The prosumer's bargain solution
Times have changed since I first hoisted fifty pounds of camera onto my shoulder and trudged around shooting. Technology has made it possible for anyone to compete with the professional in terms of quality.
As a professional who has worked in the industry for a while, I've invested a lot of money into equipment over the years. Recently, I took a look at my...
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
Great camera - wind is a problem
Excellent image quality, good color and contrast, amazing resolution. Very easy to use and setup. I have owned Sony cameras almost exclusively and wondered how the joystick control would work over the touch screen - it worked very well - if fact I liked it better. My largest concern and the reason I returned this unit was because of the wind noise. No matter what the...
This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-HD6 3CCD 120GB Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Electronics)
Excellent image quality, good color and contrast, amazing resolution. Very easy to use and setup. I have owned Sony cameras almost exclusively and wondered how the joystick control would work over the touch screen - it worked very well - if fact I liked it better. My largest concern and the reason I returned this unit was because of the wind noise. No matter what the setting, the slightest breeze would create an awful muffling sound - drowning out important sounds - even kids screaming and having fun at the pool. However, to be fair, the indoor audio quality is right up there with best in my opinion.
If you want to edit videos created by this camera consider this -- the iLink (IEEE 1394) firewire connection does work however you must record in the lower quality 1440 CBR (Constant Bitrate Mode) in order to get the video over the link and into popular capture software such as Adobe Premier, Sony Vegas and Apple's Final Cut Pro. I found this to be a little confusing and not well documented. Moreover, the camera will NOT stream video over this link - only playback previous recording footage.
Batter life is remarkable and the included software works great. You can create DVDs and Video CDs right over the USB cable using the supplied software.
Also, I read a ton of reviews about the awful image quality when taking video in low light conditions. I have to disagree with these prior reviews. I found it to perform about even with the Sony HDV-A1U - a professional HD camera.
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This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-HD6 3CCD 120GB Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Electronics)
Times have changed since I first hoisted fifty pounds of camera onto my shoulder and trudged around shooting. Technology has made it possible for anyone to compete with the professional in terms of quality.
As a professional who has worked in the industry for a while, I've invested a lot of money into equipment over the years. Recently, I took a look at my stock of standard definition prosumer cameras and compared them to the prosumer HD rigs out there. I found that I just couldn't stomach dropping another $3K to $10K on a rig that would likely be obsolete in a month. So when I needed an HD solution for a small project, I decided to buy a consumer-grade camera and "make do."
I had no idea at the time that I'd be able to find a camera that can not only shoot full frame HD but do so in a sleek, compact package that has almost all of the features I would look for in a professional rig.
Don't get me wrong ... there are features missing here, or buried in menus when they should be a button on the camera's body. But overall, I have to say that I am very impressed with this inexpensive HD solution. The 120GB hard drive means I can shoot 10 hours of full-frame HD, and the three CCDs mean I get the full range of detail, color, and data that I would expect. Two options for transfer--USB 2.0 and Firewire--are handy. And the simple fact that it has both a mic input and headphone outputs already puts it in a league above other consumer cameras.
This camera is an indie's dream. Cheap, outstanding quality, and plenty of room to shoot without worrying about tapes or other expendable media. And with 120GB onboard, you don't even have to worry about transferring! I could shoot an epic trilogy on this thing.
I highly recommend this camera to anyone who wants HD at an affordable price.
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This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-HD6 3CCD 120GB Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Electronics)
I own this camera for 12 months now. I agree to the positive reviews about the video quality and light handling. However when it comes to PC connectivity this camera simply - don't! The only way to get your videos on your PC is through the supported software. You can't stream live video and you can't use common software such as Movie Maker or Windows Media Encoder to capture live video or to immediately edit the recorded video (on the HD). The computer seems to recognize the camera as an AVC compliant device - but nothing more than that. And when it comes to using the supported software - is sucks! The software is very cumbersome to use, it uses a quite rare video format (some MAC type of TOD files) and the video editor software has very limited options for even the basic edits. If you need to edit your videos on your PC - be prepare to for a tedious job.
