Customer Reviews

JVC Everio GZMC100 2MP 4 GB Microdrive Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently purchased my JVC Everio MC100 at Fry's for $999.99 plus tax. It is the first camcorder I have owned in ten years. So, I wouldn't call myself a camcorder expert. This said, I travel a lot and have stuck to stills mostly because of weight. When I saw the MC100, I was intrigued. Could I really have DVD quality and a lightweight device? My answer is yes; but it will cost you.

Because Fry's has a 14 day return policy, I've really put the MC100 through its paces over the last 12 days. I first went out in the backyard to take a few test stills and movies. The stills were fine. But, because the MC100 takes 8 seconds to power up, I wouldn't recommend it as a replacement for your still camera. I wife continues to enjoy still photography, so between the two of us, we have both covered. Again, the quality of the stills are fine (for a 2 megapixel camera). If the power up speed doesn't bother you, you should be OK. The MC100 has a flash.

The movies? At first, I was underwhelmed. When I played the movie back on my PC, it looked like it was dropping frames. This was especially noticeable when I panned (moving the camera from left to right or right to left quickly). I became worried. Since the MC100 comes with a S-Video/Audio cable, I plugged it into the front of my 60" Sony big screen. The dropped frames problem went away! The problem was my computer (1 GHz with 512MB of memory and an onboard video card). I burned a DVD with my clips from the backyard and played them back on my DVD player. Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference between Interlaced (through the S-Video cable) and Progressive (though the DVD player). Most of the pictures were solid. While playing a clip from by DVD player, I did notice some jagged edges on the wings of a jet flying over my house. But this was a full zoom (10x) and a moving target.

I noticed another reviewer had a concern about the MC100 in weak light. He said that the colors were pale. I noticed this too. My first movies were taken at roughly 7am in the morning. I noticed that the greens were pale. However, I was able to make an adjustment during editing to brighten them up a bit - they looked fine afterwards. I was also able to try out the MC100 inside at my children's Christmas musical. (One thing I can guarantee, the MC100 will generate a lot of interest at your children's events... lot's of questions from the other dads!) The colors looked quite vivid. But, of course, there was lots of light. I was able to zoom in on my kid's faces from approximately 30 feet away thanks to the 10x optical zoom. My daughter was off to the side, so she didn't have the spotlight. I was pleased with the results. There is also manual white balance mode that helps to improve the colors in low light. But, I haven't had the camera long enough to really get into this. Overall, I would give the picture quality an 8.

The MC100 boasts not only DVD picture but DVD sound. For those who know their stuff, the sound is taken at 384K bits/second. Yes, there are two microphones on the MC100. So, you get stereo. I will cover the software in the box, but PowerProducer encodes the sound using Dolby Digital. There wasn't really any sounds record in my backyard (with the exception of the air traffic), so again I had to wait for my kid's performance to test the sound. Bottom line - the sound is good. In fact, my oldest had a problem with her mic (it didn't work at all) and I had no problem hearing her on playback (she has a strong voice... she was about 15 feet away). Finally, I didn't notice any hiss on playback of their performance. But, if you go into your bedroom (or some place quiet) and take a short clip, you will notice some hiss upon playback if you turn up the volume about three times normal volume to here much of anything. Of course, there is no tape (the MC100 uses a 4GB Hitachi microdrive), so there is no tape sound. The zoom is nearly silent. There is no noticeable noise is generated during focus. Over all, I am quite satisfied with the sound. I would give it a 9 1/2.

Another viewer mentioned the battery life. Honestly, this is a concern for me because I travel. Power isn't always available where I go - remote mountain villages in India for example. One reviewer said that the battery life is 30 minutes. This hasn't been my experience. It is more like 60 minutes - which is all you can record on a single 4GB microdrive at the highest setting anyway. A second JVC battery will set you back $73.12 (yikes). However, I found an aftermarket battery on eBay for $22.80. The charge time is roughly 30 minutes (not bad). The MC100 automatically stops charging once the battery is charged. I second microdrive is costly. It will cost you a whopping $567.33 on the JVC site (rip off). I have found the same Hitachi 4GB drive on Amazon.COM for $219.88.

