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

Other products by JVC

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11 x 7.5 x 6 inches ; 7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000MANFIC
• Item model number: GZ-HD7
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,502 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)

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  #40 in	Camera & Photo > Camcorders > Hard Disk Drive
  #68 in	Camera & Photo > Camcorders > High Definition

• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 9, 2007

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

Manufacturer Description The HD Everio GZ-HD7 is the world's first consumer camcorder to offer Full HD 1920 x 1080i recording. That's native 1920 x 1080i resolution that is maintained all the way from the lens and CCD, to MPEG2 Transport Stream video with MPEG 1 Layer 2 audio, to output via HDMI, i.LINK or USB2.0. So the Full HD quality you get at the camera is exactly what you get in your recordings, with no conversion or loss of resolution.

GZ-HD7 Highlights

Fujinon professional optical zoom lens HD Everio's 10x optical zoom lens is supplied by Fujinon, a leader in HD optics for both the broadcast media and motion picture industries. It provides superior optical performance and nearly the same brightness (F1.8-1.9) throughout its f=3.3mm-33mm zoom range by virtue of its three aspherical lens elements, one made of indexed glass. In addition, the lens surface is coated with a new Electronic Beam Coating (EBC) that greatly reduces degradation caused by light reflecting off the lens surfaces, leading to greater light transmission and reduced flaring and ghosting.

Three 1/5-inch CCDs for full HD recording For bright, realistic colors the HD Everio uses three 1/5-inch CCDs -- one each for red, green and blue. Naturally, by having dedicated CCDs for each primary color, the camera is able to gather the maximum visual information which leads to more realistic color reproduction and presence. In addition, to ensure precise prism/CCD registration, JVC has incorporated Fujinon mounting technology used in professional camcorders.

Optical image stabilization To preserve the high-quality image that is attainable at the lens and CCD, the HD Everio features optical image stabilization, avoiding the signal degradation caused by electronic image stabilization, which might be particularly noticeable in HD footage.

5 hours of full HD recording With a 60GB built-in hard drive, the JVC HD Everio provides up to five hours of Full HD (1920 x 1080i) recording at a high 30Mbps (MAX). In addition to this highest quality mode, HD Everio also offers a long seven-hour SP mode with a resolution of 1440 x 1080i, and a Constant Bit Rate 1440CBR mode with a resolution of 1440 x 1080i and a five-hour capacity. Of course, for those who prefer, there's an SD card slot so these recordings can be stored on SD memory card as well.

Wide range of manual controls In addition to point-and-shoot simplicity, HD Everio also offers a wide range of manual controls including a manual focus ring, manual white balance, exposure control, shutter priority mode, aperture priority mode and sharpness control. In addition, a Focus Assist function displays the edge of the in-focus elements in color while the rest of the image is black-and-white, making it easy to check which image elements are in focus. And a Zebra function displays a striped pattern across highlight areas on the image in the LCD monitor, making it easier to manually set the exposure.

Easy Archiving and Viewing

The GZHD7 with the optional HD Everio Share Station

PC-less archiving and viewing solution The HD Everio can be connected to the optional HD Everio Share Station CU-VD40 via USB 2.0 cable. This Share Station lets you create HD data discs to archive HD video clip files and writes to both DVD-R and DVD-RW discs. It also allows for the creation of digital stills in a JPEG format. Dual-layer DVD-R is also supported, which means that the combination of the HD Everio and the CU-VD40 provides a PC-less solution to the high-capacity archiving needs of HD content. HD and still files can be played back in ultra-high quality via the CU-VD40's HDMI output without the use of a computer or the camcorder.

Multiple digital interfaces The HD Everio is equipped with three digital interfaces: USB, HDMI and i.LINK. USB is primarily for file saving, HDMI for digital viewing on large screen displays, and i.LINK streams high definition video in full resolution or 1440CBR mode. HD recorded material is down-converted for output in DV over i.LINK, or in standard definition via the analog component/S-video/ composite output.

