Please note that since there have already been many user reviews written, this may not seem like much of a "review", but I thought I would touch on a few things I was wondering about myself before buying the camera in case it might help someone else.
This hard drive-based camcorder is wonderful. Well done JVC! I was going to buy the next model up, the MG70, but since I don't use it for photos, I don't believe I would benefit from the increased megapixel CCD. Besides, the MG70 only had 10x optical zoom, and was missing the video light and F1.2 bright lens. I'm happy with the MG50.
In case you haven't noticed, this camcorder has no viewfinder so you must use the flip-out LCD screen.
Video quality: The hard drive feature is brilliant! The only quality level you should avoid is Econo (37 hr mode), since it reduces the resolution by half and also records only about 15 frames per second. Ultra-fine (7.25 hrs) is the best, but I couldn't notice much of a difference when I lowered the quality level to Fine (10 hrs) or Normal (14 hrs). On the highest 3 modes (ultra fine, fine, and normal), the camera records full 720x480 resolution. As far as I can tell, it really is sampling that many lines of resolution. Other digital camcorders I've used (mini-DV) have had very noticable "stair-step jaggies" in parts of the picture, especially along the borders between high-contrast elements of the picture. On this hard drive camera, however, the resolution is significantly higher and these jagged lines (aliasing) are rarely noticeable at all, if ever.
As for how the camera records files onto the hard drive: It creates a new .MOD file (it's an MPEG-2 video file with Dolby Digital audio) every time you start/stop the recording. So, all your clips are conveniently seperated, but of course you can combine them with your video editing software later if you prefer. The camera will record for 12 hrs continuously if needed, but will create a new .MOD file for every 4GB of footage.
You may have read in other reviews about the following trick: rename the .MOD files that the camera records to .MPG for increased compatibility. Well, I tried it and it works like a charm, regardless of whether your video footage is in 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio. This makes it easy to use your favorite DVD-burning or video editing software with this camera, as well as ensuring future compatibility. I haven't found even one program that couldn't play the files perfectly after I renamed them. Even Windows Media Player 9 had no problem. If you leave them as .MOD, then you won't find many programs that support it (at least not yet). The only ones I found that did were the one that came with the camera (Cyberlink), and Adobe Premiere Elements 2.
One thing I should mention about the files that the camera saves. It numbers them in hexadecimal (1-9 then A-F (eg. MOV009, then MOV00A...)), so some people may find this a bit annoying. Also, my Windows XP computer alphabetizes the files A-Z, then 0-9, so they end up being displayed in the wrong order. I'm not sure why my computer is doing this and don't know if all windows XP computers will do it (it worked fine on my Windows 2000 computer), but you can always list them in chronological order if you need to correct this. I believe most video editing software will, however, list the files in the correct alphanumeric order (1-9 then A-Z). Mine all do.
The camera has a handy feature called "File# Reset". Every time you activate this, it creates a new folder on the hard drive and begins saving all future clips into it. This is a handy way to seperate your recorded "events", in case you tend to fill up the hard drive before copying it to your computer, and you may have months worth of footage on the camera. So you can have your daughter's birthday party in one folder, your trip to the zoo in another, etc...
Playback: Playback of sequential clips on the camera (either on the LCD or onto a TV) is seamless. There is no pause between scenes it plays back just like a tape would with clean cuts between recordings. Also, you can locate specific clips by viewing thumbnail images (9 per screen) or by listing by recording date. Then, of course, after playing back clips, there is no need to fast forward the tape back the next available blank part for recording. When you go to record again, the camera will not overwrite previous material.
The camera allows for limited editing (deleting or rearranging of clips). Also, in case you delete a lot of clips and then continue recording, the hard drive may eventually become fragmented. The camera has a handy utility built in that will defragment the hard drive. I haven't used it myself because I haven't needed it, but it's nice to know it's there.
Low light performance on this camera isn't the best I've seen, but it is still pretty good for such a small camera. My previous camera was a JVC as well (mini DV only about 3 years old). It was slightly brighter in low light, however, I find that this hard drive JVC camera has much better autofocus performance for low light or fast movements. All recent JVC cameras (including this MG50) have "Night Alive" mode which reduces the shutter speed to about 1/2 second. This is useless unless your camera is on a tripod and your subject is not moving at all. You might as well take a picture then... However, the MG50 has adjustable shutter speeds in between as well. I find it useful in low light situations to change the shutter speed to 1/15 sec. This brightens the image considerably. It does reduce the motion a blur if things are moving too fast, but I still consider it a reasonable trade-off for the amount of extra brightness in the scene.
