JVC GZ-MC100 Flash Memory Digital Camcorder with 4GB Microdrive & SD/CF Slot £270.24

Rajeev

Now further reduced (thanks to slojo) :-

The JVC GZ-MC100 camcorder on ebuyer has now been reduced further to £270.24 inc VAT, and now includes a free battery and charger.
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I was searching for a good Digital Camcorder with decent still image resolution and found this one at eBuyer.

JVC GZ-MC100 Everio Flash Memory Digital Camcorder

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?product_uid=83021
http://www.jvc.co.uk/product.php?id=GZ-MC100EK&catid=100094&lid=



Product Information

Weekend special save an extra £20 this weekend only

Save over £220 in total.
Ebuyer has teamed up with JVC UK to bring you the UK exclusive of this spectacular camcorder at a sensational price. Offer strictly whilst stocks last.

Stylish, compact, super light and full of the latest technology. The Everio GZ-MC100 is not just the latest camcorder, it is in fact, a whole new breed of camcorder altogether. This is truly the best camera/camcorder hybrid for recording DVD quality video and high quality still pictures in one unit. Instead of recording onto tape or DVD it records on to a tiny interchangeable hard disk called micro drives (you can also use Compact flash cards or SD cards). The camcorder comes with one 4 gigabyte micro drive which will record 300 minutes of video or thousands of still pictures.

If you wish to explore this exceptional technology further please the dedicated Everio page on JVC’s website http://www.jvc.co.uk/site/homepage/eve_web/

User-Friendly GUI for Easy Operation and Setting
Thumbnail Picture for Easy & Quick Viewing
1.8" LCD Monitor
Built-in Auto Flash
48kHz/16bit Stereo Voice Recording Function (WAV)
USB2.0 for High-Speed Transfer
Easy Printing with PictBridge and DPOF Support
Super convenient flat design
Weight 315 grams*, volume under 300 cubic centimetres
4GB Microdrive® Removable Media Provided
Microdrive®/CompactFlash Type II card and SD Dual Card Slots for Extra Data Storage and Transfer
1/3.6-inch 2.12 Megapixel CCD for High-Quality Image Capture
High-Quality MPEG-2 Video Recording (up to 720 x 576/50i in ULTRA mode) with Dolby Digital Audio (MOD file)
High-Quality Digital Still Shooting with up to 1600 x 1200 pixels (JPEG)
Megabrid Engine for Optimal Video and Still Quality
10 x Optical Zoom/200x Digital Zoom
Super Hi-Rez JVC Lens
including battery, Microdrive®, lens cap and hand strap

thanks and happy new year !

Rajeev

Please note that this Camcorder does not have a widescreen mode.

Kentish

Thanks to the OP for sharing this find. I'm also looking for a new camcorder to replace a 6-year old Canon miniDV and am very tempted by what looks like an excellent bargain for an affordable next generation (ie, non-tape, non-DVD) camcorder. On face value, the specs certainly seem to fit my most important requirement: good video quality (ie, better than my 6-year old Canon), and the relatively large CCD, which is the business part of the camcorder, is a very good sign (1/3.6 inch, compared to 1/6 inch found in standard entry-level models).

However, what's not very obvious is how the "DVD quality" MPEG2 video of this JVC compares to the resolution of entry-level miniDV camcorders which are around £100 cheaper, eg:

Samsung VP-D352 (£169 from Pixmania )
Panasonic NV-GS17 (£191 from Pixmania)

Other shortcomings I've read about are poor low light video quality and focussing (which are apparently exceptional in good lighting conditions - the similarly spec'ed but different form-factor GZ-MC200 is reviewed here ). However, I haven't found any info anywhere which directly compares it to other similar-priced models so hard to know if it can be bettered for that price. Also, I have read that the video format (MPEG2) cannot be imported or edited easily with standard video editors such as Adobe Premiere, although I understand that it may come with it's own basic video editing software.

