JVC Everio GZMG27 20GB HDD Digital Media Camcorder with 32x Optical Zoom

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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 8.5 x 7.7 inches ; 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000E1797C
• Item model number: GZ-MG27US
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,930 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)

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  Camera & Photo > Camcorders > Hard Disk Drive

• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 6, 2006

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer Just keep on shooting! Nothing to load, nothing to eject, nothing to finalize. Everio is designed to eliminate your worries. Just keep on shooting, because the built-in large capacity hard drive easily stores hours and hours of your video inside a lightweight compact camcorder. Plus shoot thousands of digital still images. So whether you're at home or on the go, you'll always be ready to record or playback your memories.

Smart Advantages of a Hard Disk Camcorder

No risk of erasing previous recordings by mistake. You won't ever record over those once-in-a-lifetime events. Recording starts automatically from the blank space on the disk.

No cost for or need to buy additional recording media. No tape or disc is required The Everio G Series provides an all-in-one solution, ensuring no interruption during long time recordings, so you won't miss a moment. No media to lose!

Easy deletion of unwanted scenes. So you don't have to worry about getting it right the first time, safely select and erase entire scenes in an instant to free up disk space. Use your camcorder with a freedom never before possible!

Direct access to scenes you want. No need to Fast Forward or Rewind. Just click on the thumbnail image and watch your memories come to life. Makes sifting through hours and hours of accumulated footage a breeze.

Simple editing is made possible inside the camera. Fast, quick downloading to your computer via USB 2.0. Drag and drop editing software provided for Windows and Macintosh computers.

Long-time recording to shoot hours of video on the large capacity built-in hard drive. Now you can record entire events such as vacations, sporting events and more, without worry.

More Everio GZMG27 Advantages

Compact and lightweight design
With a high-capacity 1.8-inch hard disk drive built into a compact body that weighs-in at less than 1 pound, Everio G camcorders are the perfect companion to record your moving and still memories. No tape, no disc. Experience the camcorder that's small, compact, with less to carry, and so easy to use.

MPEG-2 DVD-movie quality video
Get up to 25 hours of recording with 20GB internal hard disk drive. Using Everio's high-quality MPEG-2 data compression format, you can record DVD-movie quality video at a variable bit rate. The average bit rate is 8.88 Mbps with Dolby Digital audio for a superior video and sound quality.

The Everio's drop protection system keeps your camcorder safe

Hard disk drive protection and stability
To protect the hard disk drive from shocks and vibrations, Everio G camcorders incorporate the latest hard disk protection technologies, allowing carefree, active camcorder use.

Polymer shock absorbers

Floating suspension (shock absorbers)
Cushions the hard disk from vibrations using polymer shock absorbers.

16:9 widescreen shooting and playback
The 2.7-inch widescreen LCD offers a 16:9 aspect ratio for wide cinematic video shooting. Naturally the playback picture can be enjoyed in full widescreen dimensions on the LCD or on a connected widescreen TV. This clear LCD cuts surface reflections and glare to maintain a clear, visible, bright view.

Designed for Easy Shooting and Viewing

Stick control
Easily navigate through multiple functions with one-finger control. Everything from menu item selection to changing camera settings for recording and playback.

32x optical zoom with 800x digital zoom

Incredible 32x magnification with full optical quality. Digital zoom takes you up to 800x.

Power-linked operation
Automatically turns on the camera when you open the LCD so you can shoot right away, and turns off the camera when you close the LCD so you won't waste power.

Index/Data button
Gives you one-touch confirmation of disk capacity and battery life. Press the button to check the remaining recording capacities in all four recording modes. Press it again to check remaining battery and recording time.

Auto flash and sensitivity
Illuminate your videos with the Auto Illumi. Light. Everio G camcorders can automatically turn on and off the light or give you the control. What’s more, new video processing assures high sensitivity and a high signal-to-noise ratio.

Data battery
Allows you to check the remaining battery power by % and remaining recording time in minutes at the touch of the Index/Data button, even while the camcorder's power is off!

Easy to Share

Easy video access

Easily locate your desired video clip by either thumbnail, date or event selection icon. The event selection icon allows easier management for your video and still files. Conveniently select the desired icon before or after you record. There are 30 preloaded icons that can be selected such as "Birthday". These category icons can easily open all files associated with the corresponding topic. The icons can also help in creating playlists for on-camera playback, downloading to a PC or burning to DVD.

Easy video viewing

• DVD-quality picture on the big screen: Just hook up to a TV and enjoy Everio’s high-quality MPEG-2 video on a large screen TV. Play just the clips you want in the order you like, pre-arranged right in the camera into a movie Playlist. This can also be done with the provided remote control.
• Simple AV and S connection for dubbing or making a DVD: With the AV cable (S-Video interface also available) connected directly to a VCR or DVD recorder, you can copy Everio movie clips and playlists as many times as you like to a VHS tape or DVD disc for easy sharing with a wide audience. Every copy’s high quality is the same.
• Easy printing with PictBridge/DPOF support: With PictBridge, digital stills can be output to a compatible printer with just one cable connection. Also, DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) information lets you easily order digital printing of your shots from a photo studio.

