Customer Reviews

JVC Everio GZMG155 1MP 30GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 32x Optical Zoom (Includes Docking Station)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this camera to videotape legal depositions. Not very exciting stuff, but they typically run for hours. Mini-DV cameras only run for about an hour. I didn't want to have to stop and switch tapes every hour. This HD camera can record 14 hours with quality sufficient for what I'm doing. I tested it over a few days and just burned a DVD a few minutes ago on my computer. The camera is small, lightweight, easy to use, and can go for hours. I can easily burn DVD's through my computer or home VHS/DVD recorder. I'm thrilled.

However, it's important to mention:

(1) The quality of this camera is not as good as a dedicated "tape" camera. I have always loved JVC since I bought my first camcorder (remember the purple video camera used by Marty McFly in the "Back To The Future" movies?). Analog VHS/VHC or 8mm still look the most natural. I have a Mini-DV JVC that I thought I would sell after buying this HD camera, but I've changed my mind. My other JVC has a better anti-shake feature and the image quality appears better. The colors are not as accurate with the HD camera and the action doesn't flow as smoothly. I will still probably use the Mini-DV camera where a more natural appearance is important.

(2) Even though the HD camera can record for hours, the battery only lasts an hour. Buy an extra JVC "hulk" battery (5 hours of juice?) when you buy the HD camera.

(3) If this camera were to malfunction or be stolen, you'd lose a whole lot of video footage. Back it up regularly or stick with a tape camera.

After looking around quite a bit, I settled on the GZMG155 camcorder and I'm very happy with it. The picture quality is great and it's easy to transfer recordings to my laptop to burn DVDs or edit. I find the automatic mode find for shooting in most conditions. I use the manual mode for low-light, but that's just because I'm picky. The 1 MP CCD is great - the picture quality is better than similarly priced Sony's. The included editing software is ok - not great, but sufficient. I ended up buying Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0, which I couldn't be happier with.

We purchased this model due to its hard drive recording space, 7 - 37 hours recording time which is just awesome. No need to worry about a new cartridge, or dvd disk to record to. Its small, and compact; so if your hand is large you may find it harder to work since its compact. I love the size as its soooo portable and light. You don't have to worry about taking extra dvd's etc with you to record do. There is plenty of space to do that built in. And all you do is place it in the docking station it comes with and it saves it to the computer where you can then even DVD what you recorded. It has a built in light and so far we love all the features. I love the quick 1 second record feature. Its great for those moments you just want to try and get; pop open the LCD screan and wham, your recording. It takes a second as it says. My favorite thing about this camera is really its size and portability and lightness. Thus 5 stars!

I purchased this camcorder about 3 weeks ago. I previously had a Panasonic DVD model which I returned after 2 weeks. My biggest issues with the Panasonic were the lack of software and the difficulties I had with the DVD formats. At the price to add software I was better off with the JVC and removed the DVD issues. In short, unless you are going to buy write once DVDs and want to just pop them into the DVD player to watch I don't recommend that format.

Back to the JVC. Size, very small, I can only imagine it being too small, easy to use, software took a little getting use to, but I don't need anything else to turn a clip into an MPEG to watch (I haven't gotten to the point of making a DVD yet). I like the "shutter" lens cap, you can record video to the SD card, screen is good size, I think I prefer the joystick control over a touch screen, although I liked how the Panasonic used the joystick on the outside with the right hand, so you could do most stuff one handed. The dock is very nice, it it supports Firewire/i1394/iLink, but it doesn't come with that cable. I haven't noticed a difference, but the Optical Image Stabilization of the Panasonic would be nice (better than Electronic as JVC is). Other than that I can't think of anything the JVC isn't better at. (Oh yea, no viewfinder, who uses it? Seems like only "pros" who aren't buying this anyway.) I do agree about expensive batteries, but what electronics company doesn't stiff us with high prices on extra batteries? I don't give anything a 5 unless it exceeds my expectations, so unless I find it juliennes my potatoes... If JVC wants a 5 they will have to add the Firewire cable, OIS, and make extra batteries cheaper.

Bag - I own the Lowepro 110 bag, it was purchased for another camera, and it makes a great carry all bag for this camera, especially if you are going to have an extras, like a spare battery. I also own a Lowepro Z-10 bag which I can actually stuff the camera into, but the front pocket buckles out a lot, so it isn't practical, but possible if you want a camera only bag.

Finally, I purchased mine elsewhere, but if you are buying here why not get the GZ-MG255 instead? It isn't much more.

This is our third camcorder, started with a vhs (vhc-c) model 5 years ago. It was not so great, but we did get to capture some movie memories. 3 years ago we bought a Sony DCR-HC30 digital MiniDV recorder, have used it alot, good quality picture. Problem is the head gets dirty sometimes, you have to stop, run the cleaner cassette, then put the tape back in, and you still end up with a section on tape where it "became" dirty and these are peppered through our captured movie memories. Not knocking the Sony HC30, just the technology. I really wanted a dvd camcorder years ago but two problems with that idea, too expensive and only 30 minutes per disc, plus you have to finalize each disc, each time to save your 30 minutes of shoot. The MiniDV is 60 minutes per tape, quicker change-out time.

So finally the price was right for HDD camera, enter the JVC Everio GZMG155 that appeared on QVC's website 3 days ago. Extra battery incl. made it the best price (value) going. Just arrived yesterday. So I'm set for our next trip to Disneyland. 7 hours recording time at fine quality, 2 batteries at 1.5 hours each (approx.) (my Sony was 1.5 hour with lcd screen closed, using viewfinder, less than 1 hour with screen open) the JVC Everio GZMG155 the same quality video as my old Sony. Low light it not so great, a little grainy, but every digital camera does this. No points off for it performing at par with any other 1/6" CCD. You get what you pay for. I have been taking it through the paces the last 24 hours.

