minidv camcorder

1. ( 3 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 11 2008

   I purchased this camcorder to document the vacation of my lifeime. And I have been extremely pleased with its performance. Panasonic has addressed several design flaws in previous models to make this one sweet little unit. They've also added a few new improvements. The bottom line is that it takes good video overall. Quality is very good in outdoor lighting. Indoor performance is good; low light performance is minimal, but much better than expected. Considering what you pay, video quality is on par with units costing hundreds more. Pros: 1. Great video for a single CCD camera. Great for outdoor shooting. 2. Amazing 42x optical zoom. Picture stays crisp & clear. 3. Advanced Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). Panasonic has a reputation of having the best. This allows you to zoom in and move the camera with minimal screen jitter. Better than other brands costing $100's more. 4. Uses inexpensive miniDV cassettes. These can be purchased just about anywhere if you need one in a pinch. 5. Lots of software available to do video editing. You'll also need a firewire cable and card to transfer the video to computer. 5. Built in lens cover; it slides open and close by moving a sliding button. Say goodbye to dangling or lost lens covers. 6. Firewire port has been moved to side of camera under the foldout LCD. You no longer need to remove the battery to get to it. The AV output is on the front right side. 7. A usable built in LED light. It won't light up a room but just enough helpful illumination for a subject 3 to 5 feet away in dim areas. 8. Lots of manual control. User can switch from Auto to Manual modes at the touch of a button. Controls include focus, white balance, iris, f-stop, and others. 9. Shoots and displays video in widescreen 16x9 and standard 4x3 formats. Cons: 1. Poor battery life. Battery included barely lasts 1 hour. Using the viewfinder instead of the LCD helps a lot. You'll definitely need to buy an extra battery. 2. Expensive replacement batteries. I found that the batteries for previous Panasonic camcorder models work just fine, and are a fraction of the cost. 3. Poor low light performance. 4. No slot for memory card. Takes video stills. Plan on using your digital camera for regular pictures. 5. No way to use accessories such as lighting kits or extra lenses. Basically what you get is a minimalist digital camcorder that takes good video. The limitations of this camcorder are hardly "cons" considering how little you pay for it. MiniDV is on its way out, but is currently still a viable media. If you need a camcorder that takes HD quality or good low light video, this is not the camera for you. But if you are looking for a great first time camcorder, or an inexpensive little unit to document that once a year vacation or occasional event, you'll be pleased with this one.

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1. Posted: Jun 8 2008

   The JVC GR-D850 MiniDV Camcorder is our 3rd JVC camcorder. It was purchased primarily for quick capture of family events and we didn't expect the final video to be as high a quality as our previous JVC GR-DV800U which cost almost 3 times as much. So, when we powered up the camcorder and took our first video we weren't too disappointed. That being said, this camcorder is small enough to tote around just about anywhere and comes in handy when hiking in the woods or around family gatherings. The final video produced isn't too bad although the color balance is just OK. For the price this is a good buy.

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1. Posted: Jul 28 2008

   I have been using panasonic camcorders since the last 6 years. I have found the Panasonic pvgs29 to be very impressive. I wanted an economical camcorder that had a high optical zoom (very important - not digital zoom) and this was the right piece. I often use it for family videos and i am impressed with the video quality that this camcorder produces. It comes with a AV cable that i use to connect to TV and watch...awesome clarity in my 1080i TV. If you are looking for a not so expensive that give great recording quality there is no looking further.

