JVC Everio GZ-HM200 Dual SD High-Def Camcorder (Red)

It's been a number of years since I had a camcorder. It was a tape unit, and after the initial infatuation with the new toy, I found that I never used it. Recording was a chore (juggling tapes and batteries), uploading was tedious, and the quality wasn't all that good. For quick ad hoc recordings, my various digital still cameras could grab a few seconds of good-enough video. The camcorder disappeared from my life.

A few years later, things have really changed. I received the Everio GZ-HM200, snapped in a couple of 8GB SD cards, charged the battery, and I was ready to go. We took a day trip to Mount Rainier; the weather was perfect, and I took a lot of video of photogenic glaciers and waterfalls.

When I got home, I wanted to upload the video into my computer. The Everio comes with software for Windows PCs, and Mac users are hardly mentioned in the documentation. I had searched the various on-line discussions of Mac video, and there were many cautionary tales about compatibility issues with the Everios. I anticipated problems.

I was wrong. I connected the USB cable to my Mac Mini, started iMovie (part of iLife '09), and opened up the camcorder. The USB menu opened, and I chose the "Upload" option. iMovie detected the camera, asked me a few questions (video quality, destination, whether to check for stabilization issues), and then imported the video clips. It was trivially easy just the way I like it.

The Everio has a "Snapshot" mode to take still images, and I had tried it out. This meant that while I was working with iMovie, iPhoto also started up and offered to import the photos I'd taken. My verdict: it's OK for casual 1x use, but no substitute for a real digital camera. The problem is that the Everio's autostabilization mode only works for video, not for still images. This meant that a couple of 20x zoomed images, while impressively magnified, were hopelessly blurred. I'll stick with my Panasonic DMC-TZ4 for the still shots.

The JVC Everio is a tremendous little camera: compact, easy, light, and producing excellent HD video. (Yes, my Mac Mini feels a little underpowered for working with this.) The dual slot SD card design is excellent; the camera will automatically switch from one card to the next during recording, and you can swap cards on the fly. In XP mode (17 Mbps VBR 1920x1080) 16GB is good for 2 hours of recording, which feels about right. (You can crank it up to 24 Mbps, which will give you 1 hr. 20 min., or drop down to 5Mbps, at which point you can run for over 7 hours!) No more media juggling.....

There are tons of additional features in this camera, and sometime I may try them out. But for the basic job of plug-and-play HD video, this is hard to beat.

Recomended.

If I was able to give it a half of a star I would rate it as 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Let me start by saying I am not a techie kind of person, so I am writing this review as the average user. The JVC Everio GZ-HM200 is so small it fits in the palm of your hand. I currently own the Sony DCR-DVD305 1MP DVD Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Zoom so I am use to tapping the LCD screen to select my options. This unit offers laser touch operation for easy menu selection and playback by using a touch sensor bar that runs vertically on the side of the LCD screen. I caught myself trying to still tap the LCD screen but after a little while of playing with it I broke myself from the habit. The dual SD memory cards is terrific idea. No more mini dvds to carry around. Recording automatically continues over the two SD cards so no need to be swapping the cards. You can even set to have your video recordings to go to one card and still images on another. I decided to use 8GB and a 4GB SD cards which will give me a total of approximately one and half hours of recording in XP (Avg. 17Mbps) mode. Powering up the camcorder could not be any easier just open the LCD screen. The LCD screen is crystal clear and playback on the camera for review and deleting is controlled by a touch of one button. The LCD screen also rotates 360 degree. The camcorder takes BEAUTIFUL still images. Vivid colors and what impressed me the most is the perfect focusing of the images. The face detection is a great feature that can recognize up too 16 faces that adjusts the focus and exposure for sharper images. The zoom power is incredible and focuses automatically. Battery life is approximately 1.5 hours of continuous use. Check out the customer images to see how wonderful the images came out. Using the zoom in video recording was not so great. The stability of the video was shaky, but I was also on a rocking boat so it might work better on a tripod.

Now to the not so great functions. The Everio MediaBrowser software is so-so. The easy to search calendar is really neat but playback of videos is choppy and just terrible. I decided to use another program, Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus. With this program the video was not choppy and it was easier to preview and edit. For the next test I connected the camcorder via a IOGear Series 2000 Mini-HDMI to HDMI Cable, which is not supplied, to my HDTV and playback was perfect. Since I have a DVD recorder, I also dubbed the video to my DVD recorder and the video was clear and perfect with no jumping or skipping. JVC does offer a AVCHD recorder, JVC CU-VD50 Share Station DVD Burner for Everio Camcorders to burn and play your AVCHD discs but it is quite costly but it might make things easier.