What's in the box
GZ-MG27 Everio camcorder, AC power adapter, BN-VF707 rechargeable battery pack, AV cable, USB cable, remote control, shoulder strap, lens cap, and user's manual.

Product Description

Just keep on shooting. Built-in large capacity hard drive easily stores hours and hours of your video and thousands of digital still images inside a lightweight compact camcorder. So whether you're at home or on the go, you'll always be ready to record or playback your memories.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great camera at a great price, November 3, 2006

By	dcbk1020 "DB" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

I have been using this camera for about 2 months, taking it on a cruise as well as filming a couple college choir concerts. All went well, exceeded my expectations, based on other reviews I read. The only problem I have seen is with lowlight indoor filming, however the fix I came across supposedly works, but I have not had a chance to try it yet (see fix at end of review). The 20gb drive was plentry for me, cpaturing several hours of HD quality film, still with plenty of drive space remaining. I have had very few problems with the software, the ones I did have are more around lack of a manual, but have figured out thru trial and error. Overall, I would highly recommend this product to anyone interested in a new camera. Plus you can stop buying tapes.


Lowlight Fix (note I do not take credit for this, found it on the web but do not remember where). Here is the text exactly as I found it, including the comments at the end.

How I get good low-light/indoors video (do the following steps indoors with the camera in capture mode):
1) Disable the "Gain Up" feature (major contributor to the grainy low-light video)
2) Turn on "Manual" mode (via AUTO button)
3) Go to the manual control menu (down on the 'stick')
4) Set AE to '+2'
5) Highlight 'MWB' in the WB menu, point the camera at a sheet of paper (position the camera so the sheet of paper fills the view of the camera) and press and hold the middle of the 'stick' until 'MWB' stops blinking (about 5-10 seconds).
6) Set S.sp. to 1/60
7) Press down on the 'stick' to exit the manual control menu

After doing this, my indoors video quality is MUCH better (no more noise/grainy video). The settings will be saved, even if the battery is removed or depleted; they will return even if you switch to AUTO mode then back to MANUAL.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lightweight, Easy to Use, Excellent Video Quality, July 3, 2006

By	D. Buxman "A Seeker of Truth" (Pueblo, CO United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Everio GZMG27 HDD Camcorder is a wonderful camcorder with lots of handy features at a value price. Although the battery that comes with the camcorder has a limited life, I didn't feel that this was a huge drawback since I always like to buy a spare anyway. The 20 GB capacity seems to be more than adequate and it is easy to transfer to other storage media. The zoom feature is powerful enough to bring out the flaws on the face of a Hollywood star and the Automatic shooting mode allows you to start taking good videos straight from the box.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars exactly what you'd expect for a budget HDD camcorder, April 4, 2007

By	H. Kinney (SoCal) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Pro's:
no recording media to change, long record time. Small and lightweight.

Con's:
for the price, I can't think of any.

I think some people seem to forget that this model is considered a budget HDD camcorder. You ARE NOT going to get "brodcast quality" video out of it. You ARE NOT going to get good low light performance. What you get is an affordable, compact, decent HDD camcorder for a shoe-string budget. Nothing more. You are paying for the convenience of not having to change tapes or dvds, bottom line.
I've had mine now for about 9 hours and so far I've only done test shooting with it in low-light conditions. On Auto the results were less than exceptable. If you take a little time and learn the manual controls then you will get satisfactory results. There will be some "noise" (grainy picture) but again, this is a "bottom of the barrel" camcorder.
I've read many reviews on this device (and the other Everio G models around this price range) and people all complain about the poor picture quality and I just want to say for the last time... It's a budget HDD camcorder. Yes, I know I'm repeating myself but I want to put this issue to bed. If you want really nice picture quality, pick up one of Sony's new Hi-Def HD camcorders. Mmmmmm...might set you back about $1200.

People have complained about the mod file. Idiots. Thats all I got to say. The included software converts it to Mpeg2 for you. Duh!?! In no time I had my 'test video' shot, downloaded, converted, and edited using windows movie maker. Please keeep in mind that this is the FIRST CAMCORDER I'VE EVER BOUGHT. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE EDITED VIDEO ON MY COMPUTER!
Also, Format the hard drive before you begin to record. Some people complained that picture quality was worse than that of a web cam. Through my countless hours of searching for the "truth", I came to the conclusion that this may be why. They don't even mention that until page 39 of the manual.

One of the most frustating things I've done in my life was research and read reviews for camcorders. Geez, what a can of worm that was. I'm trying to make this as blunt as possible for the next guy who reads this shopping for a camcorder so he doesn't get stuck on the internet every night for a week and a half trying to find out the truth about this thing. "Don't listen to the complainers. They didn't know what they were doing". IT'S A BUDGET HDD CAMCORDER!

So far I'm very pleased with this product and The quality thus far is more than exceptable for my needs.

For the record I'm a Lighting Technician/Designer for an Audio/Visual Company with some knowledge of video technology, but have limited hands-on camera experience.