Home :: Cameras :: Camcorders :: Digital Camcorders :: Digital MiniDV  

Digital DVD
Digital MicroMV
Digital MiniDV

Digital Tapeless
Digital8
JVC GRD30 MiniDV Camcorder with 2.5" LCD and 16x Optical Zoom

JVC GRD30 MiniDV Camcorder with 2.5" LCD and 16x Optical Zoom

List Price: $449.99
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: JVC IS HORRIBLE and the customer support is a JOKE
Review: I ONLY GAVE THIS 1 STAR BECAUSE IT DOESNT GO LOWER THAN THAT. We had this camera and used it approximately 15 hours and it had a error and said the lens cap is on and will not work. Jvc's customer support is the worst I have ever used in my life. We emailed and they said they will get back to you in 5 days... We emailed a few times and got no reply in MONTHS....... You call and push the button for support and it transfers you and hangs up....Call back and get transfered and hung up on again.... Call again and push to get the location of a store and get a message that this is down also... I called again and pushed another option and finaly get to talk to someone,,, I tell the woman that i have seen the same problem listed online on numerous sites and ask if theres a recall or anything. I get told that jvc does not do recalls but she knows what is wrong from so many other customers having this problem, and then she says it definataly needs sent in and fixed. She asks if we had the camera longer than 3 months and says they will not cover anything, or recall anything, no matter how many customers have the problem. I ended up telling her that if the product they sell is worth a crap it would last longer than 3 months. DONT BUY FROM JVC......or if you do, in a few short months ill just say...I HATE TO SAY I TOLD YA SO.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great quality, especially for the price.
Review: ..... I love it. The picture and sound quality are great, I dont think I could ask for more.

The battery it comes with is good for over an hour, which easily covers a 60 minute tape. Thats better than the default battery you get with a lot of other camcorders which are often in the 30-45 minute range. It lacks the remote control and USB/memory card you get with the 2 higher (and more expensive) models, but thats fine by me. It can still take stills, but its not a function I have any interest in. If I want good stills, I have a 2.2MP Kodak for that. Pretty much everyone knows by now that you dont get good stills off a camcorder, just as you dont get good video off a still cam. If its an included secondary feature, then fine, but dont expect the quality you get with a more dedicated device. I got this for the video, and its a wonderful thing.

It doesnt do too well in really low light, of course I wasnt really expecting otherwise. I have yet to ever see a digital camcorder that actually does great with inadequet light. It has a night mode, which does greatly increase the lighting, but it drops the frame rate terribly. It has another "backlight" function that can be handy for less than optimal lighting. But in reasonable-good lighting, you get wonderfull piture quality. It has a nice selection of transition effects built in, I still have yet to explore them all. The 16x optical zoom is cool. Its more than enough for me. The size of the unit is nice, not too big and not too small - similar in shape/size to the canon ZR series, only this thing is of higher quality than the canon counterparts, especially where audio is concerned.

Now, Im sure this isnt the ideal model for everyone in every situation, but for the price, you'd be hard pressed to get this kind of quality elsewhere. There are $$$$ models that cant compare to this, so Im happy with the buy. Its pretty easy to use. Not too much of a learning curve. Not so many buttons that you get lost. Manual/automatic choices. Yeah, its a nice piece of work and I was surprised at how affordable it was. I would recommend this to most people.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Worst Camcorder Ever
Review: After two tapes and only a year and a half later the camcorder went into a lock up mode "Operation Paused Condensation," and it will only allow a tape to be inserted after approximately 50 tries. To my surprise, I got absolutely no support from JVC's tech support. What a shame I WAS a very loyal JVC customer. I wished I never had replaced my 7-year-old Sony 8mm camcorder.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: bad luck
Review: At first i was very happy with my new camcorder.I Took it everywhere and it was very easy to use. I even learned how to use the special effects. But soon i discovered that there was something wrong with it. There was a kind of a spot on the screen and on the picture.Maybe it was a defect which happens sometimes in one out of many new products.Maybe it was just my bad luck to recieve a defected camcorder. i had to return it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Happy w/product
Review: Best camera I found in the same price range,better picture than comparable Sony or Cannon

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Defective?
Review: I am a music teacher so I use this camera a lot to shoot indoor concerts- some well lit, some not- from some distance away. The zoom is powerful, shots are steady with tripod, and the picture quality is great. I haven't had a serious problem with low light yet. Although, there is usually some kind of spotlight on the performers so the camera goes to that to focus which is fine. In low light situations like lights off at a party or wedding reception, you might have some difficulties, but from what I understand this is to be expected from digital video cameras.