I give it a five star rating, it will do everything I want it to do. Oh and by the way, either watch your recordings on a standard 520 horizontal line monitor or set your HD set to 480i any input signal of 520 lines will not look so good on a (Hi Def) 1080i/1080p set. I learned this with the Sony. I'll buy a HD camera when they are under $400. Give it a few years.

Summary. This does all my HC30 did and more, it's smaller, easier to grip, no more buying tapes, no more digital debri from a dirty tape head, large HDD 30G, 7 hours of recording time, three times the optical zoom. A fine camera, excellent upgrade for the same price I paid for MiniDV 3 years ago. The reviews here are quite accurate, the one about a "shaky" camera, maybe when you have it zoomed all the way out, that's always going to happen with any cameras.

I chose the JVC Everio GZMG155 because I was looking for the best combination of optical zoom and still shot capability. At 32X optical zoom it should capture the action from the back of room or in the stands while also allowing for a passable 1 mega pixel still photo.
A bonus has been the incredibly small size. While not pocket-sized this is certainly a convenient little device.

Pros
great zoom
1 MP still shot
tiny size

Cons
OEM battery only
1 MP still shot (Would have loved at least 3 MP)
lack of accessories like a wireless remote microphone.

I purchased this camcorder to record the dog sport of flyball. I took it to a tournament (indoors) and recorded our dogs passing to see if we could improve our skills. The lighting that this camcorder picked up was very warm (red tones) and the overall quality was not sharp as I had hoped. Once we recorded our dogs passing we would reivew the recorded material and slow it down to see how close the dogs were passing. Once we slowed it down they dogs were fuzzy and not in focus. I had recorded at the best quality the camcorder had to offer but I will be taking this one back for a refund.

I loved being able to get to certain recordings through the index and loved the ease of everything else it had to offer. Easy startup and transfer but the quality was just not in the picture.

I have used the camcorder for 3 weeks now, and it has worked perfectly under every condition I have tried. My son plays indoor basketball and the video this camera took was perfect. I have used it on hikes in the mountains and have used it while riding in a car. I have to admit I was very impressed with the video under every condition.
Downloading the videos from the camcorder to my pc was incredibly simple. I like that I have the ability to edit out the parts I don't like and to retain the video portions that I would like to keep.
I would highly recommend this camcorder if you want something that is simple and easy to use.
This camera does what it is suppose to do.

I bought this camera based on the other great reviews here... I am not sure if these guys actually own the camera or have ever compared it to others in the market. The camera can not do auto white balance, thus is very bad for low light or conventional light bulbs. It will look good in the store with florescent lights or in the sun with bright lighting. The camera also claims to have night shot, which works very poor. It does not do IR for night shot it just has a flash light type light on it that turns on and then it increases the aperture time to ½ seconds, so it takes tow images per second, so the images become rally grainy and slow.

The worst part about the camera is that It clams to have Digital Image Stabilization, but unfortunately that is only true on the video portion, if you read the fine print the image stabilization is not available on Still images, so you can never get a good still image unless you are out in the sun.

There are many better choices, sony and Panasonic to name two, the Panasonics have the best image stabilization, they do it optically. Sony does not do a bad job but Panasonic 3CCD model does it the best. Although the advance functions on the Panasonics are a little hard to get around I feel it still wins the race.

First off, let me say that this is what is called a "hard disk" camcorder. That is, there are no tapes or DVDs that are used. Instead, your footage is captured and stored in the memory of a small computer (hard disk), which is the same as the hard drive memory in a typical personal computer (PC). Since no tapes or DVDs will ever be purchased by the user of this camcorder, you'll start saving money right away, as opposed to an 8 mm tape camcorder from years past where you not only have to buy 8 mm camcorder tapes to record your footage, but also a batch of blank VHS tapes or blank DVDs should you want to transfer the original footage onto either VHS or DVD (like if you want to preserve the master 8 mm tape and avoid overplaying it, which can wear it out and sometimes damage it).

I bought this camcorder two years ago. Overall, I've been pretty happy with it. The features it contains are many, and it is very lightweight, small and versatile. My only complaint is when I take footage in dark places. The picture quality is dark in these situations, even when I use the twilight setting. In order to brighten up the footage in dark places, I have to shoot using the slow motion feature (Nightalive). Compared to an 8 mm tape camcorder (the previous best technology before hard disk camcorders became the norm), the night footage clarity and lightness isn't nearly as good. However, this really is my only complaint when it comes to this camcorder.

Like I mentioned before, this camcorder has many features. To name a few, you can take still images (it's like having a digital camera built into the camcorder, flash and all), it has a night light for "putting light on the subject" so to speak, a picture stabilizer (to prevent hand shake), full screen or widescreen recording, different levels of picture quality (much like a VCR or DVD recorder), a Wind Cut feature (reduces noise causes by wind blowing), and special effects for both video and still images such as sepia, black and white, classic film, and strobe. Also, there are settings for specific conditions such as filming action sports, filming in snowy weather, etc.

The camcorder comes with a docking station for setting the camcorder into when performing certain functions such as transfering footage to DVD using a DVD recorder. You can also create DVDs through your computer (easy to install software and a USB cable are included).

This is one of those technological gadgets that comes with countless features, some of which you may never use at all, but they're there if you want to get maximum performance from your camcorder. Again, the nighttime picture quality is a little dark, but overall I can't really complain about this piece of modern technology. Twenty years ago a hard disk camcorder like this would have been unimaginable. Overall, I recommend this camcorder if you're not too fussy about footage in dark places coming out a little dark. 4 stars out of 5.