In the past, I have used Pinnacle Studio to edit my slide shows as well as to edit the silent AVI movies from my still camera. I was unable to get Pinnacle 8 to accept the MPEG-2 movies produced by the MC100 so I upgraded to Pinnacle 9. Sadly, this didn't work either. (This isn't a review of Pinnacle, but since many people us Pinnacle, be warned it won't accept clips from the MC100 without downconverting them to Interlaced.) The MC100 comes with two programs: PowerDirector and PowerProducer. They are "Express" version so there is limited functionality. In PowerDirector, I found it added a transition in the middle of a clip. I saved my work and rebooted and the problem went away. I also encountered a bug with the SVRT feature (saves time during the rendering process). I turn it off and this problem also went away (though it takes double the time of the original clip to render the final movie... at least on my PC). Overall, I am happy with software. It allows me to burn DVDs without loss of quality.

Bottom Line: The smallest DVD quality camcorder on the market. I'm keeping it!

Pros:
Tiny, take-anywhere size. Smaller than my palm, just fits in my front pants pocket.
Controls well-positioned, intuitive, and one's not apt to accidently invoke unwanted functions.
The Microdrive - works well here (and the 2 GB versions have been working well for laptop backups for awhile now).
Built-in multi-mode flash for stills.
Dual media: one slot holds one Microdrive or Compact Flash card, and another holds one SD card - you can direct video, pix, or voice recordings to specific slots.
Video quality under normal conditions is good, handles lighting and focus transitions well.
Quiet operation, no noise when zooming, good sound pick-up, special wind-noise reduction feature.
Transfer to PC with USB cable or just swap the Microdrive (btw, you'll need a Compact Flash adapter that can handle the thicker Type II format).

Cons:
Start-up: takes a few extra seconds (longer than our Sony DCR PC100 MiniDV tape cam).
Faded colors in low light conditions (not as capable as the Sony for video, but better with stills).
For us older types, you'll need your reading glasses - but that comes with the tiny form factor.
File naming: each video produces two files, one with extension .MOD and a small file of type .MOI. Rename the .MOD file on your PC to .MPG and Windows Media Player will handle it fine. Don't know if/how the bundled applications use the .MOI files.

Conclusions:
Overall, I'm pleased with the gadget's performance. I find I'm using it more than our previous machine - now five years old and small for that time, but twice the size of the JVC. Won't be shooting video in the dark or even when the light gets dim with the JVC, though. If convenience is a high priority then this machine is a good choice.

I have purchased 3 digital recorders in the past 10 months - the Fisher FVD C1, the Panasonic SV-AV100, and now the JVC. My goal was to find a small, compact camera that provided me with decent photos and decent video quality. I purshased the Fisher for $700 (on sale) and while the size was great, it quickly became its only redeeming factor. Video was terrible - they claim DVD quality, no way, it was very poor. If you were capturing video to transmit via email, fine, but for any events you would like to watch on TV forget it. In addition, the photo quality was sub par with little flexibility (no red eye altering for example) and the slightest movements would yield blurry photos. I sold the camera privately and took a chance with the Panasonic.

I found an SV-AV100 online for $650 and was pleased with the results. Video quality was far better - this is closer to DVD quality - perhaps not an exact match but close. And for the size of the camera, I was quite happy. The downsides include poor photo capabilities (<1 megapixel), and the fact that you need additional SD card memory - and lots of it (each 512 card holds 10 min of highest quality video). Costs of SD cards have decreased substantially, but the costs certainly do add up.

While online a few weeks ago I noticed this new JVC camera, and as soon as it was released I placed my order. I have only had it for a few days, and I am still experimenting, but thus far, I have been very pleased with the results. Although the video capability closely matches the Panasonic, I have found the resulting video to be better. It is crisper and reacts better to low light situations. The 2 MP photos are as good as can be expected for a 2 MP camera and I have been very pleased with the results. There are many focus and effects options, including the ability to include a red-eye flash when desired. I am giving it 4 out of 5 stars since I have only had it a short time, but it is easily the best camera of the three I mentioned here, and I look forward to taking full advantage of the many improvements I found in this camera in the months/years to come.

I run trails. I need three features in a camcorder:

1. Shockproof and weatherproof. I've trashed two Mini DV camcorders, sending each back to the factory twice for repairs. Tape drives can't handle bouncing in a backpack. Also they can't handle rain.