Our old Panasonic VHS-C does well in low light so when we know that we will be somewhere with low light, we take that camera instead and settle for less picture quality and we just dump the video into the computer via our Dazzle connection.

Overall, this unit is EXTREMELY lightweight and easy to use. It really does charge in less than two hours. We received a video bag with it that is way, way, way too big. We could probably put this unit and one or two blank tapes in a digital camera bag and be on our way.

I love the portability and the ease of use to hook it up to the computer and burn DVD's. For me, it's been great because I am a picture person. Tons of photos get kind of expensive. Having more home movies to add to our collection of photos and memories has been great. Plus it's so portable and it charges fast. We've even charged it using the power inverter in our mini-van.

The only down side that I can think of is that because it is so lightweight, your handheld shots can really show camera shake if you're not careful. I actually found it easier to balance and keep our shots steady with our older and much heavier Panasonic VHS-C. If JVC could get a better image stabilization system going, they would really have a hit with these camcorders.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: LOVE IT, worth the money, best in class for price/features
Review: I am a music teacher so I use this camera a lot to shoot indoor concerts- some well lit, some not- from some distance away. The zoom is powerful, shots are steady with tripod, and the picture quality is great. I haven't had a serious problem with low light yet. Although, there is usually some kind of spotlight on the performers so the camera goes to that to focus which is fine. In low light situations like lights off at a party or wedding reception, you might have some difficulties, but from what I understand this is to be expected from digital video cameras.

Our old Panasonic VHS-C does well in low light so when we know that we will be somewhere with low light, we take that camera instead and settle for less picture quality and we just dump the video into the computer via our Dazzle connection.

Overall, this unit is EXTREMELY lightweight and easy to use. It really does charge in less than two hours. We received a video bag with it that is way, way, way too big. We could probably put this unit and one or two blank tapes in a digital camera bag and be on our way.

I love the portability and the ease of use to hook it up to the computer and burn DVD's. For me, it's been great because I am a picture person. Tons of photos get kind of expensive. Having more home movies to add to our collection of photos and memories has been great. Plus it's so portable and it charges fast. We've even charged it using the power inverter in our mini-van.

The only down side that I can think of is that because it is so lightweight, your handheld shots can really show camera shake if you're not careful. I actually found it easier to balance and keep our shots steady with our older and much heavier Panasonic VHS-C. If JVC could get a better image stabilization system going, they would really have a hit with these camcorders.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Camera... with some big problemas
Review: I boight this camera a year ago, at the beginning I was really happy with the movies it can take, and also the capability to export them to any pc just with a standart firewire connection. BUt finlly I got problems with the nighshot (it didnt work at all) and the reason for finally sold it was it started to make heavy noises on the casette compartment, so loud that you could hear the noises in the tape you record. I went to JVC and the didnt gave me any naswer for the problem (I dont have guarantee since I live outside USA).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: So far so good
Review: I bought this camcorder some time ago, so far, it's great, lot of options and bargain price. For connectivity to the PC, you need a firewire card and a cable which costs around 30 $. The only problem "I HAD" was that the date/time has to be set up each time i take out the battery. I guess the internal battery it comes with was dead, and I can't replace it since i live outside the US. Night shot is average, and don't expect other Camcorders to perform better... In daylight, it is PERFECT.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: good value, if it doesn't break
Review: I bought this model JVC mini DV camcorder one year ago when it was first released. The price then was $375 after a $25 rebate, great price I add. At around November of that year the camera locked up into "Condensation, Operation Paused" mode. I didn't know what to do, and the Authorized JVC location wanted a lot of money to just look at the camera, not fix it. I read online that putting a blow dryer on it and leaving it plugged in and on for one hour will allow the camera to clear up the condensation. It worked, but the camera started to go into that mode over and over, until it was in a perpetual locked mode. After leaving it plugged in a week, it suddenly became fine, and here I am a day later it appears to be fine now. This camera shoots great video except in low-light situations which is fine but I find it unreliable. I went on a trip and it never worked, but it works now, weird.


<< 1 2 3 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates