JVC GRDX77 MiniDV Digital Camcorder

Rating:
Summary: Happy with new JVC
Review: I changed my previous JVC Mini DV, which was 4 years old. Was looking to change it for a Sony mini Dv camcorder, based on reviews and size, however if you compare price vs quality of this JVC mini DV, I think it is the best on the market.
Does not have night shot (green images), but even with low light quality is good. Has an integrated light, which none of the other camcorders have. Agree with previous comments. Do not buy an sd card as photos are really bad, I do not know where the 1.3 M pixels are. Quality of filming is good, weight probably 500 gr, and it is small. Screen is excellent, bright and high resolution. Software to capture in the PC not so good, but you can capture anyway with Windows media Player.
Have it three months now and still convinced it was a very good purchase.
regards

Rating:
Summary: GRDX77 A Good Choice but...
Review: I'm generally pleased with the GR-DX77, the video quality is good, it is compact, and I like the layout of the controls at the back of the camcorder. However, there are a couple of things to be aware of when deciding to purchase.

First, a little more on what I like about the camera. Since I'm upgrading from an older JVC model, I like that the menuing system is very similar to my old camcorder. I don't have to learn a new menu. I also like the joystick like thumb controller on the back of the camera for manual control. Once you get used to it, sort of like a game controller, you can quickly set focus, turn off and on the LCD video light, turn on the backlight control, and set the spot metering to one of three areas shown on the viewfinder. My hands are about as wide as the camera and this camcorder fits me quite well.

Video color quality seems quite good to me, and low light video quality is much better than my older GR-DV505. I also haven't noticed any tape motor or zoom noise on recorded video. The sound quality doesn't seem quite as good as my old camcorder, but is certainly acceptable. There is an accessory mic port for better quality sound if needed.

My computer instantly recognized my camera when plugged in through my firewire port, and had no problem controlling the camera and downloading video with my editing software (Pinnacle Studio 9). I haven't tried the USB connection, so no comment.

Now for the buts. First, there is no neckstrap included with the camera. If you like carrying a camera around out of its bag and around your neck, you will need to buy an accessory strap. This will have to share a strap bracket with the hand strap, and there isn't much room to attach. For gals, they can put the camera in their purse, but most guys won't have this option, and the camera is just a little too wide to fit comfortably in your pocket. Kind of defeats the purpose of being compact, when you can't put it around your neck in between shots.

Second, if the palm of your hand is wider than the camera, about 4 inches, you might have trouble handling this camera as your pinky finger might have a tendency to slip in front of the lens, and you might struggle with your thumb conveniently finding the controls in back. For me it is just fine, but I can see where bigger hands could have trouble.

While there is an auxiliary mic input jack, there is no headphone jack which is common on other camcorders. However, if you buy the right adapters (RCA to 3.5 mini) you can plug a headphone into the supplied A/V cable. The A/V cable is a bit bulky, with several different connections, so this is not as convenient as it could be with a dedicated headphone jack.

If you plan on carrying more than one battery around, this camera doesn't come with a separate charger, it is built into the camera. I find it more convenient to charge off camera than on, so I bought a separate battery charger.

All things considered, I am pleased with my decision to buy this camera, it will work just fine for my kind of use, mostly recording memorable personal and family events. Though seemingly small, I was a bit irked that a neckstrap was not included. For more a more technical review of this model or any camcorder, you might want to check www.camcorderinfo.com.

Rating:
Summary: Great little camcorder
Review: I'm really pleased with this little guy. It's so tiny and easy to use. I take it everywhere and get much more video of my kids than I ever did with my old 8mm.

When reading camcorder reviews you'll find a lot of hand wringing about quality video in low-light. You need not worry about that with this camera. At my son's football practice last night, the sun had set and it was almost dark except for the lights from a far off soccer field. Yet, the video was very bright if not a little grainy and colorless. It was easy to capture my son drilling the quarterback, which is the whole purpose anyway. I also captured the beautiful sky as the sun set over the trees. The color was as vivid as the naked eye when I played the tape back on my tv.

For the most part, if the room is very dark, your video will be very dark. The camera does a great job of duplicating what the naked eye sees. I'm very pleased.

The only thing is the battery life. With the lcd open while your filming, your only going to get about 45 minutes of video before the meter drops close to zero. I'm in the process now of buying some more batteries.

I haven't hooked it to my PC yet or tried the still photos so I can't comment on that. All I can say is that if your looking to film the kids in the pool or at a birthday party, you can't go wrong. And the small size is going to allow me to videotape events discretely without looking like a goof.

Also, don't worry about handling it, once you adjust the strap it works just fine. The zoom and record buttons are easy to find in the dark.

Rating:
Summary: Best Buy!
Review: If I'm to review this based from its price, this is absolutely the best there is!

I've been keeping an eye on this one since it was released, so far this are the complaints I've read from other forums:

- Short Battery life. (Actually 1 hour's not bad)
- Lousy still images. (If you want good stills, buy a digicam instead)
- Motor noise. (It's tolerable for me cause it's not that loud)
- Zoom glitch. (There's this one guy who complains that his camcorder zooms automatically when switched on, probably busted huh? Well something like that happened to mine as well. I was taking a video, my fingers were not touching any of the zoom buttons, when suddenly it zoomed-in by itself. I'm not sure if this is a glitch or just an isolated case, but I'll post it here just in case someone else experienced this.)

Everything else are great. In fact it's more than I expected for the price.

*EXTRA*
Here are some tips when buying accesories for this camcorder.
- Do not bother buying a SD or MMC card. Videos are great but the stills are lousy you'll only end up deleting those.
- Buy a spare battery. The battery that comes with the camcorder will only last up to an hour.
- Buy an external microphone and use it as much as you can. There's a jack available for it so why not use it. Besides the motor noise can get irritating for some.
- Firewire cables are not included. If you're planning to capture your videos to your PC, then you'll need this.
- Shoulder or neck strap, you don't want to hold your camcorder all the time, right? I bought a carrying case instead.
- Lastly, tapes! But you knew that already.

Rating:
Summary: great but 2 big inconveniences
Review: This camcorder is very small and very simple but
1/ it takes horrible still pictures
2/ I haven't been able to find a simple little pouch for it. I called JVC and they told me they didn't even make one ! unbelievable.
If anyone has found a compatible pouch please let me know !
thanks