I have inserted a video clip so you can see for yourself how the video comes out.

These are the steps I had to take to do it since you can only upload avi, flv, mov, mpg and wmv files on Amazon. The JVC Enverio saves in mts format.

1. Connect camcorder to PC

2. Choose export to Library

3. Open Enverio MediaBrowser and drag video file to export to iTunes.

4. Start Export, once complete open iTunes (50 second video took 13 minutes).

5. Now you can view it in your iTunes, but iTunes plays mp4 format so next step is to format the video to a savable/playable wmv format to upload on Amazon. Unless you have a program that changes mp4 to another format, this option is was quite useless for me unless I am viewing the videos on my iPod.

Now I attempted to change the format with my own program and this is all I had to do.

1. I opened my video editor program Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus [OLD VERSION]

2. Clicked on one button to convert video to wmv file format. It saved the file automatically (it took only 5 minutes to convert) and I was done and ready to upload on Amazon. So as you can see, using another video editor program makes things much easier and takes less time.

However, uploading to youtube is quite simple. You just need to set the camcorder to upload in the USB setting, open your youtube account and upload the video file directly from the drive your camcorder is connected from on your PC. Since youtube allows pretty much every kind of video format available, uploading the mts file was painless.

So as you can see, the Enverio MediaBrowser is somewhat useless and you are better off using another video editing program to convert and save your files to a format you can use easily.

Overall this camcorder is pretty neat, easy to use for video recording and still images. The small size of it makes it so convenient to carry and take with you anywhere. I purchased the JVC CB-V77U Soft Digital Camcorder Case (Black Blue) that was a perfect size to carry the camcorder and AC adapter. Just invest in a more user-friendly video editing conversion program.

Here are some additional links for items to consider:

More battery power-

1.5 hours JVC BN-VF808US 730-mAh Rechargeable Data Battery for JVC MiniDV and Everio Camcorders

3 hours JVC BN-VF815US 1460-mAh Rechargeable Data Battery for JVC MiniDV and Everio Camcorders

4.5 hours JVC BN-VF823U 2190-mAh Rechargeable Data Battery for JVC MiniDV and Everio Camcorders

Battery charger car adapter-

JVC BN-VF808, BN-VF815, BN-VF823 Replacement Battery Charger (Incl. Car and European Plug Adapters)

Battery charger kit-

JVC AA-VF8US Battery Charger for BN-VF8 Batteries

Buy JVC Everio GZ-HM200 Dual SD High-Def Camcorder (Red) Now

The JVC Everio GZ-HM200 is a very compact and feature rich HD Camcorder that performs well in most shooting conditions. I was very surprised by the small size and impressed with the range of options squeezed into the camera. This is a consumer grade camcorder, lacking some features that would appeal to the prosumer population. Here are my observations:

Pros -

* Great Video Image Quality Especially in UXP and XP Modes (except in low light see "Cons", below)

* Good Still Image Quality Surprising good JPG pictures can be taken even while shooting video, but sometimes a little jittery

* Accurate Face Recognition Helps keep people in focus (it was funny to see it recognize faces in paintings at a museum)

* Good Remote Control Includes Remote Control, a very handy feature

* Very Small Size The small size makes it easy to bring along as it can realistically be slipped into a pocket.

* Built in Light Very bright light can be set to "auto" and can save some shoots that would otherwise be lost or unusable due to poor lighting

* Dual SDHC Card Support The ability to save video to SDHC cards is great, coming from miniDV tapes this is a huge advantage since the footage doesn't have to be re-captured into the computer

* Quick Startup The camera is ready to record almost instantly after opening the LCD display

* Good User Interface The "Laser Touch" interface is simply cool and, more importantly, easy to use

* Easy Upload to YouTube The "One Touch" upload works very well

Cons -

* Weak Image Stabilization The digital Image Stabilization does make some difference, but the lack of mass of this small camera makes it harder to keep steady (especially at higher zoom levels)

* Poor Low Light Quality Video and stills shot in low light are very noisy, the built in light helps to some degree

* Slow Auto Focus Auto Focus can be sluggish when zooming

* Lack of Accessory Shoe Can not use standard video accessories like external light or microphone

* Lack of Microphone Input Jack No external microphone jack

* Weak Software The included software for video and still images is ok for clip management, but not useful for any real editing or project use

* Lack of HDMI Cable This was a huge surprise and disappointment. The camera has a mini HDMI port, but does not include a HDMI cable for connecting to HD equipment (does include composite video and audio cables)

I also picked up the following accessories (see my reviews) -

* 16gb SDHC Cards Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card TS16GSDHC6E [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging]

* Protective Lens Filter Tiffen 30.5MM UV Protector Filter

* Longer Life Battery JVC BN-VF815US 1460-mAh Rechargeable Data Battery for JVC MiniDV and Everio Camcorders

* HDMI Cable Mediabridge 5ft Mini-HDMI to HDMI Version 1.3b Category 2 1080p Blu-Ray

Overall, the pros outweigh the cons with this excellent camcorder and the small size makes it really convenient to take anywhere.