2. Small and light.

3. Good picture quality. Mostly I pull still photos out of the video. For running, as with most sports, shooting 30 frames per second instead of 1 or 2 frames per second with a still camera is the difference between getting the right shot or getting almost the right shot. As Mark Twain wrote, the difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. I'd rather have a 0.3-megapixel video still of the right shot than 8 megapixels of almost the right shot.

When MPEG camcorders (which record onto memory cards, not tape) came out I looked at three: the Panasonic SV-AV100, the Samsung SC-X105L, and the JVC Everio GZ-MC100U. I ruled out the Samsung because it records only low-quality MPEG4, not the better quality MPEG2. The Panasonic is smaller and lighter (6 ounces) than the JVC (11 ounces), but the JVC can also shoot 2 megapixel still photos. The Panasonic has a 1/6" CCD and a smaller lens. The JVC has a 1/3" CCD and a somewhat bigger lens. I presumed that the JVC would have better picture quality than the Panasonic. (Panasonic recently announced the better-quality SDR-S100.)

I've used the JVC for a month. In general it's pretty good. I have several video stills that are just the right moment. In one, a woman winks at a friend. In sports shots I captured the athletes at just the right times. The pictures are good enough to use for most anything. And the camcorder is small enough that I have no excuse not to bring it with me everywhere.

On the downside, the video colors are always somewhat weak, even in daylight.
In low light the colors desaturate to black and white. This is good because you can shoot video in quite low light. The 2-megapixel stills have better color but still look a bit "off." The lens is acceptable except for high-contrast subjects, such as branches against a bright sky, where it completely loses detail. No, this camcorder doesn't look as good as my big camcorder or my still camera, but it looks acceptable, and it's with me when the big camcorder and camera are left at home.

The biggest problem in my pictures is slow shutter speed. If I use the 10x zoom handheld I get motion blur. Sports subjects are often moving so fast that they blur. The shutter speed isn't adjustable but my guess is that it's always shooting at 1/30 of a second, to give the CCD enough light.

The JVC also works as a voice recorder. This feature works extremely well.

Downloading the video to a Macintosh requires the free application "MPEG Streamclip" plus Apple's $30 MPEG2-Quicktime coder. Importing to iMovie becomes a 2-step process. No big deal.

Pros:
Its really small. I mean small. It will fit in most medium size camera cases.

The still pics are acceptable. I have a sony p41 4.1MP and it comes close. With the 10x zoom I dare say it's more usefull than no zoom and more than makes up for pixels.

It is extremely simple to use and to figure out.

The .mod files really are simple to use and transfer. I bought a card reader and can burn dvd straight from the microdrive. The dvd does not have to be 'rendered' unless you add effect or modify the files. This saves sooooo much time! There is some processing time in making the menu but way faster than time for time because it records in the actual format that ends up on the DVD.

There is a shutter setting for low light condition that saves this camera from being useless in many indoor conditions. The draw back is slightly less accuracy in movement. Movement will blur past 1/30 shutter speed but its better than looking at black and 1/30 is actually a pretty darn good compromise between light and action.

Microdrive/ compact flash and Secure digital formats are getting cheaper and cheaper so you can expect to achieve great recording times. There is an economy setting that does 5 hours on 4G, that's better than mpeg 4 at 30 fps! And the quality is only slightly worse than the highest setting!! I can't see needing more memory than 4GB.

The 10x Zoom is good and is touch sensitive so you can zoom really slow or fast. I bought a .45 wide lens and a 2x zoom lens that will expand its capabilies. Both lenses were $50 on ebay. I got the Camera for $375 on ebay and there don't seem to be many around.

In my opinion the 4GB microdrive is a way better medium than the mini DVD format because there are no recurring costs and the full size dvds that you end up burning are cheaper and you won't have one event spread out on three mini dvds. I'm also guessing that there is a much lower error rate on the flash memory than a spinning disk. It was tuff to pass on all the new mini dvd cams comming out but I'm really glad I did because of the 1hour limit. Of course with the 1 hour battery limit your still changing something out in the middle of taping. Still better than minidvd though.

Cons:

In medium light conditions the auto focus is kind of slow. It can 'hunt' or lose focus for up to a few seconds. Kind of lame but it doesn't happen all the time and it can be manually focused in challenging environments. I'm sure other cameras do a lot better than this in autofocus.

Don't expect good low light results on automatic settings, you won't like it.

