JVC Everio GZMC100 2MP 4 GB Microdrive Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom
List Price: $1,199.99
Details
- The first camera to use Microdrive technology
- Includes a 4GB Microdrive pasteboard that can hold 60 minutes of DVD-quality video or more than 5000 high resolution still images
- Includes software for unhurried video editing and DVD creation
Description
JVC's scornful edge digital media camera is a totally new way to shoot and use digital video. The Everio records 60 minutes of MiniDV grade MPEG-2 video or over 5,500 1600x1200 UXGA high decision stills on the included high capacity 4GB Microdrive card. Thanks to its 2.12M CCD imager, Wonderful Hi-Rez Lens and JVC's exclusive Megabrid engine you're getting the latest technology for nobler video and digital still performance. Make digital-to-digital transfers using the USB 2.0 interface for adept downloading to a PC. Print directly from the USB to any PictBridge compatible printer. Stylishly close. Casually active. The Everio for everyone who wants quality with the emphasis on mobility.Amazon.com Effect Description Still images or video--capture either 60 minutes of DVD-mark MPEG-2 movies or thousands of super-high resolution UXGA-greatness JPEG pictures with the Everio--the first camera to use Microdrive technology. The included 4GB Microdrive card, though it is the same expanse as Compact Flash card, has such unprecedented capacity because it is has its own built-in HDD (brutish disk drive).
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| The completely tapeless Microdrive format lets you elect higher video quality or longer shooting times. |
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| Stockpile more photos than you ever thought possible on the included 4GB Microdrive card. |
Until now, tapeless formats have been austerely limited in the length and quality of video capacity, but the Everio's Microdrive lets you germinate up to 60 minutes of high quality MPEG-2 video--and even more in belittle resolution modes. A selection of recording modes lets you pick out more quality or more shooting time. The highest quality ULTRA SOP records at a constant bit rate of 8.88 Mbps with AC 3 audio -- comparable to the DVD materials rate (average 4 Mbps video/9.8 Mbps apex). Essentially what you get is DVD quality, with the same video and audio format as a movie DVD. And the slues of still photos that will fit on the Microdrive card is nothing less than awe-inspiring: More than 5000 of the highest resolution images (1600x1200 first-rate).
2.12 Megapixel CCD
This 1/3.6" CCD with a total of 2.12 million pixels (real: 1.23 million for moving pictures, 2 million for still pictures) offers the turned on resolution capabilities needed for high quality digital videography and photography. And the Megabrid Apparatus applies separate, optimized processing to moving and still images, for videos with a strident signal-to-noise ratio, and high-resolution still pictures.
Well-schooled, Lossless Data
Store what you've shot on the provided Microdrive card, voluntary CompactFlash or SD Memory Cards. size as a CompactFlash card, but with many Gigabytes of role. You can eject the Microdrive card, just as you would a CompactFlash or SD Memory Card, and cross data into your PC via optional card adapter. Or simply connect the camera via its USB2.0 interface for perspicacious downloading to a PC. All transfer is digital-to-digital, so you won't lose any quality in the treat.
DVD Creation & Sharing
Three advanced applications are provided:
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Multi-Format Column
In addition to making it easy to create DVDs, the supplied software converts to a disparity of file formats for distribution via the Web or by e-mail. Supported formats take in DV-AVI, Windows-AVI, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, as well as Windows Media Video and RealVideo that can be streamed over the Internet.
Customer Reviews
My doll-sized GZMC100Ok.. this is now the 4th Rehash of this "Sort of" neat little camera. I decided to totally rewrite the reading.
Here we go again!
I now own (5) GZ MC100 Mini Cams.
One was bought as a traditional Referb. Two were bought new [...]. The other two were bought [...].
It is attractive to note that the $90 used camera was not labeled JVC but VICTOR. The camera must have been a Japanese form. I was quite lucky as there is roughly no difference (other than logo) from the other cameras and it was in very NEW requisite.
Right now I am shooting live events in a small Las Vegas Theater for First Friday.
These are unqualifiedly wonderful cameras. (SEE BELOW) They recognize the new CF standards. So all five of my cameras use 32GB CF memory cards. These 133x Exceed cards cost me around $100ea. They now sell for about $80.