Advanced editing and archiving with PC For editing and archiving via PC the HD Everio comes with the Cyberlink BD Solution software suite for Windows. This includes PowerDirector for HD video editing, PowerProducer for authoring high-definition Blu-ray discs and DVD-Video discs, and PowerCinema for HD file management and playback.

Product Description

The HD Everio GZ-HD7 is the world's first consumer camcorder to offer Full HD 1920x1080i recording. Native 1920x1080i resolution is maintained throughout the recording to playback process from lens, CCD, MPEG2 Transport Stream and output via HDMI or USB 2.0 with no quality-degrading conversion.With a 60GB built-in hard disk drive you can enjoy up to five hours of Full HD 1920x1080i recording at a high 30Mbps (MAX), plus you get two additional recording modes.The 2.8" 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 during outdoor recording in direct sunlight.The GZ-HD7 is also equipped with a color viewfinder. It's useful when shooting under strong sunlight where an LCD is not clearly visible or when you want to save battery power.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Consumer HD Solution, May 1, 2007

By	Carbonadam "Ladies and gentleman, I hope that... (USA) - See all my reviews

If you are more than a casual video user or if you have bought a video camera more than twice in the last 10 years I would say that you probably need a high end HD camera to satisfy you. For me, someone who has only owned 1 other video camera in the last 10 years I find this camera to be amazing. I do not shoot professionally and if i did there are many great HD solutions in the 3-6 grand range. Since this is not my business and I do not have money to burn this was the camera that satisfied all my needs. Those needs were: no tapes, large hard drive, HD quality or something far, far better than my old mini DV camera. I also needed to be able to archive the files on my mac which is a dual 800mhz G4 and possibly edit on the mac in imovie. This camera does all of that, and quite easily I might add.

I had no problems installing the codec that came with the camera for quicktime. Once I opened a clip in quicktime it did not play properly, however once I imported it into imovie it worked fine. I edited simple edits, added new audio and was satisfied for what I need. After all, all I will be doing with this is shooting the wife and kids.

JVC recommends A 1.25 Gigahertz G4 or higher, so do not complain about the camera not working smoothly on your mac unless you meet those requirements. They are stated on the GZHD7 box. I suggest the newest mac with 2 gigs of ram at least. In my experience, more RAM makes all the difference in the world. Eventually I plan to get a new mac to be able to handle the footage.

I have a 1080i sony plasma TV. The picture looked great. There was some banding of subtle gradients I shot. It was acceptable to me. Also the banding was not apparent on my mac in imovie. I think because my TV is already 2 years old it is not up to the same standards as the GZHD7 camera and my mac. Bottom line is the camera was producing better images on my mac than on my TV. Now all this is nonsense because I will be using this to mostly shoot video of my family and friends for recreational use. Compared to what my dad shot of us when we were kids and then the sandy grainy video we used in the 90s this camera is AMAZING. The quality is good enough for me and I would also add that any film student on a zero budget could easily get by with this. Like I said earlier, if you have the means and require perfect HD video, spend the few extra grand and go for the gold.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Useful Information, July 23, 2007

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

I have had this camcorder for about three weeks and have some useful information for the user and prospective buyer. I would also like to offer my opinions. Firstly, I bought this camera because I often need manual controls for focus etc. This camcorder fits the bill. I also didn't want a touch screen. I don't know why users want to plan on having to scratch and grunge up their display by having to touch it. I hate a screen that has been damaged and/or is dirty. This is what you ask for when you have a touch screen. This model uses, instead, a small joy stick which will help keep your screen nice and clear.

I was puzzled by the placement of the mounting hole on the bottom which is not centered as it should be. The professional lens is very nice and yields a quality picture. I have ordered two additional lenses to expand the 10X zoom range which is not enough for wildlife photography, my main use for this camcorder. The optional GL-V1846U Tele Conversion Lens is heavy. Perhaps it weighs as much as the camcorder. This makes the whole assembly front-heavy but not excessive. Using this lens, you will get a tunnel effect at 1X on the zoom. This will disappear at 2X and beyond. I have not yet received the GL-V0746U Wide Conversion Lens but expect that it will also be heavy. Together, these lenses will expand the total potential range from 0.7X to 18X (a span of over 25X).