Finally, the lack of true (= high resolution) 16:9 widescreen mode is a pity. In addition to shooting my son's school plays and sportsdays for prosperity, I also have aspirations/delusions to do some amateur film-making. For the desired hi-res widescreen function, I believe the Canons are your best budget option, with the MV800 (~£194 from cameras2u.com) being the cheapest model. The US-version of the Canon MV800 is reviewed here.

Ultimately, I'm torn between this JVC and the cheaper Canon MV800 with high-res widescreen mode. Rajeev (or anybody else): have you bought the JVC and can you confirm the excellent DVD-like video quality and dispel some of the poor low-lighting concerns?

deleth

My Father has one of these and is well pleased. Quality is DVD standard in good light but performance does drop in low light. As for editing it does come with its own basic software but the easiest thing to do is change the JVC file extension from .MOV to .MPG when you copy it to your hardrive. Then you can use it in any editing software, even winows movie maker.

Tojo_Ralph

With my laptop on go slow I've not read the info on all of the alternative camcorders suggested, so I might well be wrong, however, when comparing camcorders, is the JVC GZ-MC100 being approx £100 more expensive not suprising given that it includes a 4GB Microdrive ....... which I think retails standalone at approx £100?

djleekee

This is a very good deal.

I have a Sanyo Xacti model - but they are introducing a new Widescreen High Definition model.

The specs on this JVC are good but let-down by inferior still images.
I love my Xacti as you only have to take one small device around to capture 5MP stills and HD video onto SD cards. I currently have a 2GB card but larger sizes are available.

More details here http://www.xacti.co.uk
and
http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/news/articles/story_5396.html

The cheapest option isn't always the best option. All depends on how far your budget will stretch.

Even so that JVC is a bargain!

Leek

truffle

has anyone ordered and recieved this one?

how long did it take for delivery?

what do you get in the box?

whats your opinion on the camcorder?

twe

kentish, just for your info...
https://www.dixons.co.uk have the canon mv830 for £249, plus there is a 5% discount voucher going round, to make the total to £236.55

Features for this CANON MV830

- MiniDV Format
- 16:9 True Widescreen recording
- Digital camera facility
- Pinnacle 9 PC editing software included
- 20 x optical zoom
- 400 x digital zoom
- DV out
- USB 2.0 connectivity
- 2.4" LCD screen
- 8mb removable SD card supplied

CDR1122

twe wrote:

kentish, just for your info...
...
- 8mb removable SD card supplied

the CANON MV830 is MiniDV and not a Harddrive based recorder?

the 8Mb SD Card is for still shots, but i might be wrong.

twe

no the canon is not a hard drive recorder, but kentish was not looking exclusively to this unit but alternatives for a similar price.... anyway u should also look into the hard drive range of jvc camcorders, they do 20gb, 30gb and 40gb versions [non removeable]....

Kentish

twe wrote:

kentish, just for your info...
https://www.dixons.co.uk have the canon mv830 for £249, plus there is a 5% discount voucher going round, to make the total to £236.55

After all that deliberation about whether to buy the JVC or a cheap entry-level Canon MV800/830/850, I finally bagged a refurbished Canon MV830 for about £150 from the Canon Outlet on eBay - link here!

It looked new and has a standard 12 month warranty so I was quite pleased on that front. They're not always available but when they are they seemingly always appear as 24 hour auctions for some reason. It arrived within days by courier so I was pleased with the reliability of the seller - I wouldn't normally buy 'expensive' electronics on eBay...

However, back to topic, I haven't given the Canon a fair test in optimal lighting conditions yet but already I'm not totally convinced that the image quality is that much (or any) better than my old one - it's good, but not great. So in my opinion, if you want a cheap entry-level digital miniDV camcorder, you can do a lot worse than getting one from the Canon Outlet on eBay. If you hanker after 'DVD quality' video then the JVC looks very tempting indeed!

One final note about the JVC 20, 30, 40 gb etc hard drive camcorders though - I understand that if the hard drive goes for any reason then your camcorder is pretty much junked! If I went for a hard drive model then I would personally opt for the GZ-MC100 originally posted: removable hard drive which you can replace easily and prices for removable media can only come down.