Customer Reviews

JVC Everio GZMC500 5MP 3CCD 4GB Microdrive Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Had this digicam for about 24 hours and here are my first impressions:
I own a Panasonic SV AV100 which saves mpeg2 video and mpg4 to a SD card. It did it well and I was pleased with it, but the low resolution digital camera function was surpassed by some wireless phones. I wanted a device that took high resolution photos and digital mpeg2 video saved to a memory card that could be immediately loaded to PC and burnt to DVD. The JVC GZ-MC100 and MC200 took 2mp pictures and saved mpeg2 video to a 4 gb microdrive or SD card, but had poor low light performance - worse than my little Panasonic. So, it was with some anxiety that I shelled out $1595 for the GZ-MC500.

I bought it hoping that the new 3CCD video chip would not only give better color video and good 5mp jpeg pictures, but that JVC would have taken the time to improve low light performance... and they did.

In bright light the automatic videocam performance of the camera is really good. Indoors without any light on and bright sunlight coming in the window, the video remained sharp with pretty good color saturation and no graininess to my eye when played back on TV directly from camera. The MC500 seems to really be working much, much better in low light conditions than the MC100/200s before it. At night with room lights on, I took more videos and although there was some dimming of the picture, the video was still bright and not grainy. Color still looked good though there was some loss of color saturation in those conditions. In a completely dark room, forget about it since there is no infrared function. But I did not care about that. Much better in low light than my Panasonic SV-AV100 overall. Microphone picked up voices/sounds in stereo very well.

The interface is intuitive and easy to navigate for me.

The camera bottom heats up while recording to microdrive and I never recorded more than 5 minutes of video but the heat build up was quite noticeable. Unlike my Panasonic, there is no remote control which is quite disappointing in a $1600 digicam that is begging for immediate video playback to TV directly from camera.

In summary, I am both relieved at the camera's good low light performance and very happy with the camera's mpeg2 video quality and very happy with the 5mp jpeg picture performance. I would give this camera 4.5 stars out of five taking off 1/2 point for lack of remote control.

Go to this site and use translate option on google toolbar to read text or just download the duck video and jpegs to see this camera's quality. Rename video .mod extension to .mpg to view in WMP. Remember this is 720 x 480 mpg2

(...)

This small thing is so unique that your satisfaction level will only depend on what you need from a camcorder.

Firstly, everyone says this bug is not "that good" with low light. I can not agree with this, there are a few settings in the menu, and you can get really good results under low light. If you leave it at "auto" mode though, they're right. It sometimes sucks!

It also has issues with the other meaning of "light"... Weight is so low. Combined with its narrow-angled default lens, that lightness causes too much shake in the picture. But that can be solved by installing a wider lens. I don't like to turn on its digital image stabilizer, since it gives the picture an artificial effect, but it can work for you.

Another problem I experienced is: Your computer will see the camera as a hard disk. So when it's plugged, your computer will not recognize your other external hard disks. I had a huge external USB hard disk to store videos, but I can not transfer video files from camera to that disk directly, coz the computer does not allow both of them at the same time. First you must transfer from camera to your main internal disk, than you must plug the big external disk and move files to that one.

Still image quality is really bad for 5 megapixels. That's so clear.

But still I do not regret I bought this camcorder. The pain of capturing videos, splitting them, etc. are gone forever. You just drag & drop the files. And they already come splitted, because Everio takes every shot as another file. In other words, everytime you press the record/stop button, you create another video file. That's sooo useful.

I tried the included software. That video editing software is really primary, it will bore you after learning the basics. But you can get real stuff from Adobe instead. They offer trial versions of Premiere on the site.

Finally, buy this camcorder if you care about:
1) Easier editing
2) Size and Weight
3) 3 CCD (Not a big difference though)

And do not buy if you care about:
1) Need long battery life
2) Will make 1-piece long shootings, like sport matches, conferences, etc.
3) Have Parkinson disease ;)
4) Will use more for still pix, than video

Since editing is my priority, I rate it with four stars, but your rating will only depend on your purpose.

I must say that amount of excitement and thrill I had with extremely high degree of anticipated satisfaction while I was getting this item packed, it didn't make it to my satisfaction in reality owing to vedio quality I'm getting for such a high price.

Good things:
1. Very compact, easy to carry
2. If someone is not too much fuss about quality, both video and still picture in one device which is great
3. Digital to digital transfer, saves heaps of time and pain for transfer from camera to PC. I have bought a portable hard disk of 40 GB capacity so that on trip I can transfer from camera to it without needing to carry my laptop everywhere
4. One of the very nice things I liked is ability to record just voice. Especially voice quality is pretty good so it is much appreciated feature.