There is definately a heat issue with this unit. I have not recorded long time periods but the manual says it shuts down if it gets too hot. I kept it on for an hour goofing around and heat was definately concerning. I think the source is the battery but as long is it stays on and records I'll forgive it.

Battery life is not impressive. Youll get 50minutes to over an hour on a battery so if you want to fill the memory in one outing buy two extra batteries. The battery life is actually the average among camcorders but the draw back on this unit is you can't buy a buff aftermarket battery because of the size restraint. You have to expect some comprimise because of the size though.

The screen size is also kind of small as far as camcorders go but I'm okay with that as I get no enjoyment out of even the biggest screens, I just want to get it to DVD and sit on the couch. I do wish you could close the screen and maybe save battey life while recording, but that turns the unit off. I put it on a small tripod and record a live performance so I don't need to monitor anything.

While this unit is amazingly small and will most certainly make it to events that you might not want to look like a tourist at, it seems very dense. It's got some metal in there or something and I would be very scared to drop it unlike featherwieght digital cameras of the same size.

If your a video quality freak you might not want to get into this camera. The colors while acceptable are dull and I'm sure the cheapest miniDV cam looks better though you might end up a library of miniDVs that require too much labor to get to DVD.

Start up time is about 7 to 10 seconds from power off to record. That's really not that bad but not as good as many digital cameras, and if your johny on the spot looking to film the next rodney king video you might want to consider this.

Conclusion:

If size and convenience is what you want than this camera will fit the bill. If you want this to compete in low light and video quality with similiar priced miniDV camcorders, none of the mpeg2 cameras can come close in price/quality. I'm sure the technology has not matured yet so I wouldn't pay new full price for this, that would be crazy.

Overall I'm blown away by this thing because it does the job of a digital camera and a camcorder to a very acceptable degree and I'm more concerned with size portability and convenience than impressing Speilburg with video quality so it's a match made in heaven for me. Again I would not pay pay full new price for this 'about to mature' technology but if you can find one in good condition for close to 400 or less your in for a great experience!

I've had this unit for about 2 weeks now, and I really like the convenience of its size and digital file transfer, but I'm very disappointed with its color performance. In less-than-ideal lighting conditions, the image is dark and the color is very washed out. With bright ambient lighting, it's acceptable, though not nearly as vivid as my old Sony Digital 8mm. I concur with most of the cons already mentioned here, including the slow boot-up time and mode switching between video, photo, and voice recorder.

I've also had numerous instances when it has trouble locking focus on a subject. This is annoying, and from my experience so far, I don't feel that the manual focus options are easy enough to make an override effective in these cases.

Battery life is short. With my limited use so far, I do not feel that it would last an entire hour under normal use. In three days, I got about three 10-minute sessions on a single charge. Sure, it may have lost a little charge over the course of a few days, but under the circumstances, I consider this very short battery life. However, I did notice that there are eBay sellers selling knock-off batteries and chargers for very attractive prices.

The included software, though extremely basic, makes it easy to quickly create a DVD. Using the provided templates, you can make a DVD with a simple menu, chapters, photo slideshow, and transitions in just (10) minutes (not including recording time).

Overall, I would have no MAJOR complaints with this cam if it weren't for the low light/color problem. I consider the other issues to be relatively minor. Personally, I wouldn't value this unit over $300, considering the quality of most cams out there these days. But, for the price I paid ($240 special at ABC Wharehouse), I may keep it just because its small size gives me no excuse for not taking a camcorder everywhere I go with my young son. Elusive memories captured in sub-par color are better than missed memories any day!

Ok.. this is now the 4th Review of this "Sort of" neat little camera. I decided to totally rewrite the review.

Here we go again!

I now own (5) GZ MC100 Mini Cams.

One was bought as a traditional Referb. Two were bought new [...]. The other two were bought [...].

It is interesting to note that the $90 used camera was not labeled JVC but VICTOR. The camera must have been a Japanese version. I was quite lucky as there is roughly no difference (other than logo) from the other cameras and it was in very NEW condition.

Right now I am shooting live events in a small Las Vegas Theater for First Friday.

These are really wonderful cameras. (SEE BELOW) They recognize the new CF standards. So all five of my cameras use 32GB CF memory cards. These 133x Transcend cards cost me around $100ea. They now sell for about $80.

