JVC GRD33 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/16x Optical Zoom

I bought this as an upgrade from my VHS-C camcorder. I tested it against my roommates' Canon ZR80 and Panasonic GS9.

The video quality in low-light situations was suprisingly good, given what I had heard about most digital camcorders' abilities. The video quality in outdoor situations was even better. It's not up to spec with a Sony, but it's way cheaper, and it outdoes the more expensive Canon ZR. The GS9 was about the same in quality.

However, the camcorder didn't seem to handle combined bright/low-light situations all that well. While it had no problem filming dark regions (shaded/indoors) from a brightly lit area, when filming brightly-lit regions from indoors, the camcorder recorded white streaks that partially obscured whatever was being filmed. I had this problem with the ZR80 and the GS9, so it may just be an issue with low end camcorders in general.

The camcorder had no problem focusing when zooming below 20x magnification, though above 24x, it had noticeable difficulty focusing in low light. It couldn't focus at all above 40x in either bright or low light even with highly contrasting backgrounds and scenery. It shares this problem with the GRD73 and GRD93. The GS9 and ZR80 were noticeably better at focusing at these magnifications.

Though it offers the option to record photos as "stills", the quality wasn't very good. It was also difficult and time-consuming to retrieve these "stills" because the camcorder doesn't use a flash card to store them. I ended up sticking with my digital camera for taking pics; the low quality setting was better than the high quality setting on the camcorder.

I had no problems with audio. The motor, which could be heard during recording and playback (on the camcorder) was not recorded to the video and was not audible when played back on a tv or computer. However, it is very loud, and quickly became annoying. The GS9 recorded a barely noticeable shrill, but the ZR80's motor drowned out softer sounds and was very noticeable on playback (using a TV or computer).

The camcorder doesn't come with the cable needed to hook it up to a computer, but any Firewire card (aka i.Link or ieee 1394) you buy comes with the cable, so that's not much of an issue.

However, I was peeved that most of the packaged software were demo or trial versions.

I spent some time trying to find a Minidv camcorder under $400 that had great low light capabilities. I ended up with JVC's GR-D33, and here's what I found after shooting some test footage and making a DVD:

The picture quality of footage shot outside was outstanding and never looked digital. The low light capabilities are in fact impressive. Footage shot in my basement (less light than a "low light situation") was clear and wasn't too pixilated. There is a neat backlight feature that cancels out background light to record detail of the subject in the foreground. The motor noises from the camera and the zoom can be heard on tape only when recording in quiet situations, but this shouldn't be a problem under any normal circumstances. My Windows XP system saw the camera when I Firewire'd it to the computer. I captured footage in the native DV format, edited it, made a DVD to watch on TV, and was extremely impressed by the quality of the picture. This is a fantastic no-frills camera with great low light performance, and is a steal at the price.

Buy JVC GRD33 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/16x Optical Zoom Now

I was looking for an inexpensive digital camcorder (i do own a very good digital camera) and this fit the budget perfectly. Its very easy to use on auto mode (it does have a manual mode for savvy users) and the video quality is great even indoors on dim light situations. The audio quality is good (though the mic is not external) and there is no motor noise that i've seen people complain about in other camcorders.

Pros:

Great quality, incredible value, easy to use.

Cons:

Remote control for play back.

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I can tell you from personal experience with JVC mini camcorders that purchasing one is an expensive mistake. Even with a protection plan from Circuit City, Best Buy, etc., the units are EXTREMELY fragile (esp. the cassette loading/ejecting apparatus) and the now infamous "E04 Safeguard Mode" (go ahead, Google it) message will eventually appear and that will be the end of recording digital videos with a JVC mini DV camera. Further, JVC support is nonexistent with regard to these error messages and how to correct them.

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Received camera within 1 week.Looked very presentable.Tried it out in 1 week.Looked at the video a week later.Was very clear. Got a good working unit. Seller was honest