Since I use these cameras for shooting video for the Internet.. SD (Benchmark Def) is perfectly fine for my use. The main reason for buying these camera's was their rate, cost and shooting to CF card. (Tapeless) Also all of my high end editing tools only use SD status.
I suggest you buy extra batteries for this camera from Ebay. Buy the Gray 1000ma batteries. Keep away from the black batteries! I did find Black ones that said they were rated much higher than the pattern 800ma. That is either a misprint or an exaggeration. There is also a lens set that costs about $40. It comes with one as much as possible and one 2x lens. You should also buy a UV lens. This will protect the built in lens from scratching or impair. Once the camera lens is scratched you should just throw the camera somewhere else.. or use it as a voice recorder.
I strongly suggest you buy the GZ MC100 new. Once you start using it.. I'm positive it will be a camera that you will use the heak out of. My Refrb camera's zoom lever is already "Close".. That is probably because it was refurbished.
I really like my little JVC GZ camcorders:
Each camera is elfin to carry and takes very good still images. It also has an interesting "Shoot on the fly" condition. Where you can shoot 1600x photos more or less without stopping. It makes for an interesting video execute when I place the images into my video editor time line.
To get the most out of the Video side of the GZ MC100 you have to interpret the documentation. There is a "Low Light" setting in the main menu that must be set. There are also more menu settings only found on the CD that comes with the camera. Around all of the "Bad or Poor Reviews" are the result of the owners not bothering to read the manuals.
There are other cameras out there. The JVC GZ MC100 was a big bargain when it came out in 2004. The 4GB microdrive was about $300 back then. Right now you can buy the drives for about $14ea acclimated to.
What makes this camera unique is its size and quality. It is a good "All around" video, still, audio finding out. It also has some very interesting features that can be useful.
It is also worth pointing out that I can take down all five cameras and put them into my shooting vest. That would not be tenable with many of the "Small" HD tapeless cameras today.
Check out the band DVIR in the "First Friday" list on OpenVegas dot TV. (Type it into your browser) The wide angle whack is my $9000 Canon H1. The close up shots are from the GZ. Also watch for videos projectile after August 2009 "First Friday" on OpenVegas TV. You will see what SIX (5 GZ MC100's) cameras can do.
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9/07/09
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The principal problem with my "Tape-Less" GZ-MC100 Solution is the file size. The media is formatted for FAT32 not NTFS. That means that no subject what size media you have in your camera.. it will only capture to a 2gb size.
I did try to format at NTFS.. but the Camera will not infer from the format. I can lower the resolution (The camera has 4 settings) to cram more be that as it may into the 2GB file size. I seriously hate that idea BTW.
At $500 - NEW this is a absolutely dumb camera to buy. My 2nd choice would be the Canon HV10 that shoots super astonishing HD (single chip) quality. The HV10 is slightly larger than the JVC.. and the Canon does not fill to CF or SD media. The Canon HV10 shoots to MiniDV tape only.
My practical Tape recording-Less shooting experience has only been with the JVC camera. I will be buying a FOCUS CF Card recording system for my H1 at some quiddity.. and I have shot directly to laptop using DVRack. But DVRack is no longer made.. it is now an Adobe (crap) Effect. And so it goes..
I will get my money's worth out of the JVC cameras.. just means more wordless steps! Uggg!
If you can find the GZ-MC100 in good condition for about $150 - $200 get it. But it will NOT run longer than 1hr in Ultra Great mode. You will have to stop the camera and restart it (create a new file) to on shooting the action.
JVC made a serious error NOT giving the GZ camera the ability to infer from NTFS formatted media.
Thanks,
GENE
At one's fingertips, but with a major sacrifice
I've had this portion for about 2 weeks now, and I really like the convenience of its size and digital file turn over, but I'm very disappointed with its color performance. In less-than-ideal lighting conditions, the aspect is dark and the color is very washed out. With bright ambient lighting, it's satisfactory, though not nearly as vivid as my old Sony Digital 8mm. I concur with most of the cons already mentioned here, including the dead boot-up time and mode switching between video, photo, and express recorder.
