Had this digicam for about 24 hours and here are my first impressions:I own a Panasonic SV AV100 which saves mpeg2 video and mpg4 to a SD card. It did it well and I was pleased with it, but the low resolution digital camera function was surpassed by some wireless phones. I wanted a device that took high resolution photos and digital mpeg2 video saved to a memory card that could be immediately loaded to PC and burnt to DVD. The JVC GZ-MC100 and MC200 took 2mp pictures and saved mpeg2 video to a 4 gb microdrive or SD card, but had poor low light performance worse than my little Panasonic. So, it was with some anxiety that I shelled out $1595 for the GZ-MC500.
I bought it hoping that the new 3CCD video chip would not only give better color video and good 5mp jpeg pictures, but that JVC would have taken the time to improve low light performance... and they did.
In bright light the automatic videocam performance of the camera is really good. Indoors without any light on and bright sunlight coming in the window, the video remained sharp with pretty good color saturation and no graininess to my eye when played back on TV directly from camera. The MC500 seems to really be working much, much better in low light conditions than the MC100/200s before it. At night with room lights on, I took more videos and although there was some dimming of the picture, the video was still bright and not grainy. Color still looked good though there was some loss of color saturation in those conditions. In a completely dark room, forget about it since there is no infrared function. But I did not care about that. Much better in low light than my Panasonic SV-AV100 overall. Microphone picked up voices/sounds in stereo very well.
The interface is intuitive and easy to navigate for me.
The camera bottom heats up while recording to microdrive and I never recorded more than 5 minutes of video but the heat build up was quite noticeable. Unlike my Panasonic, there is no remote control which is quite disappointing in a $1600 digicam that is begging for immediate video playback to TV directly from camera.
In summary, I am both relieved at the camera's good low light performance and very happy with the camera's mpeg2 video quality and very happy with the 5mp jpeg picture performance. I would give this camera 4.5 stars out of five taking off 1/2 point for lack of remote control.
Go to this site and use translate option on google toolbar to read text or just download the duck video and jpegs to see this camera's quality. Rename video .mod extension to .mpg to view in WMP. Remember this is 720 x 480 mpg2
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Firstly, everyone says this bug is not "that good" with low light. I can not agree with this, there are a few settings in the menu, and you can get really good results under low light. If you leave it at "auto" mode though, they're right. It sometimes sucks!
It also has issues with the other meaning of "light"... Weight is so low. Combined with its narrow-angled default lens, that lightness causes too much shake in the picture. But that can be solved by installing a wider lens. I don't like to turn on its digital image stabilizer, since it gives the picture an artificial effect, but it can work for you.
Another problem I experienced is: Your computer will see the camera as a hard disk. So when it's plugged, your computer will not recognize your other external hard disks. I had a huge external USB hard disk to store videos, but I can not transfer video files from camera to that disk directly, coz the computer does not allow both of them at the same time. First you must transfer from camera to your main internal disk, than you must plug the big external disk and move files to that one.
Still image quality is really bad for 5 megapixels. That's so clear.
But still I do not regret I bought this camcorder. The pain of capturing videos, splitting them, etc. are gone forever. You just drag & drop the files. And they already come splitted, because Everio takes every shot as another file. In other words, everytime you press the record/stop button, you create another video file. That's sooo useful.
I tried the included software. That video editing software is really primary, it will bore you after learning the basics. But you can get real stuff from Adobe instead. They offer trial versions of Premiere on the site.
Finally, buy this camcorder if you care about:
1) Easier editing
2) Size and Weight
3) 3 CCD (Not a big difference though)
And do not buy if you care about:
1) Need long battery life
2) Will make 1-piece long shootings, like sport matches, conferences, etc.
3) Have Parkinson disease ;)
4) Will use more for still pix, than video
Since editing is my priority, I rate it with four stars, but your rating will only depend on your purpose.
Buy JVC Everio GZMC500 5MP 3CCD 4GB Microdrive Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Now
I must say that amount of excitement and thrill I had with extremely high degree of anticipated satisfaction while I was getting this item packed, it didn't make it to my satisfaction in reality owing to vedio quality I'm getting for such a high price.Good things:
1. Very compact, easy to carry
2. If someone is not too much fuss about quality, both video and still picture in one device which is great
3. Digital to digital transfer, saves heaps of time and pain for transfer from camera to PC. I have bought a portable hard disk of 40 GB capacity so that on trip I can transfer from camera to it without needing to carry my laptop everywhere
4. One of the very nice things I liked is ability to record just voice. Especially voice quality is pretty good so it is much appreciated feature.
Bad:
1. Video quality is good but not so good as one would expect with 3 CCD, digital storage and so much price. Final picture looks like as if a high quality recording with a dirty lense.