Bad:
1. Video quality is good but not so good as one would expect with 3 CCD, digital storage and so much price. Final picture looks like as if a high quality recording with a dirty lense.
2. There is no manual view finder. so if sun is on on your back, you can't see a thing in digital view finder
3. Operation of record and stop button is not very ergonomic. I get strain my hand
4. Gets heated up very quickly.
5. Button to switch between still and video is pathetic. I never able to get it in right position
6. I'm surprised that JVC forced to adopt to Cyberlink editing software by creating .mod files. I hate it to bottom of my heart. I have to first open files in cyberlink software, create an AVI file which I then import into another video editing software like movie maker or Sony Vegas. This is extremely painful since it is time consuming and I suspect I'm loosing quality also.
7. Even though still picture resolution is 5 mega pixel, I don't get is quite as good I use to get in Sony 5 mega pixel even after using tripod.
8. Battery life is not very good.

I make a living producing videos with Mac's. I own this camera and I love it but there is one truth: the camera is not supported by JVC for Mac's... but that does not matter since you can still have a great experience. It is actually simpler to use with a Mac than with a PC! No need to install drivers and softwares.

To summarize it:
1- I did not install anything... there is no Mac software. You do not need it. Plug it in. It mounts the MicroDrive and you copy the files to your HD or burn a DVD from it. Without the need to copy files first (but recommended since microdrives are slow).
2- You can import your photos from the SD with iPhoto. You are set. That's it.

So what can you do with the video?
1-Burn a copy of the MicroDrive content in about 10 mins! It cannot be simpler. Just drag the video folder to Roxio's Toast. It imports. Click burn. That's it! You have a DVD in about 10-15 minutes of the entire content. No conversions. No delays. Toast 7 will let you customize the DVD a bit and it makes a great backup of your digital memories. It cannot be simpler.
2-Need to edit the video? Download the free application MPEG Streamclip. Convert your video to editable formats. Plenty of options. Free. Very high quality conversions. Solid. Another option would be to import the saved-to-DVD files using DVDxDV and create your editable movies.

In my work I use professional cameras such as the HD Panasonic's AG-HVX200 and even when your are used to HD video, the quality of the video from this unit is very respectable, especially when you consider its size.

I love its size, wieght, media portability, etc. I do not know if this the right video recorder for you but for me, it was exactly what I was looking for. It fits my video workflow, style and usage.

I recommend HDD video recorders even for the casual home video producer.... shoot your video, trim it and burn it. That easy. By the way, make two DVDs, one for usage and the second for storing your memories (backup).

Summarizing, if you have a Mac and Toast, it is so simple that it silences the ignorant PCr2 user who "reviewed" it here.... the only thing he did was to critize what he does not understand (or do not want to understand). He probably does not want to use other operating systems because he might be too old to learn new and better things in life such as a reliable operating system.

If you are a Mac user, I recommend you to visit forums such as camcorderinfo.com to get the usefull information. As with anything, beware of biased opinings that do not help you solve your needs.

Technical note: Roxio's Toast will import all MOD video files directly into it. Since the video is not converted in any way, it preserves the original video and audio quality.

There are various things that can be better in this camera but you need to know what these are before you buy it. There are size, format, capacity and design limitations. Know them before you buy it and if it still meets your criteria, you'll agree that it is an amazing camera.

I gave it 4 out of 5 for minor things that I actually can live with such as a slow startup, the monitor does not flip out, no mic input, cannot turn information off while recording (just while playing) and nithing else. I knew these limitations before I bought it so it met my expectations.

Hope this helps.

I was looking for a camcorder to replace my old Panasonic PV-L757 (VHS-C) camcorder but was overwhelmed by the number of available choices. Also, the Olympus D450Z still camera that I bought in 1999 is more than a little dated so upgrading to a better camera was important.

When I spotted a small writeup of the GZMC500 in "Wired" magazine I thought "This is the new camera I've been looking for." "I can kill two birds with one stone." A new baby just weeks away prompted me to get on Amazon's waiting list and wait for the camera to be released. The camera arrived in mid-July.

I have not been impressed.

The camera *is* quite small and easy to handle. Amazingly small, in fact. Unfortunately the camera does not have a built-in light so low light video is poor. To make matters worse the still pictures are also poor. I'm probably more disappointed with the still picture quality than the video quality. I've pretty much given up using the 500 as a still camera since the D450Z does a better, more predictable job.

I sprang for the accessory hard case with an extra battery but that probably wasn't a good choice. You can only charge the battery while it is installed in the camera so you end up opening and closing the camera to swap batteries for charging. With the experience I've had so far there's just no way I'll spend another $150 for the JVC dual battery charger. $150 for a battery charger!?! I don't think so...

This is not the camera I thought it would be.

