Jørgen Sundgot reviews JVC's hard drive based Everio GZ-MC500E camcorder, finding a rock solid video performer with slightly less impressive imaging capabilities.
Review summary of the JVC Everio GZ-MC500E:
| Gallery » |
 Everio GZ-MC500E brims with professional features in a compact and innovative design. Its still imaging capabilities are somewhat overrated with regard to resolution, but results are nevertheless excellent - as is also the case with video and audio. A molasses-like start-up time puts a serious dampener on those in want of a capture-the-moment camcorder, but the GZ-MC500E still comes recommended for those who want a powerful tool that can either take the work out of shooting or put full control in the hands of its user. Release: June 2005. Price: $1300.
Pros: Superb image quality; brims with features; highly configurable; attention to detail
Cons: Slow start-up time; lens cap alert overlay issue; still imaging capability overrated
| Poor |
Mediocre |
Good |
Very good |
91%
EXCELLENT |
|
|
Full review of the JVC Everio GZ-MC500E:
 |
In the nascent category of hard drive based camcorders, the Everio GZ-MC500E has been widely hailed as the first product that would be able to compete head-to-head with tape based competitors and not be considered merely an advanced piece of gadgetry. Now it's here, and with it JVC has put the squeeze on one of the latest strongholds of tape - but as we're about to find out, still imaging isn't quite its forte.
Black, no sugar
One thing is for certain: the Everio GZ-MC500E is a no-fuss product. Its exterior, which is a bit of an aesthetical love-or-hate affair, is more than a tad unusual with the entire camera body rotating 45 degrees up or down along the vertical axis of the lens; a clever idea which takes a while to get used to, but allows for shooting at difficult angles in a far more robust manner than the typical swivel screen approach. At 400 g and 118 x 80 x 55 mm, it's a comfortably weighted and also fairly compact little affair.
At the core of the GZ-MC500E, we find a 10x optical zoom lens (8x for still images) with three separate 1/4.5-inch, 1.33 Megapixel CCDs. This setup offers an aperture of F1.9-F2.4 and ISO sensitivity ranging from 100 through 200 and 400, as well as shutter speeds from 1/2 to 1/500 seconds for still imaging and 1/2 to 1/4000 seconds for video recording. Also present are shutter and aperture priority modes, as are auto exposure and auto white balance.
Manually adjustable within a ±6EV range in video mode and ±2EV in still image mode, the GZ-MC500E also includes four programme AE settings on its mode dial, and also offers spot exposure and exposure bracketing for still images with ±0.3EV steps. White balance bracketing is not available, but fortunately three presets and the option to manually set white balance negate this minor oversight. Lastly, the GZ-MC500E incorporates a pair of highly sensitive stereo microphones, a loudspeaker and a pop-up flash with an adequate 2 Metre range and spread, as well as a handy tripod mount underneath the back body.
Hello world
Despite being peddled as a hard drive based camcorder, the GZ-MC500E in reality offers readily available SD Card and CompactFlash Type II expansion slots, with the latter by default occupied by a 4 GB MicroDrive. This approach allows for hassle-free expansion and broad compatibility with media readers and laptops everywhere, as if the integrated USB 2.0 connectivity wasn't enough - although we have to admit we're disappointed by the lack of support for USB charging.
Further on the note of connectivity, the GZ-MC500E also offers Composite video out in NTSC/PAL formats, as well as a 2.5 mm earphone jack and naturally a dedicated power input - all three of which happen to be neatly tucked away behind a plastic panel. Additionally, PictBridge and DPOF support are on the slate for direct-to-printer output.
Sharing images and video more comfortably with several people is also an option courtesy of the built-in S-Video out port of the GZ-MC500E, with audio accessible through the aforementioned 2.5 mm audio out jack.
The devil is in the details
Once past a ghastly slow start-up time of approximately 12 seconds, users will find themselves greeted by a clear and legible user interface with a host of advanced options. The 1.8-inch display in the back is a wee bit smaller than we'd like, but at 130K pixels still crisp enough to offer a detailed configuration overview without obstructing the user's view. Particularly worthy of note are the large and smooth manual focus ring placed just behind the lens hood, the sensitive, multi-speed zoom lever and the apt electronic image stabilizer - although we wouldn't rely on it past 5x zoom.
Capable of shooting stills at up to 2560 x 1920 pixels in JPEG format only, the Everio GZ-MC500E delivers photo sizes as taken by a 5 Megapixel camera - but does so by means of pixel shifting technology which combines input from its three CCD sensors to one single image. The results are better than those produced by conventional interpolation techniques, but setting the camera for any higher than 3 Megapixels yields visible loss of detail and quite simply isn't realistic. Stick to this level, however, and the GZ-MC500E delivers a smooth-flowing interface combined with a well-rounded set of capabilities and excellent picture quality with rich saturation and detail.
And what of video recording, you ask? Well, since it doesn't rely on pixel shifting, results are just as excellent - and given the emphasis on video, users will find themselves solidly served by the feature set the GZ-MC500E has to offer. Relying on the MPEG2 format, four settings are available, the highest of which records at 720 x 576 pixels and a bit rate of 8.5 Mbps for up to 60 minutes on the included 4 GB Microdrive. Quality proved to be superb, with the exception of a minor purple colourization issue when in auto white balance mode - quickly resolved by a manual adjustment.
Worse is it that, under poorly lit conditions, or if one forgets to remove the lens cap when switching the device on, the viewfinder displays a large 'Lens Cap' warning which covers 2/3rds of the display. This wouldn't have been an issue - had it not been for the aggravating fact that the warning is inexplicably overlaid on the video itself, further adding to the marringly slow start-up time.
Fortunately, there are still some highlights to discuss, such as the GZ-MC500E delivering quite decent performance under low light conditions with a bit of exposure and shutter speed tweaking. Another is the excellent audio quality - whether recorded as a video soundtrack or as standalone voice memos. At its highest setting, audio is recorded in 16-bit dual channel Dolby Digital format at 48 kHz and a bit rate of 1.536 Kbps, and a special wind cut feature contributes to reducing wind noise - but only to a certain extent.
As for battery life, the GZ-MC500E holds up to JVC's promise of one hour of video recording at its highest quality setting.
Post processing
Also included with the Everio GZ-MC500E is a comprehensive imaging suite from reputable CyberLink, including PowerDVD 5, PowerDirector Express and PowerProducer 2 Gold. When put together, the applications allow for easily producing and playing back DVDs containing both images and video, with fairly advanced editing capabilities.
Availability
The JVC Everio GZ-MC500E and its North American counterpart, the Everio GZ-MC500, are at the time of press available throughout Europe and North America, selling in the €1,050 EUR range.
Price and availability
The JVC Everio GZ-MC500E will start selling for $1300 () in June 2005.
|
|
|
|
_it00.jpg)
|
Archive