2. ( 0 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 25 2007

   I WANTED A NEW CAMCORDER. I DO LIKE THE VHS-C VERSIONS, BUT THE QUALITY IS NOT AS GOOD AS A HI8 FROM SONY WHICH I HAVE. I DID NOT WANT TO SPEND ALOT OF MONEY. I KNOW A NEW CAMCORDER WOULD BE TOO EXPENSIVE. I FIGURED, IF I CAN FIND A USED, BUT IN VERY GOOD CONDITION WITH A GOOD PRICE, I WOULD BUY IT. AFTER LOOKING AROUND ON AMAZON, I FOUND THIS GREAT LITTLE CAMCORDER. I WAS SO SURPRISED HOW SMALL AND COMPACT IT WAS, WITH FEATURES OF A VHS-C AND A HI8. IT USES MINI DIGITAL TAPES WITH A 90 MINUTE RECORDING TIME. IT HAS A BUILT IN LIGHT, LARGE LCD SCREEN, A JOYSTICK TYPE OF CONTROL, WHICH IS VERY EASY TO USE. YOU CAN PLAYBACK ON YOUR TV WITH THE RCA CABLES, OR USE A PC WHICH I SEE IT CAN DO, BUT I'M NOT REALLY INTERESTED IN DOING THAT, CAUSE I USE MY DIGITAL CAMERA. IN FACT, YOU CAN TAKE PICTURES ON THE CAMERA MODE. YOU HAVE TO PRESS IT LIGHTLY, CAUSE IF YOU DON'T, YOU CAN GET MORE THAN ONE PICTURE OF THE SAME THING. YOU CAN ACTUALLY HEAR THE SHUTTER WHEN YOU ARE TAKING THE PICTURE. THE ZOOM AND VOLUME CONTROLS ARE ONE IN THE SAME. WHEN YOU PLAYBACK WHAT YOU RECORD. ZOOM FOR RECORDING, VOLUME WHEN USING PLAYBACK. IT SAYS STEREO ON THE LOWER FRONT OF THE CAMCORDER. THE BATTERY LASTS A LONG TIME, BUT YOU ALWAYS NEED ANOTHER ONE, WHICH I ORDERED FROM AMAZON. IT COMES WITH A BATTERY CHARGER LIKE A VHS-C, SO YOU CAN USE THE CAMERA, WHILE CHARGING ANOTHER. IT FITS RIGHT IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND, AND THE CONTROLS ARE GOOD FOR A RIGHT HANDED PERSON, IF YOUR A SOUTHPAW, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE PROBLEMS, I KNOW, CAUSE MY SISTER IS A LEFTIE AND IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY. IF YOUR RIGHTHANDED LIKE ME YOU SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM. THE ONLY THING I DID NOT LIKE WAS, THE PLAYBACK IS NOT AS CLEAR AS A HI8, AND YOU HAVE TO MOVE THE CAMERA SLOWLY, CAUSE IT GETS BLURRY. ONE GREAT PLUS IS THE VIEWFINDER IS IN COLOUR WHEN THE LCD DOOR IS CLOSED. I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT BEFORE, IT'S VERY HELPFUL. OF COURSE, IF YOU WANT A BETTER PICTURE QUALITY, YOU NEED A MORE EXPENSIVE MODEL, OR A HI8 WHICH I FIND HAS THE BEST QUALITY WHEN IT COMES TO USING TAPE CAMCORDERS. IF YOUR GOING ON A TRIP, IT'S FANTASTIC. YOU DON'T HAVE TO CARRY AROUND THE OLD-FASHIONED CAMCORDERS, WITH EXTRA TAPES AND LARGE BATTERIES. EVEN THE BATTERY IS VERY SMALL, BUT DOES NOT LACK QUALITY. THE CAMERA IS SMALL, THE TAPES AND EXTRA BATTERY ARE SMALL, HOW CAN YOU LOSE.... I'M GIVING IT A 4 RATING FOR THE BLURRY PICURE YOU CAN GET IF YOU ARE MOVING AROUND TOO FAST WHILE RECORDING. I HAVE YET TO RECORD OUTSIDE CAUSE I JUST GOT IT. LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT. I HOPE THIS HELPS. THANK YOU.

3. Posted: May 5 2007

   This is very nicely built, simple features, takes still pics as well. As long as your not a professional filmer that needs HD, go for it. Video & sound quality is great.