The built-in light is useful under some situations. Be aware the effective range of the light is only about 3-5 feet, so unless your subject is within that range, the light won't make any difference. It does have it's useful moments though (like filming a pet on the floor in a dimly lit room) Also, using the light consumes less than 10% more power because it's an LED, but of course that's also the reason why it's not very bright.
Photos: Image quality for still photos, in my opinion, is terrible. Not only is the resolution inadequate for most uses, it's extremely difficult to depress the shutter button without shaking the camera and blurring the image. The start/stop button (doubles as a shutter release button in photo mode) is quite stiff.
Startup time: This camera has poor startup time, but I guess that's to be expected being that it's a hard drive camera. From the completely off position, it takes 10 full seconds (based on my own tests) before you can actually begin recording. Even this is only about double the typical startup time for a mini-DV camera, it might mean you'll miss that special moment you're trying to record. Even if the camera is in record-standby mode, it still takes 3 seconds from the time you press the start/stop button until the camera is actually recording.
Camera noise: The camera does produce a faint hum while the hard drive is spinning, but I found that this is less noticeable on the recording than the sound of the tape machanism on the 3 mini-DV camcorders I've used. Of course, some mechanical noise is expected on compact cameras like this one. Without an external mic, it is unavoidable. Unfortunately on this camera, you cannot connect an external mic. The zooming motor is also slightly noticeable, but no more than other similar-sized camcorders. Besides, unkless you're in a completely quiet situation these sounds won't even be an issue at all for you.
Lens cap: The lens cap stays in place nicely. Since it only covers the lens itself and doesn't extend any further than it needs to, it tends to stay in place (unlike other cameras I've had where the lens cap pops off while inserting/removing it from a bag or pocket).
Drop detection: you may have read that this camera has a feature that senses a freefall or other motion that could potentially damage the hard drive, and automatically shuts the camera off. Well, just so you know, there is an option on the camera to turn this feature off, in case you want to make a video on your favorite rollercoaster. I'm not saying I recommend this, but I just thought I'd mention it. I myself have not personally witnessed this feature work yet, but then again I haven't tried dropping it!
Overall, I highly recommend this camcorder to the casual videographer (great for vacations!). It seems to really stand up to competing cameras in it's class on most points. However, if you're a more serious videographer you might want to consider a larger, 3-CCD camera with a bright light and external mic. Otherwise, have fun!
I gave this review only 4 stars because of these few issues: lack of viewfinder, slow startup time, and poor image quality for still photos.
I've been waiting for this technology for years. So when I found out JVC was planning on coming out with their 4 GB microdrive version, I had to have one. The $1500 price tag was too much though. Then I found out the GZ-MG50 was coming out, and would be about a $1000. I thought it was still a little pricey, but I couldn't wait any longer.
So far, the camera has performed great. It's been easy to use and easy to transfer the files to my computer then to DVD. However, the video editing software that came with it seems a bit cheap, but it gets the job done. Maybe the next gen version will be an improvement.
The movie quality is very good. I won't give it a "Great" because I occasionally see pixel blurring when watching my burned DVDs.
Don't bother taking pictures with this, unless you only plan on emailing them. The quality is far too low to use to capture those precious moments.
I recommend getting an additional battery (the three hour model). The one hour battery just doesn't cut it, especially if you want to review your scenes while you're out shooting.
If JVC gave the camcorder a larger CCD and included better software, I would have given this a 5 star rating, otherwise I think they are on the right track, and in a few years, the MiniDV may be as forgotten as the eight-track.
Buy JVC Everio GZ-MG50 1.33 MP 30 GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder w/15x Optical Zoom Now
Finally! I have been waiting for a video camera that takes good quality video (not mpeg4) and does not use tapes. Everyone that I know has a minidv/digital8 camera, and when they shoot something, the last we all ever see of it is when they hook up the camera to the tv at the end of the day. After that, no copies, no sharing, most of the time no one ever sees the video again. The whole point of recording memories is that you can watch them easily whenever you want and be able to share them with friends and family whenever you want.
First I have to say this is my first camcorder ever (yes, I have been waiting 30 years for this camera). I have used plenty of other camcorders that people have let me borrow, but this is the first camcorder I ever buy for myself.
I went to Cancun two weeks ago and I made the decision that I had to buy a camera for the trip. This camera was a great choice and I love it! I didn't have to lug along my digital still camera, because the everio takes 1152x864 pictures as well which is more than enough for me (for those out there that think they need 6 megapixel pictures, wake up and smell the marketing).
