Hey fella's i'm in the market for a new camcorder, and I noticed that JVC have the technology to recorded video straight onto a HDD making life a lot easier and versatile. There are 6 models out and i'm not sure which one to get as I don't understand half the s*** in the Specs/features section. I noticed that the cheaper models have a higher optical zoom than the dearere ones :/ I'm not fussed about still shots...

The 6 models i've been looking at are below. I'm not really considering the $2k+ model as it's a little over my budget. All of these models can be purchased for way lower than the RRP shown.

1. http://www.jvc-australia.com/products/_products_sub_group_details.asp?ID=1425

2. http://www.jvc-australia.com/products/_products_sub_group_details.asp?ID=1353

3. http://www.jvc-australia.com/products/_products_sub_group_details.asp?ID=1354

4. http://www.jvc-australia.com/products/_products_sub_group_details.asp?ID=1457

5. http://www.jvc-australia.com/products/_products_sub_group_details.asp?ID=1456

6. http://www.jvc-australia.com/products/_products_sub_group_details.asp?ID=1455

I bought a Sony HandyCam today :) woot

meh, I don't like miniDV tapes... HDD technology ftw.

No tapes lieing around just one disk that you can drag and drop files straight onto your PC for DVD burning goodness. also with the HDD technology, you can record for 7 hours at optimal quality before having to clear the HDD.

Mind if i ask how much you paid for it Skitza?

Well I was going to get the HDD one but ran out of time today and one place had run out of stock. Plus they were $1500 +

They were selling it @ $999 - I think they are usually 1300?

you'd pick up a hdd camcorder from around $1100

Well they had the 4gig ones but I wanted the 20 or 30gig. No biggie :)

No tapes lieing around just one disk that you can drag and drop files straight onto your PC for DVD burning goodness. also with the HDD technology, you can record for 7 hours at optimal quality before having to clear the HDD.

You basicly can do that with a mini-dv. Only downside is it would take longer.

Imo the HDD isn't woth the $$$'s at the moment. Give it 6 months and buy one then.

hey marty where are some places i can get a HDD cam corder for 1100?

you can pickup a camcorder on discount from Hervey Norman... I forgot where I saw them for "around" $1100... I never buy a camcorder at retail.. I always bargain with them and usually save $200+ in cash, or get free accessories like a battery, or extra storage etc etc

last edited by Marty at 12:40:34 26/Dec/05

Speaking of which, My father in law is in Aus for holidays and forgot to bring the software to his Sony Camcorder to allow me to transfer the footage to PC... Anyone know a program I could use to do this???

i think JB is doing cost+5% on all cameras starting today, dunno if it includes video cameras =)

Sony Camcorder to allow me to transfer the footage to PC

If you've got WindowsXP just use Windows Movie maker and plug it in via Firewire. No extra software needed.

I rang JB yeah the sale (cost price + %5) is for video cameras the lady on the phone was really nice makes me wanna go have a look, very helpful.

As for the specifications/features of the different models, they fall into perhaps four broad categories.

1. features that enhance image quality
2. features that improve flexibility (ie enhance your creativity)
3. features that improve ease of use
4. features that enhance the size of your dick.

The features that enhance image quality are
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- Quality of the lens. All these models have one of three fixed lenses. Whether one is better than the other, I don't know.

- Quality of the CCD (image sensor). Basically, resolution counts, as does single vs three CCD. We all know what effect resolution has on image quality. To understand the effect of 1CCD vs 3CCD, think of a video card with an analog VGA out and a composite (yellow RCA) TV out. Assuming both of these outputs are set to the same resolution, and one is plugged into a TV, the other into a monitor, the signal coming out the TV out is the quality of image a 1CCD system generates natively, while the signal coming out the VGA port is the quality of the image a 3CCD system generates natively. The big question here is, how much do you care about image quality? If all you want to do is use to camera to document stuff (like your holidays etc), then in about 3 months time you wont care if the image quality is hi-fi or mid-fi. On the other hand, if you are interested in film making, the mid-fi nature of a 1CCD sensor will probably always be an irritant.

