Jvc Gz MG20 Camcorder

Not only do you not have the expense of buying tapes and the hassel of storing them, but you can record at any time knowing that you won''''t lose previously recorded footage, you have immediate access to everything you have recorded so far. Every start and stop in record mode is a new file and the camera uses a menu system that shows you the first frame of each file. This is great for reviewing bits of our holiday but even better for freinds and family who, with the camera plugged into their TV, were shown just the highlights of the trip. It is so easy to use that a month later we still haven't transfered the footage from the camcorder to the computer. The enourmous recording capacity, even on the small 20gb version also eliminates the necessity to transfer. There are a number of settings, the camera will hold 4 1/2 hours of DVD quality footage, we used a 6 hour setting and the quality is excellent. The camera is tiny and very light. It is easy to use and comfortable to hold.

So onto the gripes and there are two important ones. The first is the lack of an image stabilizer. Despite this being common on cheaper tape units, it is noticable absent here. The result is visable shaking on normal shooting, but when you start using the 25x zoom - forget it, the chance of your taget staying in the viewfinder is little to none. A tripod is essential. The second is the poor quality still camera. I know this is designed as a camcorder, but come on JVC, these images are terrible. I was really looking forward to using the great zoom function with still shots, but unless you only want to ever view thumbnail images, forget it.