This camera is incredibly sleek-looking, with all the bells and whistles you expect to find on a consumer camcorder. In addition, the new Everio fits comfortably into your hand, is equipped with excellent features and is easy to operate. If you have a workstation that is set up for this kind of camcorder and want to eliminate tape, this camera may be right for you. Just remember, when buying a camcorder that uses a hard disk drive, you must have the hard drive space and/or DVD supply to back up your footage. Nothing is worse than having a camera break down and take all your footage with it.

Format: HDD/ SD memory card
Image Sensor: 1/2.5-inch CCD chip
Video Effective Pixels: 4 Megapixels
Interchangeable Lenses: No
Lens f-stop: 3.5
Optical Zoom: 10x
Focal Length: 6.3mm-63mm
Focus: Auto/manual
Iris/Gain Control: Auto
Shutter Speed: Auto/AE mode selectable
Maximum Shutter Speed: 1/4000
Minimum Shutter Speed: 1/2
Image Stabilization: Electronic
Internal ND Filter: Yes
Program Exposure Modes: Sports, portrait, snow, twilight, spotlight
Manual White Balance: Yes
Zebra Stripes: No
Viewfinder: n/a
LCD Monitor 2.7" 112K pixels widescreen
Progressive Scan: No
SD Modes Economy, normal, fine, ultra fine
Maximum Bit Rate 720x480 pixels, 8.5 Mbps (VBR)
Video In: Yes
Video Out on Camcorder: USB 2.0, AV (Composite, RCA stereo)
Video Out on Dock USB 2.0, S-video, FireWire, AV (Composite, RCA stereo)
Color Bar Generator: No
Audio Modes: Stereo
Microphone In: Yes
VU Meter: No
Manual Audio Level Controls: No
Headphone Jack: Yes, AV connector
Speaker: Yes
Wireless Remote: Yes
External Battery Charger Provided: No
Battery Type: Lithium ion
Onboard Video Light: Yes
Accessory Shoe: Yes, cold
Dock: Yes

• 30GB hard disk space
• Easy controls
• Good design

• Proprietary .MOD file format

JVC's Everio GZ-MG555 is an easy-to-use camera that uses a hard disk drive to record video.

Jay Alexander is a professional videographer and commercial producer.

JVC
1700 Valley Rd.
Wayne, NJ 07470
www.jvc.com

$900