2. There is no manual view finder. so if sun is on on your back, you can't see a thing in digital view finder
3. Operation of record and stop button is not very ergonomic. I get strain my hand
4. Gets heated up very quickly.
5. Button to switch between still and video is pathetic. I never able to get it in right position
6. I'm surprised that JVC forced to adopt to Cyberlink editing software by creating .mod files. I hate it to bottom of my heart. I have to first open files in cyberlink software, create an AVI file which I then import into another video editing software like movie maker or Sony Vegas. This is extremely painful since it is time consuming and I suspect I'm loosing quality also.
7. Even though still picture resolution is 5 mega pixel, I don't get is quite as good I use to get in Sony 5 mega pixel even after using tripod.
8. Battery life is not very good.
Read Best Reviews of JVC Everio GZMC500 5MP 3CCD 4GB Microdrive Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Here
I make a living producing videos with Mac's. I own this camera and I love it but there is one truth: the camera is not supported by JVC for Mac's... but that does not matter since you can still have a great experience. It is actually simpler to use with a Mac than with a PC! No need to install drivers and softwares.To summarize it:
1I did not install anything... there is no Mac software. You do not need it. Plug it in. It mounts the MicroDrive and you copy the files to your HD or burn a DVD from it. Without the need to copy files first (but recommended since microdrives are slow).
2You can import your photos from the SD with iPhoto. You are set. That's it.
So what can you do with the video?
1-Burn a copy of the MicroDrive content in about 10 mins! It cannot be simpler. Just drag the video folder to Roxio's Toast. It imports. Click burn. That's it! You have a DVD in about 10-15 minutes of the entire content. No conversions. No delays. Toast 7 will let you customize the DVD a bit and it makes a great backup of your digital memories. It cannot be simpler.
2-Need to edit the video? Download the free application MPEG Streamclip. Convert your video to editable formats. Plenty of options. Free. Very high quality conversions. Solid. Another option would be to import the saved-to-DVD files using DVDxDV and create your editable movies.
In my work I use professional cameras such as the HD Panasonic's AG-HVX200 and even when your are used to HD video, the quality of the video from this unit is very respectable, especially when you consider its size.
I love its size, wieght, media portability, etc. I do not know if this the right video recorder for you but for me, it was exactly what I was looking for. It fits my video workflow, style and usage.
I recommend HDD video recorders even for the casual home video producer.... shoot your video, trim it and burn it. That easy. By the way, make two DVDs, one for usage and the second for storing your memories (backup).
Summarizing, if you have a Mac and Toast, it is so simple that it silences the ignorant PCr2 user who "reviewed" it here.... the only thing he did was to critize what he does not understand (or do not want to understand). He probably does not want to use other operating systems because he might be too old to learn new and better things in life such as a reliable operating system.
If you are a Mac user, I recommend you to visit forums such as camcorderinfo.com to get the usefull information. As with anything, beware of biased opinings that do not help you solve your needs.
Technical note: Roxio's Toast will import all MOD video files directly into it. Since the video is not converted in any way, it preserves the original video and audio quality.
There are various things that can be better in this camera but you need to know what these are before you buy it. There are size, format, capacity and design limitations. Know them before you buy it and if it still meets your criteria, you'll agree that it is an amazing camera.
I gave it 4 out of 5 for minor things that I actually can live with such as a slow startup, the monitor does not flip out, no mic input, cannot turn information off while recording (just while playing) and nithing else. I knew these limitations before I bought it so it met my expectations.
Hope this helps.
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I was looking for a camcorder to replace my old Panasonic PV-L757 (VHS-C) camcorder but was overwhelmed by the number of available choices. Also, the Olympus D450Z still camera that I bought in 1999 is more than a little dated so upgrading to a better camera was important.When I spotted a small writeup of the GZMC500 in "Wired" magazine I thought "This is the new camera I've been looking for." "I can kill two birds with one stone." A new baby just weeks away prompted me to get on Amazon's waiting list and wait for the camera to be released. The camera arrived in mid-July.
I have not been impressed.
The camera *is* quite small and easy to handle. Amazingly small, in fact. Unfortunately the camera does not have a built-in light so low light video is poor. To make matters worse the still pictures are also poor. I'm probably more disappointed with the still picture quality than the video quality. I've pretty much given up using the 500 as a still camera since the D450Z does a better, more predictable job.
I sprang for the accessory hard case with an extra battery but that probably wasn't a good choice. You can only charge the battery while it is installed in the camera so you end up opening and closing the camera to swap batteries for charging. With the experience I've had so far there's just no way I'll spend another $150 for the JVC dual battery charger. $150 for a battery charger!?! I don't think so...
This is not the camera I thought it would be.
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