I bought this camera solely on its high specifications and the novelty of using files instead of tapes. I was on a three month trek round Asia and the thought of a dual purpose camcorder and still camera was very attractive. I also always take my PowerBook with me for work and the combination was ideal.

In offering mpeg2, 3CCD, 5 megapixels stills and other advanced features this camcorder would attract the high end amateur and even pro user, but in practice this is just a low end, over priced consumer product in terms of final quality. Why? Well I'll get to the gripes later. First the positive side.

The camera is about the size of a fist, a good compact size, relatively easy to handle thogh not pocket sized. The JVC designers have used nearly every part of the camera's external surface to place controls, button , plugs and slots, The camera pivots vertically only at 90 degrees but it would have better for the tiny LCD screen to move rather than the body.The hard plastic though was just weird, a portent of the design deficiencies of JVC engineers. I have no qualms with the quality of the movie files - high res, natural colour, ok exposure. I soon got used to downloading my files each night onto my Mac in my hotel room and making a rough edit with Final Cut Pro. This was a doddle with an amazing free app called MPEG Streamclip. It is interesting how small mpeg2 files are compared to DV but it still took an age to transfer them to my Mac due to the slower USB2 interface. Why didn't JVC plump for fast Firewire, (a standard with most camcorders costing a fraction of the price) is beyond me. I liked the inclusion of an audio recording only mode through the small microphone on the top.

So here's where the product lets itself down. My experience of using it in the' field' was one of desperation, aggrevation and often disgust. I don't know where to begin.The more one uses it, the more one is convinced that the still camera was obviously tagged on as an afterthought and totally lets the camera down. Firstly the 5 mega pixel tag is a virtually criminal claim. My 2mb Fuji took far sharper pictures than this. Also because the sluggish autofocus rarely pinpointed anything, I found just a handful of the hundreds of still pictures I took to actually be in focus. The manual focus never indicated the optimum sharpness and one could only rely upon the tiny inadequate and low resolution LCD. There is no viewfinder in this camera and in most daylight operations the LCD was difficult to see. The time it took for the autofocus to find the subject and make an attempt was around seven seconds.. a disaster for that once in a lifetime action shot. Time and time again I would miss such shots not only due to the sluggish autofocus but also the snail-like startup time of the camera itself. It took eight seconds each time the camera was turned on. Why I had to watch a JVC logo swirl around the screen when I could have been taking pictures was beyond me.

All the controls were well designed and close to hand except the on/off button which was a three way slider - off - record -playback. In practice these were too small and meant constantly sliding to the incorrect mode. It was infuriating, especially when the fingers were slightly damp or greasy. Perhaps the off button should have been in the middle, so that you only had to slide left or right. Otherwise all the other controls were great. A small joystick and onscreen menus were excellent but the main recording/shutter button needed a firm press giving the camera a small jolt and hence more blurred pictures. The still camera performed very badly in low light and the pathetically small pop up flash threw light not much further than about two metres. The auto exposure failed to compensate adequately for near subjects with the flash and most shots were bleached out. There was no hot shoe, so a third party flash was out of the question. The macro close up was quite good.

Battery life was disastrous. While everyone else on my holiday were still snapping away with their cheap digital cameras, mine had long exhausted it's power. Due to the small size of Mpeg2 files, the microdrive capacity was more than adequate and I never filled the disk. Although I bought two 1mb SD disks for the stills they also never filled up. Sound recording is totally reliable on the tiny stereo mics on the top which were a disgrace. Sometimes my fingers strayed to this area and slightly covered them by mistake resulting in weird alien noises on playback. There is no provision for any external microphone. This is really unbelievable.

There were many good features in the menu - manual exposure was well catered for, disk management and others but would I recommend this camera? Not for any serious photgrapher. This is very much for the low to middle end consumer, and its shortcomings should put it into a £4-500 price bracket, not £800. SInce there is currently little competition I shall continue to use it as a holiday camcorder since the mpeg2 quality was very good but as a still camera it is appalling.

This camcorder is definitely for hard core gadget geeks. I've had it for two days and I'm completely satisfied. I did extensive research before purchasing, so I knew what to expect.

If you are used to editing with a miniDV camcorder, and expect this to work exactly the same, you will have problems. This is nether a miniDV camcorder nor a Firewire device. Trying to use video editing programs built around the miniDV framework will only lead to needless heartache.

If the supplied software is too basic for your needs, then you need to buy a proper MPG video editor. Once you let go of the miniDV mindset, all problems simply fade away.

The video is very good and the audio is excellent. Video transfer to computer is simple and fast. The camcorder shows up as a USB drive so you just copy the files over.