To give you some kind of idea what the CCD in all six models is like...
- MG20/MG30 - 1024x768 TV out
- MG50 - 1280x960 TV out
- MC100/MC200 - 1600x1200 TV out
- MC500 - 1280x960 VGA out

- Quality of the codec. Simply, all these cameras use the same 50fps 720x576 8.5Mbps Mpeg2 codec. This is virtually identical to the 720x576 4-9Mbps VBR Mpeg2 codec used on DVD.

Features that improve flexibility. These are your basic photographic controls (focus, exposure).
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- Focus
All these cameras have some sort of auto focus. It works by deciding what is the subject of the scene and focuses on that. Most camera manufacturers put a better algorithm for deciding what the subject of the scene is in their more expensive models, so you could expect the AF of the MC series models to probably be more reliable than the AF of the G series models. All models also have manual focus (for the times when the AF doesn't choose the right thing to focus on), but remember that not all manual focus is created equal. I'll come back to this.

- Exposure
If you know about photography, you'll know that you can control the amount of light coming into the camera in two ways. You can change how wide the shutter opens (appeture), and you can change how long the shutter is open for (shutter speed). Without going into too much detail, there are some times when you would prefer to have the shutter open wide for a short time, and other times when you would prefer to have the shutter open only a small amount, but for a relatively long time.

There are four approaches to adjusting this balance.

First, you can tell the camera what you are shooting (portrait or action shot or landscape) and it will work out first how exposed the image needs to be and second whether to achieve this level of exposure by a long/short shutter opening, a wide/narrow shutter opening or something in between. This is called Program AE (Auto Exposure)

The second approach is for you to tell the camera exactly how long/short a time the shutter should be open for, then the camera works out how exposed the image needs to be and what appeture to use to achieve this level of exposure. This is called shutter priority AE.

The third approach is for you to tell the camera exactly how wide to open the shutter. The camera then works out how exposed the image needs to be and what shutter speed is needed to achieve this level of exposure. This is called appeture priority AE.

The fourth approach is for you to work our for yourself (using a built in or seperate light meter) how exposed the image needs to be, then decide for yourself how to achieve this level of exposure by telling the camera both which shutter speed and which appeture to use. This is called Manual Exposure (or (oddly) sometimes Manual AE).

The first approach is the easiest and fastest, but gives you very limited options for what the image will look like. In other words, it may be impossible with the first approach to achieve the image you are seeing in your head. The last approach is quite slow to use and tricky to master, but it places no limits on what the image will look like. With some experience, you can capture all your shots just the way you imagine them. The second and third options are designed to combine most of the ease of use of the first approach with most of the flexibility of the last approach. With only a small amount of practise, you should be able to capture ALMOST any shot you can imagine.

If you want to use the camera for videography, then you will be more interested in what the image is than what it looks like (think of a parent videoing a childs first steps). Program AE will be all you'll ever be interested in. You wont want to take the time to experiment and learn the others. If however, you are interested in using the camera for some kind of film making, you will want to have at least the manual mode, otherwise you will sometimes be frustrated by the cameras inability to capture the image the way you see it in your head.

All that said, the G series models only have program AE. The cheaper two C series models have program AE and manual AE, while the most expensive model has program AE, shutter priority AE, appeture priority AE and manual AE.

Features that improve ease of use IMHO
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- Focus wheel
Focus is adjusted by moving the lens closer to or further away from the image sensor. In AF mode, a little motor moves the lens. In manual focus mode, all models except the MC500 still use the motor to move the lens, only the motor is controlled by you with the up/down button that are normally used for menu navigation. I personally find this to be a pain. The MC500 works a bit different. The lens on this model can be moved in and out by a motor in AF mode, but if you want manual mode, you simply disconnect the motor, and wind it in and out (just like an SLR camera)

- Fixed vs Interchangeable hard drive
30G built in hard drive vs 4G removable/replacable. With the built in drive, shooting on DVD quality, you need to dump the contents onto a PC after every 7hr40min shooting. If you are a film maker, this might be annoying. On the other hand, if you are not making feature length films, I doubt you are going to find yourself pressed for space, so the advantages of not needing to carry and store blank and used media would probably be quite an advantage.

- There may be other features that you really like, but for mine I think all the other stuff is just bulls*** to try and talk the product up.