Electronics : JVC GZ-MG330A Slim HDD/microSD Hybrid Camcorder With Konica Minolta Lens (35x Optical Zoom)

Rating: - JVC GZ-MG330A the best low budget camcorder around?
First off let me say that I have never written a review on here, ever!

But I've seen some bad reviews of this camera and THEY ARE NOT JUSTIFIED! So much so ime writing this review.

I didn't want much, just to video tape family events and competitions I attend (martial artist) and for £200 I wasn't expecting alot.

However this little camera impressed me straight out of the box.
Charging time (for the small battery) is very quick, the controls are so simple a child could operate them; the quality on ultra fine is well fine!

Furthermore the optical zoom is amazing, I live in a large valley and I managed to zoom in on a house wayyyyy down and on the other side (it looked like a white spec in the distance to me!), and if it wasn't for my hands shaking because of the cold wind it would of been a fantastic quality shot!

It's dead easy to transfer files to the computer and very easy to find low cost accessories for it on eBay.

The only thing that really is not that great is the still photo quality, but then who wants to take stills when you can video it and extract the exact second of video you want to turn into a still??

All in all this is a superb little camera that I would recommend to anyone!

Thanks JVC :-D

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Rating: - Small and easy to use
I did some research on hard drive camcorders as I was fed up with tapes and I didn't imagine DVD would be straightforward. I was off to USA for the first time so wanted to ensure I had sufficient storage. I also didn't want to spend a fortune as I had no ambition to be a movie director. Out of the box I didn't need to read right through the manual to be able to use it straight away. I used standard quality but wish I had used the ultrafine mode to get that extra quality. The only niggle is that you switch it on by opening the screen and this hides the shutter control - so you have to close it again to open the shutter - until you remember (hard at my age). Zoom is controllable either by using a hand through the strap (with 3rd finger (traditional method) or by holding the camera in the hand and looking down on the screen and then fiddling the zoom with the thumb - lazy but easy. Its size makes it easy to control. It also has a stable, flat base so can be left on a table, wall etc. Controls on the screen are easy to use and playback and slide shows are easy. It plugs into a TV easily and I have recently downloaded the movies onto my computer hard drive. The software provided allows you to download, edit, make movies and DVDs. However you can just access the camera like a hard drive or pen drive without the software if you just want to copy the movie files. I like using Moviemaker and writing onto DVDs so I probably won't bother with the packaged software. This is a neat piece of kit for those who want to do easy videos. Budding Spielbergs might turn up their nose a bit but for us mortals this provides a clever, compact camcorder which fits in a pocket or a generic camera bag. Anyway how do they fit a hard rive into such a small space????

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Rating: - Brilliant Camcorder!!!!
I bought this camcorder after doing a lot of research. It's absolutely brilliant. All the functions are very easy to use. It literally has everything you would want in a camcorder. I could go into all the technical details, but I won't.

I highly recommend it!