Since I use these cameras for shooting video for the Internet.. SD (Standard Def) is perfectly fine for my use. The main reason for buying these camera's was their size, cost and shooting to CF card. (Tapeless) Also all of my high end editing tools only use SD quality.

I suggest you buy extra batteries for this camera from Ebay. Buy the Gray 1000ma batteries. Avoid the black batteries! I did find Black ones that said they were rated much higher than the standard 800ma. That is either a misprint or an exaggeration. There is also a lens set that costs about $40. It comes with one wide and one 2x lens. You should also buy a UV lens. This will protect the built in lens from scratching or damage. Once the camera lens is scratched you should just throw the camera away.. or use it as a voice recorder.

I strongly suggest you buy the GZ MC100 new. Once you start using it.. I'm sure it will be a camera that you will use the heak out of. My Refrb camera's zoom lever is already "Sticky".. That is probably because it was refurbished.

I really like my little JVC GZ camcorders:

Each camera is small to carry and takes very good still images. It also has an interesting "Shoot on the fly" mode. Where you can shoot 1600x photos more or less without stopping. It makes for an interesting video effect when I place the images into my video editor time line.

To get the most out of the Video side of the GZ MC100 you have to read the documentation. There is a "Low Light" setting in the main menu that must be set. There are also more menu settings only found on the CD that comes with the camera. Nearly all of the "Bad or Poor Reviews" are the result of the owners not bothering to read the manuals.

There are other cameras out there. The JVC GZ MC100 was a big deal when it came out in 2004. The 4GB microdrive was about $300 back then. Right now you can buy the drives for about $14ea used.

What makes this camera unique is its size and quality. It is a good "All around" video, still, audio solution. It also has some very interesting features that can be useful.

It is also worth pointing out that I can take down all five cameras and put them into my shooting vest. That would not be possible with many of the "Small" HD tapeless cameras today.

Check out the band DVIR in the "First Friday" directory on OpenVegas dot TV. (Type it into your browser) The wide angle shot is my $9000 Canon H1. The close up shots are from the GZ. Also watch for videos shot after August 2009 "First Friday" on OpenVegas TV. You will see what SIX (5 GZ MC100's) cameras can do.

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9/07/09
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The main problem with my "Tape-Less" GZ-MC100 Solution is the file size. The media is formatted for FAT32 not NTFS. That means that no matter what size media you have in your camera.. it will only capture to a 2gb size.

I did try to format at NTFS.. but the Camera will not read the format. I can lower the resolution (The camera has 4 settings) to cram more time into the 2GB file size. I seriously hate that idea BTW.

At $500 - NEW this is a really dumb camera to buy. My 2nd choice would be the Canon HV10 that shoots super amazing HD (single chip) quality. The HV10 is slightly larger than the JVC.. and the Canon does not shoot to CF or SD media. The Canon HV10 shoots to MiniDV tape only.

My practical Tape-Less shooting experience has only been with the JVC camera. I will be buying a FOCUS CF Card recording system for my H1 at some point.. and I have shot directly to laptop using DVRack. But DVRack is no longer made.. it is now an Adobe (crap) Product. And so it goes..

I will get my money's worth out of the JVC cameras.. just means more dumb steps! Uggg!

If you can find the GZ-MC100 in good condition for about $150 - $200 get it. But it will NOT run longer than 1hr in Ultra Fine mode. You will have to stop the camera and restart it (create a new file) to continue shooting the action.

JVC made a serious error NOT giving the GZ camera the ability to read NTFS formatted media.

Thanks,

GENE

I was intrigued by the prospect of a small, lightweight camera with no tape. I bought it at the first opportunity. However, having used it for a week, this is a huge disappointment. The battery lasts for meagre 30 minutes or so, and the picture quality indoors is very poor. Colors are pale in weak light. I guess most potential buyers of this camera already own a mini-DV camera of decent quality. Well, compared to my 5 year old Sony TR-V 8 I was greatly disappointed. Stay away!

It has all the perfect features, but one down-site is Zoom noise. The noise appear when you recording at a quiet place and zoom in/out fast. I think the mic is too close to the lens motor.

I bought this camcorder at Bargain ultimate through Amazon. It was delivered to me as promised and I got everything as I expected. I realy like this camcorder. It's so convienent to carry and shoot.