Camcorder Review:
JVC Everio GZ-MG70 Hard Disk Camcorder (page 2)

In the field, the JVC Everio GZ-MG70 proved to be a great shooter. The resulting images at Ultra Fine, Fine and Normal quality looked sharp, with bold color reproduction and with little to no noticeable compression noise. However, at Economy quality, there's a significant amount of compression noise--but if you plan on shooting paint drying (or anything with very little motion), it might be less of a problem. Furthermore, at 1,600 pixels by 1,200 pixels, the still photos equally looked sharp and rich in color.

With the ability to manually control focus, exposure, white balance, shutter speed in both photo and video modes, you should also be able to make the most of different shooting environments. There's also a night mode and several program modes to complement these diversities, too.

In the end, casual shooters will find the JVC Everio GZ-MG70 hard disk camcorder to be a great non-tape based solution. The mere fact that you can record a little over 7 hours of footage at the highest quality makes this incredibly convenient for people who love to shoot. Consider, however, that when you fill the camcorder's hard drive disk all the way up, you'll need to find a place to store all that video and photo data. If you're confident that you'll be to find the time to back up content, either to your computer or an analog device, it's definitely a worthy camcorder.

Format: 30GB hard drive
Number of CCDs: 1
Size of CCDs: 1/ 3.6"
Pixels on CCD: 2,120k total
Focus: Auto/Manual (using dial)
Shutter Speed: Auto/Manual
Maximum Shutter Speed: 1/4000 (1/500 in still mode)
Minimum Shutter Speed: 1/4
Lens f Stop: 1.8-2.2
Program Exposure Modes: 5, plus Backlight
Optical Zoom: 10x
Focal Length: 4.5-45mm
Image Stabilization: Electronic
Manual White Balance: Yes
Viewfinder: None
LCD Monitor: 2.5" TFT
HD Modes: No
Video In: No
Video Out: Composite, S-Video, USB 1.1/2.0
Mono/Stereo Recording: Stereo
Microphone In: No
VU Meters: No
Manual Audio Level Controls: No
Headphone Jack: No
Speaker: Yes
Still Shot Media: SD Memory Card
Memory Card Included: No
Flash: Yes
Wireless Remote: Yes
External Battery Charger Provided: No
Battery Type: Lithium Ion
Onboard Video Light: No
Accessory Shoe: No

• 30GB HDD
• Easy to operate
• Good quality compression

• Short battery life with supplied battery
• No mic input
• Camera tends to get very warm

Mark Montgomery is Videomaker's Editorial Assistant.

$1,100
JVC Company of America
1700 Valley Rd.
Wayne, NJ 07470
(973) 317-5000
www.jvc.com

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