When I got back from my trip, I decided to sit down and get everyone a copy of the video. I was a little apprehensive because I work in advertising and I know how cumbersome and slow it can be to work with large video files if you don't have a computer specifically made for that task...I decided to use my home computer because I didn't want to wait (2.6ghz celeron with 512mb of ram). I didn't really like the DVD authoring software that came with it (seemed to complicated and unintuitive), so I used the Nero VisionExpress that came with my Nero Ultimate Edition software. It was soooo easy to get this done. Within one hour I had already completed a dvd with all the footage from trip, with thumbnail menus, and chapters automatically set for each time the camera stopped. I shot some footage of tropical fish in the water at Cozumel and I used that as the video background underneathe all of the menus. On a separate DVD I also created a compilation of photo slideshows (with music) from all the photo cameras everyone took (including pictures taken with my Everio).
I had the software "burn to hard disk" so I could make as many copies as I wanted of both dvds. I made 5 copies and was totally done with the project in 2 hours. This would not have been possible without this camera, capturing from any other minidv camera or other video source would require hours upon hours of video conversion to dvd compliant mpeg2. But since this camera shoots in mpeg2, that is not a factor.
I love this camera and highly recommend it for most people. If you are one of those videophiles that worries about the number of lines of resolution of your video, or how many ccd chips your camera has, then this camera is probably not for you. If you want great looking video and the convenience of being able to share it EASILY, CHEAPLY AND QUICKLY then definitely check out this camera.
On another note, I have used the software that came with the camera to convert video clips to quicktime, windows media video and realvideo. This is very useful for emailing clips, posting them on websites, or putting them inside your windows media center (or other home theater pc) for easy access.
Also, when getting this camera, be aware that there are two models/versions out there that only do 640x480 pictures...I almost made that mistake.
Read Best Reviews of JVC Everio GZ-MG50 1.33 MP 30 GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder w/15x Optical Zoom Here
Love my new JVC Everio. The original model just used compact flash cards, but the new Everio GZ uses an ipod like hard drive that lets you store a year's worth of video on it! Tape is definitely dead, and DVD camcorder's 30 mintues a disc doesn't hold a candle to the Everio.
The only issue I had was that the software that come with it was pretty basic, but all the other video editing software programs didn't recognize the Everio video files (.mod files which contain MPEG2 Video and Dolby Stereo Audio).
I did finally find Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 which supports this new file type natively. It has made editing a breeze.
Want JVC Everio GZ-MG50 1.33 MP 30 GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder w/15x Optical Zoom Discount?
[Below is my recent review of the JVC Everio GZ-MG40, which has a 20GB hard drive rather than 30GB. Becase GZ-MG50 seems to be identical to GZ-MG40 save the hard drive capacity, I thought this review would be useful to those considering to buy GZ-MG50.]
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I have been using this camcorder for almost two weeks now. And here are my impressions:
PROS:
A) This is a tiny camcorder and I can easily carry it in my pocket everyday.
B) It records directly on a [30GB] harddrive. This is probably the most amazing feature of this camera. It has the following amazing benefits:
(1) A huge recording space
(2) Random access to recorded videos when browsing
(through a thumblist of videos)
(3) Super fast transfer onto your computer through USB 2.0.
(4) No tapes, no CDs, no DVDs to worry about while recording video.
(5) Facilitates easy archiving/organizing . For example, all the recorded files on the camera's harddrive have "creation date"s as a part of their file information. When the camera is connected to your computer, you can sort all files by date and easily separate all recordings by date to different folders by simply selecting and dragging. (This is extra, but if you want to index and be able to search your video files, say with google desktop, simply enter a list of keywords in the file name about the contents of the file.)
(6) The harddrive on your camera can double as additional portable storage mediathis is unlikely but If you wanted you could even install linux on it and carry with you an operating system on your camera.
C) Video quality is good for a consumer level video camera. The sound quality recorded through the internal microphone is good: i can hear the lectures I record very clearly and there is no annoying noise generated by the camera.
D) The charger that comes with this camera is very small. So you can carry that around as well and worry less about running out of battery.
CONS:
A) No mic jacks.
B) manual focus and light adjustments are done through menus.
C) The editing software that comes with it is limited.
D) The battery life is a mere hour(but you can buy a 3 hour battery for 70-80 dollars).
As with all camcorders, the still images shot with this camera are not at the level of quality you can get from a good still camera. It produces reasonable snapshots in well lit situations.
The video files recorded by this camera have a ".MOD" extension in their name. I replace ".MOD" with ".MPG" and most of my standard video viewing software automatically recognize the files.
They used to say in the Apple vs IBM wars, think about the software and then pick your computer. It's the same in Palm vs CE devices. 