Recommended!

CFH

Read Best Reviews of JVC Everio GZ-HM200 Dual SD High-Def Camcorder (Red) Here

This video is test footage at a lake. As you may know water ripples are a true test of a HD camcorder and this one passes!

Want JVC Everio GZ-HM200 Dual SD High-Def Camcorder (Red) Discount?

I got this from a large discount club whose name starts with a 'C'. I paid $399.99 + $28 sales tax for a special bundle that included a free 4GB class 6 card and a free carrying case as well. My review is based keeping in mind this price point. If you can get this camcorder for under $450, it is worth it. Otherwise look at other models/manufacturers.

Now on to the review...

First impressions: This camcorder is tiny. Coming from a Sony Digital 8 camcorder, it seemed to be real small to me. The ergonomics are ok though and I did not have any major issues with accessing any of the features or usage. I did have a hard time initially where I was pressing the menu items on the LCD screen itself, not realizing that you need to scroll on the 'laser touch' bar on the side of the LCD screen to select a menu item and then press the OK button to activate it.

Build quality: 3.5/5. No major complaints, though I would have liked to see more metal and less plastic.

Video quality in clear daylight: 4/5 (Very good). I shot test videos in XP mode which is the 2nd highest quality. Scenes included a farmers market with lots of colors red tomatoes, yellow flowers, greens, etc and a few minutes of video in a park with lake and trees. Overall very pleased with the results and reds and yellows really came out nice and brilliant. The water on the lake came out nice and blue just like I saw it with naked eyes. Direct playback on my 46" Sony Bravia using the supplied component cable resulted in an image that could almost match the HDTV broadcasts. The zoom is quite fast and effective, though note the issue below.

Hint: 1) You need to set the signal format to output 1080i as the factory setting is 480p. Otherwise you will get poor playback quality. 2) While the zoom is great, you will want to invest in a tripod as the small size of the camera means that even small movements at high zoom result in unstable images.

Video quality indoors: 2.5/5 (borderline). A bit disappointing as the indoor video was quite grainy, even though I had some natural light coming in. For my own purpose, I am not too concerned as I have primarily bought this camcorder for outdoor use. If you plan to do a lot indoor shooting (birthday parties, for example), you need to either supplement indoor light or buy another (expensive) camcorder. This camcorder does have a built in light that can be activated, but it does not make a great deal of difference. Again, keep in mind the price point you need to shell out $700 or more to get a camcorder with decent indoor capability.

Audio quality: 3/5 (Adequate): Human voices were captured quite nicely and the wind cut function worked well. The microphone was sensitive enough to pick up distant music in the park.

Software: 3/5 (Adequate): I had no problems playing videos using Windows Vista Ultimate. Nero Vision was able to recognize the .mts files produced by this camcorder without any issues.

Battery life: 3.5/5 (Fair): No worse than what I have seen with other camcorders. I was able to stretch to almost 100 minutes of combined shooting + playback. For my own use, I do not see a need for an extra battery as I rarely shoot more than 60 minutes of video in one go. I do carry a charger/inverter in my car when going on road trips so I can charge the battery while on road.

Digital still quality: Nothing of note here except to say that you need to get a dedicated still camera if you are serious about photography. For those not so special moments, this camcorder may be used to snap a few pictures.

Manual: This is a bit skimpy and does not cover all of the menus and their uses. I wish JVC would rewrite the manual to include explanations of all the menus and features.

Other thoughts: This camcorder has dual SD card slots which is really useful. The built-in lens cover looks a bit fragile so I suggest a getting a good carrying case.

Bottom line: Nice camcorder for the value conscious customer who realizes that no matter how much you spend, things are going to get obsolete in 1-2 years anyway.

Buy this camera if:

You shoot primarily outdoors in good daylight

Need a small and light device with reasonably good video quality

Can get it for $450 or less

Do not buy this camera if:

Indoor video quality is of primary concern (spend $800 or more on a much better camcorder in this case)

Need a bit more crisper HD video here you need to spend over $1,000 on a camcorder with a bigger sensor.