Video Camera Review:
JVC GR-D200 Mini DV Camcorder
Video Camera Review: JVC GR-D200
JVC's GR-D200 is a stylish palm Mini-DV camcorder made for the person who wants point-and-shoot ease for video and still images. Its colorful circular design makes the GR-D200 look a bit like a portable CD player. No doubt, JVC sought to introduce some on-the-shelf eye appeal to differentiate the GR-D200 from the multitude of its competitors.
Like many of them, the GR-D200 sports FireWire, USB and analog video outputs, making it easy to dump video and stills to computers and to copy video to VCRs. A one (1.33) megapixel CCD attempts to get the most out of this little cameras light capturing abilities. We found this cams scalable flash to be a nice addition.
Skin Deep
The GR-D200 has a very solid feel, but it is not the most comfortable camera to operate. People with small hands will have an easier time with it. The rest of us will have to make sure our pinkies dont drift in front of the lens. Also, the controls for zoom and snapshot are a bit too far to the rear of the camera for some. We had better results holding the GR-D200 in both palms than with a hand under the provided strap. None of these are terribly uncommon issues with ultra-small camcorders.
The nice-looking semi-circular color band on the LCD side of the camcorder carries the dual-function control buttons on its crest. In VCR playback mode, they control transport functions and in manual video record mode they select exposure and focus settings. The menu and its navigation controls are under the 2.5-inch LCD along with the memory card slot and the video/still selector switch. We liked the placement of these controls and found them easy to operate. The back of the camera has the small and proprietary analog A/V input/output jack. You wont find the respective cable at the local electronics store, so dont lose the one that comes with the camera.
Come-out, Come-out Wherever
In a room with several video professionals, we competed to see if we could find the FireWire and USB ports without looking at the manual. Embarrassment ensued as minutes (literally) ticked by. Finally, we found the jacks under a cute and cleverly disguised plastic wedge above the LCD, just below the transport controls, with no labeling to guide the user. It isnt a bad design; in fact it is quite elegant; its just hard to find the first time. One problem, however, is that the FireWire cable partially obscures the LCD when plugged in.
As with too many of the digital video cameras we review, the tape is loaded into the GR-D200 from its bottom and you must remove the camcorder from your tripod and tripod shoe in order to change tapes.
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