I've also had numerous instances when it has trouble locking focus on a vulnerable to. This is annoying, and from my experience so far, I don't feel that the manual focus options are natural enough to make an override effective in these cases.
Battery life is petite. With my limited use so far, I do not feel that it would last an entire hour under normal use. In three days, I got about three 10-flash sessions on a single charge. Sure, it may have lost a little enjoin over the course of a few days, but under the circumstances, I consider this very short battery biography. However, I did notice that there are eBay sellers selling knock-off batteries and chargers for very pretty prices.
The included software, though extremely basic, makes it easygoing to quickly create a DVD. Using the provided templates, you can make a DVD with a undecorated menu, chapters, photo slideshow, and transitions in just (10) minutes (not including recording mores).
Overall, I would have no MAJOR complaints with this cam if it weren't for the low light/color maladjusted. I consider the other issues to be relatively minor. Personally, I wouldn't value this constituent over $300, considering the quality of most cams out there these days. But, for the price I paid ($240 good at ABC Wharehouse), I may keep it just because its small size gives me no excuse for not engaging a camcorder everywhere I go with my young son. Elusive memories captured in sub-par color are cured than missed memories any day!
My low down on this camcorder
Pros:
Its genuinely small. I mean small. It will fit in most medium size camera cases.
The still pics are satisfying. I have a sony p41 4.1MP and it comes close. With the 10x zoom I dare say it's more usefull than no zoom and more than makes up for pixels.
It is outrageously simple to use and to figure out.
The .mod files really are simple to use and transfer. I bought a take action reader and can burn dvd straight from the microdrive. The dvd does not have to be 'rendered' unless you add really or modify the files. This saves sooooo much time! There is some processing perpetually in making the menu but way faster than time for time because it records in the existing format that ends up on the DVD.
There is a shutter setting for low light condition that saves this camera from being worthless in many indoor conditions. The draw back is slightly less accuracy in movement. Machinery will blur past 1/30 shutter speed but its better than looking at outrageous and 1/30 is actually a pretty darn good compromise between hit on and action.
Microdrive/ compact flash and Secure digital formats are getting cheaper and cheaper so you can envisage to achieve great recording times. There is an economy setting that does 5 hours on 4G, that's better than mpeg 4 at 30 fps! And the worth is only slightly worse than the highest setting!! I can't see needing more memory than 4GB.
The 10x Zoom is respectable and is touch sensitive so you can zoom really slow or fast. I bought a .45 sizeable lens and a 2x zoom lens that will expand its capabilies. Both lenses were $50 on ebay. I got the Camera for $375 on ebay and there don't seem to be many around.
In my perception the 4GB microdrive is a way better medium than the mini DVD format because there are no recurring costs and the full measure assess dvds that you end up burning are cheaper and you won't have one event spread out on three mini dvds. I'm also guessing that there is a much minuscule error rate on the flash memory than a spinning disk. It was tuff to obsolete on all the new mini dvd cams comming out but I'm really glad I did because of the 1hour limit. Of passage with the 1 hour battery limit your still changing something out in the middle of taping. Still better than minidvd though.
Cons:
In mean light conditions the auto focus is kind of slow. It can 'search' or lose focus for up to a few seconds. Kind of lame but it doesn't find all the time and it can be manually focused in challenging environments. I'm sure other cameras do a lot improved than this in autofocus.
Don't expect good low light results on automatic settings, you won't like it.
There is definately a fieriness issue with this unit. I have not recorded long time periods but the vade-mecum says it shuts down if it gets too hot. I kept it on for an hour goofing around and vehemence was definately concerning. I think the source is the battery but as long is it stays on and records I'll indulge it.
Battery life is not impressive. Youll get 50minutes to over an hour on a freestyle so if you want to fill the memory in one outing buy two extra batteries. The battery existence is actually the average among camcorders but the draw back on this unit is you can't buy a buff aftermarket freestyle because of the size restraint. You have to expect some comprimise because of the size though.
The screen square footage is also kind of small as far as camcorders go but I'm okay with that as I get no enjoyment out of even the biggest screens, I even-handed want to get it to DVD and sit on the couch. I do wish you could close the screen and maybe set apart battey life while recording, but that turns the unit off. I put it on a small tripod and register a live performance so I don't need to monitor anything.