The reason I say this is for "hard core gadget geeks" is because there are too many advanced manual features for those that just want point-and-shoot video. Just as an SLR still camera isn't right for those that want to take snapshots without reading a manual.

For those willing to learn a new workflow and dig deep into all it has to offer, this is by far the best camcorder on the market at this price range.

First I would like to say that Amazon turned out to be a great vendor to buy from. I was snookered by the "low price" internet vendors - their shipping and handling fees bring the price up higher than Amazon's and they didn't have the camera in stock to boot!

The camera is tiny! - a feature I was looking for. The swivel body is unique and very ergonomic once you get used to it - it takes some practice. It takes great photos in auto mode - this was expected but still was pleasant to see. Low light sensitivity is a bit disapointing. The flash unit doesn't seem to work well, I haven't explored the non-auto modes yet - there are several manual modes.... The video quality is good - not great - some say the Sony's are better. I found the color reproduction is excellent, the three CCD's make a significant difference. The images suffer from a bit of jitter when the camera is panning, this seems to be the case even with the image stabilizer off. This is minor in my opinion given how small the camera is and how easy it is to use. The sound quality is excellent. The only moving parts are the hard drive and the zoom - both are virtually silent so the audio has a very low noise background. The Dolby noise reduction is another plus to create a very good audio system. Don't let your fingers wander over the microphones - you'll create bad interference - you can use headphones while recording to train yourself to avoid this. The placement of the microphones on the top of the camera makes them very sensitive to wind noise.

The battery life is about an hour - pretty good. The camera has a built-in charger and takes about 1 1/2 hours to charge up a battery.

The camera looks like a pair of removable drives to the PC through the USB connection. I haven't used the supplied software yet - I have Pinnacle Studio 9 which works fine with the movies from the camera. The movie file extensions are .MOD - you rename them to .MPG and you can watch and/or edit them on the PC - (you'll need a Dolby CODEC to hear audio, Pinnacle has one - so do lots of other editors)

Overall, the camera is great - tiny and great quality - I bought it for an upcoming river raft trip in the Grand Canyon. I just hope I don't lose it in one of the big rapids!

This would be an excellent camcorder if JVC delivered what they advertised. The quality of the photo's is comparable to a 3MP camera, and definitely not up to 5MP standards.

Negatives:
There are also problems with the Anamorphic 16:9 format this camera produces. It appears that the 16:9 format of this camera is not properly encoded, and I have not yet found an MPEG editer that recognizes the files as 16:9. The clips are recorded 16:9, but when they played back on a television or copied into an MPEG editer the clips are squeezed into a 4:3 format. I have had to use an free program found on the web that will add the needed flag to fix the files. The Cyberlink software included with this camera does not support 16:9, so you will need to purchase a more sophisticated MPEG editor.

Only if you are willing to fix the output files from the camera and purchase a different MPEG-2 editor, can you get great 16:9 movies from this camera.

Support from JVC is non-existent. I have tried for a month to get support via email and have not once received a reply. I did reach them several weeks ago via the phone, but was told they couldn't fix the problem.

Positives:
The camera is small and cool looking.
Files can easily be copied to the computer, and it only takes a few minutes to generate a DVD.
With much research and effort, one can generate excellent anamorphic widescreen dvd's.
Takes good 3MP photos.

I have since figured out how to convert the files to mpg. through the supplied program. however this is a tedious task. to convert the files into a more useable format before using them in another program. I am very aggravated by this. Why wouldn't you (jvc) make a product that can be universally used easily. As someone who is a professional photojournalist, this problem makes implementing this piece of equiptment into my arsenal a pain in the ass and a waste. Your stills with this product go straight to the industry standard, so should your video too. As it is advertised!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your email in return is also unhelpful as were my phone calls. and that truly is unacceptable. It is one thing to design a good product with annoying features, and another when you can't provide good support to make it more useable by the public.

"Garza, FranK" <FGarza@jvc.com> wrote: Dear Sean Bernard,

Thank you for your e-mail inquiry,

I'm sorry but we can not assist you with changing the formats from MOD
to another source; however it can be done. Please note that any other
format will come out "choppy". I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Customer Care

Frank G.

-----Original Message-----
From: @yahoo.com [mailto:@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 8:34 PM
To: customerrelation
Subject: Other

Name: s. bernard
E-mail: .com
State: NJ
Model Number: gz-mc5000u
Serial Number: 11020536
Date of Purchase: 9/01/05
Product Category: Other
Inquery Category: Other
Message:
My camera records movies into MOD files. other than the provided
software what other programs will run these files. It is advertised
that it records in MPEG. so then many programs should play and be able
to edit the files but windows media player does not. Please give me a
list of programs that do since the provided software is not useful to
me, and or how can I change the MOD files into a format which I can use
in Avid.