JVC Everio HD Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom

It’s true HD because 720i/720p qualify as HD. In fact, ABC and FOX in New York City – major flagship stations – broadcast in 720p, while NBC and CBS use 1080i.

No mic input?

It’s VERY basic. The audio isn’t even stereo. And you can’t take still photos.

720P is HD, I don’t think anybody broadcasts in 720i. It’s not just NY. The whole Disney family (ABC, ESPN(s), Disney Channel, etc.) and FOX network (Fox, FSC, etc.) broadcast in 720P across the board. Pretty much everybody else is 1080i.

But back to your point, if the camera does 720P (or 1080i) they can correctly call it “HD”.

High quality 35mm cameras are obviously obsolete as well by your standards.

Smartphones work great for every day use and posting something quick to the web, they’re not a replacement for something that can zoom and typically has far better stabilization. While I’ve seen some decent video & photo, I still haven’t seen as good of video as something like this or photo quality of a Cannon 40D or even a Rebel with stock lens.

I certainly don’t carry either around with me 24x7 as I do my Android but if I’m doing something specific such as the zoo, I’m not going to rely on a smart phone.

How does this perform at night, you know for shooting “documentaries”?

If you plan on using this camcorder with any kind of software that is already installed on your computer (both PC and MAC) then good luck. I own one of them, and video editing is a chore. For some reason, the video files are a compressed JVC format, and can only be edited with the software that comes with the cam. We have both a PC and MAC in the house, and we wanted to use the MAC to make a family DVD, and it was an epic failure! Do yourself a favor and look into a camera that records in a standard video file format.

I would not put much value in stereo sound. In my experience there’s not enough separation between channels (microphones) to get any benefit. In fact if there is ambient noise like wind the stereo sound can be worse.

Looks like there is no mac support. Uses a proprietary file format. Really poor battery life. But the price is good.

My daughter had to do a school video project with a friend who used one of these cameras. The result me doing 3 hours worth of editing because the camera could not pause. They had 47 clips that had to be arranged. Not a good solution unless you enjoy video editing.

The time lapse is the feature that got my attention. Is that a common feature these days?

Save your money! Ever wonder why so many of these come up as “refurbished”? Because they are being returned. I bought one of these refirb Everio units (GZ-HM320BUS). There were artifacts visible in every indoor shot. Not the kind from low light - these moved with the shot, like looking through a screen door.

Then Woot will tell you to keep it and send it to JVC “maybe they will send you a brand new one”. No good: paid to send it back TWICE talked to tech and supervisor, they wouldn’t do anything since it was taking pictures. The “quality test” is 2 guys sitting in a brightly lit warehouse trying the camera (I have pictures of them). I still have the same nearly useless unit. You’d do better to buy a point-n-shoot with movie mode.

DON’T EVER EVER BUY A REFURBISHED PRODUCT FROM JVC.

You’ve got a bad battery.

Awesome time lapse video shot with JVC and layered with some heavy metal…

[youtube=JWPbA3hnirY][/youtube]

The price to value ratio still seems to favor point and shoot cameras by a large margin when it comes to video recording, not these purpose built camcorders that try to wow you with zomg!ultrazoom kinda 1080p but not really HD.

Samsung, for example, has an excellent line of p&s cameras that do more for nearly the same price.

Says who?

“Most of the time” = 1%. If smart phones were so “most of the time”, more parents would be using them at little johnnys concert. So, your wrong.

Dream on. You talk like you work from Frys or something trying to tell idiots that these phones will someday do your wash, walk your dog and replace your computer.

Geez man, you are really full of it. Catching some guy beating the crap out of his ole lady on your “smart phone” and posting it on your youtube page but iPhones, Androids and BB’s will NEVER… Read NEVER replace a HD “camcorder”. They can’t even make HD “sports cam’s” that take decent pictures. People thought cell phones would replace digital cameras and we see how well that worked out. So, do everyone a favor and let the vidophiles buy what they want and stop hawking your hype about smart phones.

“If smart phones are so smart, why to they let dump people buy them?”

Had a $550 JVC camcorder for 13 months and it took a total crap, It had maybe 20 hours of use on it,In the next few months a friends JVC car stereo the auto rev. died, My wifes JVC walkman died and a fiends JVC boombox subwoofer died.
Least to say none of us deal with JVC anymore!!

I have one and its great. Excellent video and sound.

How long does it take to get one of these shipped ? I need the camcorder by end of the week ? Would that be possible ?

40X Optical Zoom. Does your droid do that?

I must have missed the part that shows what format this records in. Any ideas? I’d like something that will be easily viewed on a standard DVD-player once burned to disc.