While this unit is amazingly disconcerted and will most certainly make it to events that you might not want to look like a day-tripper at, it seems very dense. It's got some metal in there or something and I would be very scared to drop it unlike featherwieght digital cameras of the same immensity.
If your a video quality freak you might not want to get into this camera. The colors while satisfactory are dull and I'm sure the cheapest miniDV cam looks better though you might end up a library of miniDVs that press for too much labor to get to DVD.
Start up time is about 7 to 10 seconds from power off to record. That's very not that bad but not as good as many digital cameras, and if your johny on the spot looking to blear the next rodney king video you might want to consider this.
Conclusion:
If value and convenience is what you want than this camera will fit the bill. If you want this to compete in low light and video grandeur with similiar priced miniDV camcorders, none of the mpeg2 cameras can around close in price/quality. I'm sure the technology has not matured yet so I wouldn't pay new full payment for this, that would be crazy.
Overall I'm blown away by this thing because it does the job of a digital camera and a camcorder to a very pleasing degree and I'm more concerned with size portability and convenience than impressing Speilburg with video dignity so it's a match made in heaven for me. Again I would not pay pay full new price for this 'about to mature' technology but if you can find one in good persuade for close to 400 or less your in for a great experience!
Satisfactory quality for the small size
I run trails. I shortage three features in a camcorder:
1. Shockproof and weatherproof. I've trashed two Mini DV camcorders, sending each back to the works twice for repairs. Tape drives can't handle bouncing in a bundle. Also they can't handle rain.
2. Small and light.
3. Good picture distinction. Mostly I pull still photos out of the video. For running, as with most sports, shooting 30 frames per twinkling instead of 1 or 2 frames per second with a still camera is the difference between getting the precisely shot or getting almost the right shot. As Mark Twain wrote, the disagreement between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. I'd rather have a 0.3-megapixel video still of the without delay shot than 8 megapixels of almost the right shot.
When MPEG camcorders (which archives onto memory cards, not tape) came out I looked at three: the Panasonic SV-AV100, the Samsung SC-X105L, and the JVC Everio GZ-MC100U. I ruled out the Samsung because it records only low-status MPEG4, not the better quality MPEG2. The Panasonic is smaller and lighter (6 ounces) than the JVC (11 ounces), but the JVC can also pump full of lead 2 megapixel still photos. The Panasonic has a 1/6" CCD and a smaller lens. The JVC has a 1/3" CCD and a relatively bigger lens. I presumed that the JVC would have better picture quality than the Panasonic. (Panasonic recently announced the best-quality SDR-S100.)
I've used the JVC for a month. In general it's pretty good. I have several video stills that are only just the right moment. In one, a woman winks at a friend. In sports shots I captured the athletes at proper the right times. The pictures are good enough to use for most anything. And the camcorder is small enough that I have no clearance not to bring it with me everywhere.
On the downside, the video colors are always somewhat weak, even in sun.
In low light the colors desaturate to black and white. This is good because you can mushroom video in quite low light. The 2-megapixel stills have better go red in the face but still look a bit "off." The lens is acceptable except for high-contrast subjects, such as kindling against a bright sky, where it completely loses detail. No, this camcorder doesn't look as profit as my big camcorder or my still camera, but it looks acceptable, and it's with me when the big camcorder and camera are socialistic at home.
The biggest problem in my pictures is slow shutter fly. If I use the 10x zoom handheld I get motion blur. Sports subjects are often impelling so fast that they blur. The shutter speed isn't adjustable but my guess is that it's always shooting at 1/30 of a faulty, to give the CCD enough light.
The JVC also works as a voice recorder. This feature works damned well.
Downloading the video to a Macintosh requires the free application "MPEG Streamclip" together with Apple's $30 MPEG2-Quicktime coder. Importing to iMovie becomes a 2-move process. No big deal.
Solid services
I bought this camcorder at Barter ultimate through Amazon. It was delivered to me as promised and I got everything as I expected. I realy like this camcorder. It's so convienent to bring off and shoot.