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This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-HD6 3CCD 120GB Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Electronics)
I am very happy woth this product. The picture quality is excellent, the controls are more intuitive than my last camera... making changes in the settings is far easier. This was the least expensive 3 CCD camera I could find but it was about half the price of the the mini dv 3 CCD camera I bought a few years ago. It's rather amazing.
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This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-HD6 3CCD 120GB Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Electronics)
I had used this camera for about three months. What I like best is the clarity of the picture -- when there's enough light. Nature scene look very nice and realistic. The 120GB hard drive is very nice because all the clips are arranged in a similar screen like a digital camera so all the scene look like individual digital photo
What I wish is better support for low light settings. But you get what you pay for.
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This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-HD6 3CCD 120GB Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Electronics)
This is a great product. The workarounds to use with the mac OSX platform are quite simple. You don't need the JVC software. This is an excellent camera for the price.
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This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-HD6 3CCD 120GB Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Electronics)
When the first commercially available electric car came out 12 years ago in California, they leased a limited number of them to both fleet and private consumers and then promptly quit making them, claiming that the demand for the car was too low. Then, they refused to renew any of the leases or allow potential buyers to purchase the car at the end of the least. Not only did they forego the profits that could have been realized by selling the cars to their happy customers, they went through the expense of reclaiming each vehicle, only to crush them and melt them down. Strange decision? Perhaps. Unwise allocation of resources? Certainly. But, it had to be in their best interest or they wouldn't have done it.
If video editing could be effectively done in camera, this unit would get a 10 out of 10. But, camera manufacturers rely on their drivers, software developers and computer makers to take images captured through the lens and manipulate them into something useable. The way a manufacturer engineers their software determines whether it has proven effective at "playing well with other children." Their choices MUST factor into how the product is rated. Frankly, JVC needs to return to grade school.
The box of a brand new JVC Everio GZ-HD6 says that the system requirements for this camera include "Macintosh G4/G5 and Intel dual core processors with speeds of 1.66 GHz or faster" It also says "Full HD" and "1080P". That is why I bought it! Then, I quickly found out that both are blatently untrue. The camera is interpolated - or 1080i. Without question, it creates beautiful images. But I say "so what - if the images it creates are unusable".
Reviewing the camera on Amazon, what you will find is that, these days, no Macintosh system requirements are listed; only a disclaimer: "Note: Software for Macintosh is not included. The applicable software is required. The system requirements information above is not a guarantee that the provided software will work on all personal computers meeting those requirements." Here is the real truth. The developers on both sides have made the .TOD files nearly impossible to use with industry standard professional software like Final Cut Pro and Premiere. I tried editing with versions of both and I couldn't make movies without numerous additional time-wasting completely unnecessary steps in my workflow. To their credit, Sony Vegas works like a champ with the PC software JVC provides in the box, but there is no Mac version.
I have visited JVC Everio online to see if they have resolved these issues in new cameras. What I discovered is that they have nothing even close to the quality of an HD6 or HD7 in their current consumer line up. It isn't because they haven't perfected the technology.
This series of camera is the General Motors electric car of a decade ago. Big oil came along and dictated what would take place. The camera, like the car, was just too good to be true, so someone had to make it ineffective in the real world; and ultimately they had to make it go away. I'm left with a stellar camera awaiting only the recall notice.
So, JVC.... are you merely smashing them - or are you melting them down as well? Who was your "big oil"? I guess the question is rhetorical since I can easily edit my footage using Sony Vegas on a PC. My warranty expires tomorrow. I take it there is nothing you are willing to do to make this right.
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This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-HD6 3CCD 120GB Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Electronics)
This camera is a great HD camera and at a great price (that's what happens when six months pass since a product introduction in the consumer market).
However, the lack of the ability to edit HD files using firewire is a big problem. To use firewire you need to record in less resolution 1440 (instead of 1920x1080) which doesn't permit great high resolution files to be downloaded automatically with firewire.
My Macbook Pro has firewire and I am used to iMovie for editing. No more. Now I have to download the files, get them converted and then edit them. Major bummer.
Anyway, it is worth all the money I paid for it and the 3CCD is amazing. Just look at the video clip of a setting sun in Honolulu (http://t12.org/honolulu.mp4). Not many cameras have such great dynamic range.
Well worth every cent!
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