JVC Everio G Hard Drive Camcorder

JVC GZ-MG555 Review

by Mark Richards

If you are looking for a camcorder that works well, is very compact and ideally suited for both family and web video applications, you need to take a look at the new Everio GZ-MG555 hard drive camcorder from JVC.

Hard drive camcorders like this one offer a major advantage over other types of camcorders that record onto DVDs, videotape or even flash medium - total video capacity. With tape you are limited to maybe an hour – with DVDs – maybe a half hour, with flash maybe an hour. The Everio’s 30-gig drive lets capture about 420 minutes of high quality video and audio. That’s about seven hours!  If you are willing to capture at a lower resolution – say for direct to web or YouTube applications, you can capture up to 35 hours of video.  Amazing. 

Another advantage of a hard drive camcorder is that you don’t have to shuttle or search to find a specific segment to play back or transfer. As it is all digital, these camcorders can offer random access playback and can quickly find the segment you are looking for.  

However, there is one negative to consider when using a hard drive camcorder. After you have filled up the hard drive, then what do you do? You can’t simply pull out the drive and slide in another.  Nope, you have to connect the USB 2.0 cable and download the video from the camcorder into a computer or another hard drive. This is not difficult or complicated but it does take a bit of time and is a required chore for all hard drive camcorders. 

The Everio does allow you to capture video to an SD card but you won’t be able to get a lot saved. 

So with the basics out of the way, lets take a look at the new JVC Everio G. 

Smaller than my fist, JVC has crammed together a full-featured camcorder with a 30 gig hard drive and a five megapixel digital still camera that records high-resolution digital images. You can record the video and stills to either the hard drive or to the SD card.

On the camcorder side, you get 10x optical zoom and a full complement of manual features and controls. These include manual focus, aperture and shutter speed.  You can adjust the shutter speed from 1/4000 to as slow as ½ second. Using slow speeds like 1/15 or 1/30 allows you to do some real cool MTV effects.

The night shooting mode enables you to shoot in dim environments by increasing the camera’s sensitivity.  You can also use the gain up or twilight auto-exposure settings. You have a choice of screen dimensions for recording  – either 16x9 or 4x3. 

You can also use the A/V out to watch your videos directly back on a TV set or monitor. JVC also squeezed in a S-video jack so you can get higher quality real time video playback. If you want to use an external mike for better audio capture, there is a standard minijack in as well as an accessory shoe on top of the camcorder body.

On the digital still camera side, the 5 megapixel CCD offers a range of capture resolutions ranging from a minimum of 640x480 up to 2592x1944 pixels.

It would have been nice to have the range decrease even further on the lower end for those who want to capture low res images for web use.

The camcorder is very simple to use and operate.

The mode switch on the right toggles between video and still capture mode. The top selector dial lets you choose between totally automatic operation, manual or one of the auto exposure modes.

You can use a very dynamic menu system to set up the various recording quality, capture parameters and camcorder features. I usually hate menus but this is so cool that I almost enjoyed playing with it.

On the left side of the LCD viewscreen is a small lever controller (the set lever) that enables you activate and control manual focus, night vision, and flash for capturing still images.  When using manual focus you use the same lever to adjust sharpness. It worked smoother than I expected but you cannot adjust the rate at which you can change focus. Under the lever is a small button that lets you adjust white balance and screen brightness. You can also select a video effect like sepia or black/white.

You can play back and review your captured video on the viewscreen, on a computer screen or on a TV set. When using the standard video and audio outs for TV playback (and VCR recording), the small control arm on the side of the viewscreen allows you to select which scenes you want to see, as well as to do fast forward and/or fast rewind. Pretty cool. You could also add effects and transitions like wipes and fades for the playback modes.

One feature I really liked is the status indicators for battery power and remaining space on hard drive. With a single glance, you always know how much power and hard drive space you have left.

Aside from so-so video capture quality, my only grip is with the battery and charger. The unit ships with a smallish battery that doesn’t hold much power. Also, you need to charge the battery while it is inside the camcorder.  This means you can’t use the camcorder and charge the battery at the same time. However, standalone battery chargers and larger batteries are available as extras from JVC. If you are planning on buying this unit and videotaping travel and trips, I strongly recommend you investing in a couple extra batteries and the standalone battery charger.

Get the camcorder and the whole kit from Amazon

So how does the video look

The color was very good but the actual resolution was not as good as I would have liked.  At close to 400 lines of resolution, it was close to what most 3-video camcorder would capture, much better than VHS. It didn’t have the 500 lines or better resolution that I would expect from digital video recording. 

On the other hand, the still images that I captured were exceptional – very sharp and high resolution. I compared the images captured using the high resolution for both video and for stills and the video could not compare.

However, I did find the overall color capture of the camcorder to be very good. People and facial tones looked accurate and realistic while reds and blues seemed a little over-saturated and hot.

Software

The Everio comes bundled with a nice little package of entry level video editing, video playback, and DVD burning software. You also get a simple application for transferring and converting digital still formats. All of these are for Windows computers only.

On an Apple computer, once the camcorder is attached via the USB cable, the Mac will recognize it as storage device and you can simply drag and drop the video and still image files.

 Summary – should you buy the JVC Everio G?

 Yes and maybe. If you are looking for a very small and compact camcorder, that is easy to use and captures seven hours or more of video, the Everio will work for you. If you are looking for a video capture tool that can capture high quality video that can be easily edited, then you ought to look elsewhere.

 The Everio G is a great camcorder for a family vacation and events, and is very suitable for web use. By using one of the lower resolutions, you can shoot for days and days. Just plug in the USB cable, transfer the video to your computer. After maybe a few trims, you are ready to upload and share your video to the world.

for more info

B&H is now offering a GREAT price and a REBATE on the Everio MG-555