JVC Everio GZ-MG330
High definition may be grabbing all the headlines at the moment, but not everyone is ready to make the leap to shooting in HD. Some just want a small, unobtrusive camcorder that records good-quality footage and doesn't cost the earth. These are exactly the type of people JVC is targeting with the Everio GZ-MG330, a hard-disk-based standard-definition shooter that's small enough to fit in even the tiniest of bags.
You can pick up the MG330 online for around AU$769, but has it got the pizzazz to stand out from other budget shooters?
Design
JVC was the first company to produce a hard-disk-based camcorder, but it's hardly alone now, with every manufacturer and their grandmother seemingly going down the hard disk route. Here JVC has responded by producing a smaller device with a lower price tag and offering it in a choice of four colours — red, silver, blue and black.
Naturally the camera has both auto and manual settings. There's not much to do in Auto mode apart from point and shoot, but the manual mode gives you plenty of control over the usual options, such as white balance and exposure. Moving through the menus is pretty straightforward and the camera features JVC's new easy-to-use Laser Touch Operation. This is basically a combination of touch buttons and a touch slider positioned on the top and side of the LCD screen.
Features
Hardcore videographers will bemoan the lack of an input for an external microphone and a headphone socket for monitoring recorded audio. Another oversight is the absence of an accessory shoe.
There's also the issue of it being limited to capturing standard-def material. SD has the advantage of being much faster and easier to edit on older, slower computers, but there's no denying that the world is rapidly making the move to high definition. You'd be hard pushed to find a non HD ready TV at your local electronics superstore, so the shelf life of this camcorder is probably going to be rather limited. But if you're more interested in uploading video to the internet than watching it back on a TV, this won't matter one bit.
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