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1. ( 1 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Dec 30 2007

   I've only had the JVC GR-D771(U) for about 3 hours and I'm already sold that this is the model for my family! There's still plenty of time to discover the quirks of this device, but at this present time I only have positives to say. First off, the A/C adapter is dual voltage. That's an absolute must if your traveling (or stationed) overseas. The camcorder comes with a USB cord in the box, BUT also has a firewire port that can be utilized to transfer video to a computer or recording device. It's extremely easy to use (which in most cases means limited capabilities)EXCEPT in this case... *it's got wind noise cancellation, *a stability feature (called DIS, but I don't know what it stands for)which comes in handy when your using 900X digital zoom *16:9/4:3 formating *270 degree rotating LCD so you can see what you look like while recording *2 or 4 channel stereo sound recording *a blinding LED to illuminate subjects in the dark (there's also a night recording option but I haven't tested that yet) *you also have the sweet ability of dubbing images from the miniDV tape to the SD/MMC in playback mode *There's B/W, sepia, strobe, and mirror options as well as fade in/out effects * You can also use this as a webcam with at least windows messenger, I haven't tried yahoo or aim...sorry I'd say the only bad thing about the JVC GR-D771(U) camcorder is that there isn't enough time in the day to play with it!

2. ( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Dec 18 2007

   I bought this camera as my first intro into recording videos for my family, since I've just had my firstborn son. The first problem with this camera its is buggy Firewire performance, when I try to upload videos to my computer I can see the video and FF or RW the tape but play and stop don't work from the computer so I have to manually control the camera to capture video. Mind you I have tried it with two different firewire card/cable combination. The worst part is that the Menu button stopped working after two months, I have recorded only 30 minutes of footage with the camera and the menu button does not work. As another reviewer stated, if you remove the battery for some time, 2 days in my case, the menu button works again for about 5 minutes and then dies again. JVC support is nonexistent, if you email them they replay that they will contact you in 5 days, which it didn't happen, there is no firmware/software updates for the camera, and if you think you'll find much information on the net about it, think again. And as I don't live in the US, I'm stuck with the faulty camera since there is no place I can take it here. My advice, don't buy this camera, it will save you all the trouble, and you know JVC won't be getting my money again, should have gone with a Panasonic or a Sony one, lesson learned.

3. ( 5 of 5 found this review helpful ) Posted: Dec 7 2007

   Although this camcorder is relatively inexpensive, it does have enough features to make it a perfect video camera for anyone. No one will know you only paid a little over $200.00! Very small footprint, fits in the palm of your hand. I have another camcorder that I paid about 3 times as much for and unless you are a professional, there really is no difference!

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1. Posted: Aug 2 2007

   First one I bought was defective upon purchase. Returned for new one at JVC advise. Second one broke after 5 uses and 6 months. Was told by JVC it would cost me $145.00 to repair. Total piece of junk and JVC will not stand behind their own product. Bought a Sony for about the same price and it is working just fine.

2. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 13 2007

   I used this for several occassions now and I thought this was a good buy. I was able to transfer video to my computer pretty easily. There is an SD slot on this for still pictures but nothing for moving video. I'm hesitant to buy newer cameras with Hard Drive capabilities or High Definition, because they cost way too much right now. It'll go down by next Christmas, but until then, I'll stick to this one.

3. ( 0 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jan 30 2007

   Product is working good and clarity is fine. But I found the next version product (with remote) cost lower than this product.

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1. Posted: Dec 21 2007

   been using now for some time I really like the 32 optical zoom man its good. I play lots of golf and I was able to zoom in on the group in front of me over 200 yards away. Too bad camera did'nt come with a stabilizer.. cause it really flutters when you zoom in so far away..Hey JVC make next camera with some stabilizing for this price....

2. Posted: Aug 24 2007

   This was a great buy. Really happy with the picture, sound, and ease of use. Size is perfect and as good as anything else we saw but much better price.

3. ( 0 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Apr 3 2007

   The product is compact and portable, seems solid and well made. The zoom is good, and the functions are all fairly simple. Hooks up to a tv easily enough. The nigh vision feature, while providing better visibility, creates more of a strobing effect than I would have liked. Also, I have not yet figured out how to transfer video to a computer (I have the right cable), but I haven't tried too hard to figure it out.

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