my video with Newtek's SpeedEDIT and the results are stunning. Gone are the days when Apple users can boast that they have the audio/visual market to themselves.

NewTek SpeedEDIT 2 Video Editor Software for Windows

Another thing I like about the GZ-HD7 is that there is a built-in lens cap. You'll never lose this one out in the field.

Many people have complained that the image stabilization does not work in the camera. I find that statement to be true. I took some absolutely gorgeous shots of a sunbird in South Africa two years ago only to have them tainted with the image hand shake problem. I took these shots early in the trip before I had unpacked my do-it-yourself image stabilizer so I never got another chance during that trip to keep better videos of that species.

I want to remind people that you are not limited to recording your video to the internal 60GB HD drive. This camcorder can also take an SDHC card which, depending on the card you buy, gives it up to an additional 32GB that is changeable in the field. I presume that it requires Class 6 cards but I am not sure.

I bought this camercorder for about $1300 in 2007. It looks like its price has gone up quite a bit. I don't know if this is just a decision made on the part of JVC or if it is a global economic thing going on here seeing that the banking collapse happened since that time.

This camcorder is really a semi-pro camcorder and should not be confused with relatively inexpensive consumer models. It offers manual focus and a separate viewfinder which I think is indespensible in the field. Use the "focus assist" when using manual focus. It really works well. And I don't know how many times I have cussed cheap pocket cameras when I am trying to take a picture out of doors and the sun completely washes out any hope of me beging able to make out anything in the built-in LCD on the back of the things. The GZ-HD7 has both an excellent flip out LCD and a viewfinder so you won't have any trouble getting a clear view of your subject using the viewfinder even in bright light. One annoying thing about this camcorder is that you must pop out the viewfinder before you turn it on or else it will power up, see that the viewfinder is still docked and then go back to sleep. In such situations, the startup time is doubled.

I have just ordered the big brother of the TGZ-HD7. The JVC GY-HM100u is a true professional camcorder and it is the way to go if you want to look at something more professional. You will find it here on amazon.com and I am looking forward to writing a review of it after I have gotten this little puppy in my hot little hands. I have read that JVC has fixed their OIS system so that it works well in this product.

JVC GY-HM100U - Camcorder - High Definition - professional - widescreen - optical zoom: 10 x - supported memory: SDHC - flash card

Enjoy!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars GZ-HD7 has annoying quirks which others don't have., February 19, 2009

By 

C. Meacham "Resistance is Futile." (AL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: JVC - GZ-HD7 HDD HD Hard Drive Camcorder (Electronics)

I've been using this camera for over a year now and it is a good camera... if you only use it for low quality HD home videos. The Optical Image Stabilization was hobbled in firmware due to noise interference from the HD (though, I don't understand how that makes sense) and there is no way to disable the automatic sleep mode, even when on external power. So I could be in the process of recording something over the component cables and the camera just shuts off. I bought it to send video down stairs, not to record video, so the thing has become useless in any situation where I need more than 5 hours of HD video piped down stairs. It's a pity too, because it has some very precise, high quality, video controls.