A number of users on forums have had questions about how to use the TOD files that this camcorder produces. My platform is Windows XP. The camcorder comes with a Cyberlink software package that includes three programs: PowerCinema, PowerDirector and PowerProducer. PowerCinema allows you to browse and save video clips to your PC using a USB interface. You can play these TOD files from your PC's hard disk or directly from the camcorder. Few software packages know what to do with TOD files (even Cyberlink's). PowerDirector is an NLE video editor and when you go to import the TOD files, it converts them to MPG files in the process. What I do is to import them just for the side effect of getting the MPG files. PowerProducer seems to be a DVD authoring package. Now for the bad part. Many people have complained about the OIS not working very well. I can live with that because, with the higher resolution, you need to get used to using a tripod (or some other mechanical stablizer) anyway.

Users have reported that Pinnacle can use TODs directly but I have stopped using that package because it has some really bad behavior (including corrupting your project file when it crashes often). As it stands the MPG files are unusable for anything but static or nearly static scenes.

The pixel-shifting technique used in this camcorder allows its half-resolution triplet of CCD's (960 X 540) to stretch the images to full 1920 X 1080i so the image quality is probably below theoretical 1080i (but still better than 540i). Imagine what JVC could do with true 1920 X 1080 CCD's. This technique could produce a camcorder that rivals the Big Red One professional cinematic camcorder at a small fraction of the cost. At 3840 X 2160, its images could approach the 4K resolution of some very expensive equipment. My hat goes off to JVC.

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The unmatched quality leaves Sony and Canon in dust, November 21, 2007

By	Alex Vox (Winnetka, IL) - See all my reviews

First of all let me deny all the idiotic reviews that keep copying one another that this camera produces inferior video. This is 3ccd baby produces unmatched quality footage with perfect color separation, great sharpness and smooth operations. Technically speaking this camcorder is way over the category it was placed in. HD7 has a Fujinon PRO lens with 3(!!!) AS EL elements and it has consistent 1,8-1.9 aperture all across the range while Canon and Sony are 3 on the tele end.
I also deny any credibility to "reports" that claim its weak low light performance. I own vx2100 that is THE BEST low light camera for any price below $5000 and this hd7 is very near.
The optical image stabilization works very well, it is not supposed to suppress all shaking but for what it is billed it produces! I have absolutely no problems with it. In fact the image stabilization in this JVC keeps up MUCH BETTER than Sony VX2100! I linked two cams and shot the same footage with both. JVC wins easily and unequivocally.
I edit with FinalCut and using the free utility I downloaded from Internet all the footage is ready for edit in two minutes. The 60Gb of the drive makes a superb storage. To mention this camera has all the belts and whistles of full scale pro or near pro camcorder and if you know what you are looking for it is a steal for the money. Not to mention that it is pleasure to hold camera, quality made and convenient to operate.
Well, this camera awarded "Best expert camcorder of the year 2007" by META(!!!), so if you you are looking for a camcorder under $2000 it is a best you can get. You can get slightly better one for $3000 but it will not be so nicely compact and ready for the action.
I was stunned to see how competition tries to discredit superior product by pouring fake review supported by morons.
Do not use software included with the camcorder. Download free MPEG StreamClip that is SUPERB program!
For a full Professional review and complete instruction how to use it with Final Cut go to digitalcontentproducer.com and look for first and second parts of the review on this camcorder, it includes complete illustrated instructions! I use in Final Cut and I do not use FireWire with this camcorder at all!
I download full resolution footage via usb2 just like described in aforementioned review and footage is very quickly and without conversion in full quality is available is for editing (it can simply unwrap it in the same format as it is on the hard drive of gz-hd7).
I can't comment on iMovie as I do not use one. But for Final Cut it is a snap. BTW, also allows shooting events (like plays for example) that last longer that cassette allowed).
If you buy a camcorder to enjoy convenience, great image quality and boundless creativity it is the best thing you can buy.