JVC is the latest company to offer pocket camcorders. They’re calling theirs “Picsio”. The GC-FM1 is the first model, offered in Black Ice, Blue Steel and Purple Passion.

The camcorders utilize CMOS image sensors. They record in 1440×1080, progressive, and take 8-megapixel stills. Electronic image stabilization is provided, and the camcorder includes a 4x digital zoom. The video is stored on SD/SDHC cards, encoded as H.264 and saved with a QuickTime wrapper. There’s an HDMI output, and a USB port for transferring video and charging the camcorder.

So, are pocket camcorders the netbooks of the camcorder world? Just something that’ll get the job done but will be a passing fad for the current economy? Or are they here to stay? And if so, what’s their role? First camcorder to give a kiddo? The camcorders they’ll eventually be passing out to students on the first day of school? Gateway drug of choice for someone who thinks they want a camcorder? You be the judge, our lines are open.

Reprinted from a JVC press release:

New HD Everio GZ-HM400 offers Full HD, 9 MP stills and slow motion

JVC today announced a new video camera that offers the performance, features and handling demanded by video enthusiasts. The new JVC HD Everio GZ-HM400, available immediately, emphasizes image quality and usability in a design that videographers will find allows comfortable extended use. Read the rest of this entry »

Once again traveling the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center, at NAB we made a bee line for the camcorder manufacturers to see what was available in the low end of the broadcast range.

JVC was showing off it’s new ProHD solid state GY HM-100 and GY HM-700 camcorders, that record to SDHC cards in native Quicktime format. Both models record in almost every flavor of HD video, 1080i, 1080p, 720p at various NTSC and PAL compatible frame rates. The codec used is 35Mbps MPEG-2

JVC promised to get us a review unit of the hand held GY-HM 100 as soon as they’re off the assembly lines in a few weeks. The GY HM-100 is available within a few weeks at a price point of $3,995, and the HM-700 is on sale now for $7,995.

Panansonic announced a hand-held pro model, the HMC 40. This new small format camcorder also records to SDHC cards, but belongs to the AVCCAM line, meaning it records in AVCHD. The camcorder comes with 3, 1/4 inch CMOS sensors, with a maximum bit rate of 24Mbps.

The HMC 40 will be released in August with a suggested price of $3,195. We’re also keen to take a look at it here in the offices, as we really liked their HMC-150 in the same AVCCAM family.

Canon was there showing off some new broadcast lenses, but no updates to their camcorder line were there, unless you include the Canon 5D mark II DSLR, which they showed tricked out in their booth alongside their camcorders.

There were a lot of accessories for this DLSR, including follow focus systems, rails, viewfinders and various audio attachments. There’s no doubt that the DSLR as video camera is here to stay as a category. We’ve got our Canon on 5D mark II on the test bench now.

Sony didn’t have much in the way of new announcements this year, but one thing that did catch our eye, was the HXRMC1, POV camera. It’s essentially an AVCHD camcorder with the lens detached and conntected to the camcorder by a 9 foot cable. There’s all sorts of uses as a second camera with such versatility.

The camera shoots 1080i AVCHD to Memory Stick, and includes a 10x zoom lens, and weighs only 1lb. 1oz, making it possible to stick anywhere. Uses include work as a helmet-cam, or mounted on a boom pole for some extreme POV shots.

Our favorite guy from JVC, Allan Holland goes over the new 2009 Everio line in this YouTube video:

JVC professional has released an interesting new professional camcorder, the GY-HM100. This camcorder is the first to record directly into Quicktime format for immediate and transcode-less editing in Final Cut Pro. Using a 35Mbps MPEG 2 based codec, (HDV uses 25Mbps) in full 1920×1080 should result in some stunning image quality.

Unlike other professional flash memory based camcorders, this JVC model records directly to standard HDSC cards, that are very affordable and widely available for consumer camcorders, and DLSR’s.

The GY-HM100 has 3, 1/4 CCD imagers,  a 10:1 zoom lens made by Fujinon, and a full compliment of professional controls.

In addition JVC Pro dropped some hints at a full sized, shoulder mount model based on the same technology, called the GY-HM700

The GY-HM100 is scheduled for delivery in April 2009, with a list price under $4,000.

The GY-HM700 is scheduled for delivery in March 2009. More details will be released in February 2009.

We’ll fill you in on more details soon when we get our hot little hands on in. In the meantime there are more details in JVC’s press release below.

Read the rest of this entry »