Geeks.com sent us in the JVC GR-D347US camcorder for a review. Read on for more and check some test footage for this cheap digital camcorder, possibly the cheapest miniDV model in the market today.The JVC GR-D347US was originally manufactured for Wal-Mart, but some other retailers got their hands on it too. Geeks is selling the unit for just $150 (special today) and this is makes it one of the most affordable miniDV cameras on the market today. In the box we found the battery pack, a US AC power adapter, a shoulder strap, a composite A/V cable and a user’s manual.
The NTSC JVC GR-D347US has an optical zoom of 28x, a sensor of 1/6″, auto and manual focus, electronic stabilization, zoom adjustment, a TFT 2.5-inch color rotate-able screen, a retractable viewfinder, built-in microphone & speaker. The camcorder also has a mini firewire port, an infrared receiver (remote control sold separately), a tripod hole, and photo snapshot capabilities (recorded on the tape itself). The 27mm zoom lens has an aperture of F/2.0, minimum focal length of 2.3 mm and a max one at 64.4 mm. The device fits extremely well on the hand as it is one of the smallest camcorders on the market! The user is able to easily touch the zoom and basic controls with one hand, but for additional controls the second hand must be used too as they are located next to the screen.
The 2.5″ 4:3 screen is bright and easily accessible. On the same side that the screen resides you will find the 16:9 button that switches between 4:3 and 16:9 capture, the menu button that turns ON the main camera menu (only accessible during manual mode), and a joystick that allows you to move around and “set” your preferences. The main menu is visually designed pretty poorly, it just feels like quickly-put-together software — although no software bugs were encountered. You can select effects, transitions, shutter speed, set manual exposure, set the white balance, and switch to macro mode. Through that same mode you can select LP or SP tape recording mode, custom gain settings and audio clean up from the wind.
Overall, we found the ergonomics of the camera to work well for a consumer camera. Setting up the exposure and white balance was easy too. The only usability problem we had was with the zoom control. It’s just impossible to precisely control it without zooming too fast or too slow. Battery life is below par too, at around 90 minutes (most cameras would do 120 mins). JVC sells higher capacity batteries for this model.
Regarding picture quality it is as good as Canon’s current low-end camcorder, the ZR800. It will produce some good SD quality videos for your PC and DVD player (and more than good enough for YouTube). However, compared to the 2004 low-end Canon model, the ZR80, quality is much better with the JVC. The colors are more punchy (one could say that the blue colors are over-saturated), the camera has less noise in the dark, and most importantly, it has almost 25% wider angle allowing the camera to see “more” of its surroundings! Audio quality is pretty good too, although when we hand-held it we could hear some motor noise in the footage. Motor noise that was not audible when the camera was set on the tripod instead.
We tested the camcorder with Windows (Sony Vegas), Linux (Kino) and a Mac (iMovie ’05) and the footage was captured and editing worked perfectly with each one of these OSes. The camera captures at 720×480 (both for 4:3 and 16:9-anamorphic) and when played back in 16:9 the anamorphic resolution used is 873×480.
Overall, we thought that the JVC GR-D347US is as good, if not better, than other low-end camcorders priced at around $250. Currently selling at just $150 at Geeks.com, it is a smart purchase for those who don’t currently own a camcorder. If you do own a miniDV camcorder already and you are thinking of upgrading, wait 2-3 more years and buy an AVCHD camcorder when the time is right.
Rating: 8/10
Tip: The secret to steady, smooth pannings!
we just got a panasonic GS80, minidv is alive and well.
miniDV is alive and well for *SD* material. But the market is going towards HD, and tapes are just extra inconvenient for that format. The market is going towards AVCHD now.
My own HD camera, the now legendary Canon HV20 (the best-selling prosumer camera ever), is an HDV camera (also using tapes), and this is good choice *for now* because NLEs support it. But in 2-3 years from now, I will be moving to an HDD-based AVCHD one too.
Read my link in the article on AVCHD where I explain the situation more.
Edited 2007-09-26 00:43
i know all about avchd, we have a professional videographer / editor / photographer in the family (not me!).
minidv is cheap and will be around for quite a while more. SD camcorders are not yet set to take over the consumer market.
I agree in 2-3 years AVCHD will be kicking butt, but there is little point in going to that right now.
hdd camcorders eat _way_ too much juice, but they trade it for space.
it still surprises me that mini dvd/cd recorders are still on the market as they are just horrid.
SD material is going to be king for a loooong time.
While SD material might be around for more time, it is not clear that this would be miniDV material. The AVCHD consortium has specified their standard for SD resolutions too. And given the fact that chipsets getting cheaper while reading-tapes hardware does not, it is as safe to assume that SD camcorders might also move to the AVCHD h.264 standard rather than the current miniDV mpeg2 one.
what i don’t like about the JVC GR-D347US is that it’s refurbished with only 3 month of warranty
i can get a new JVC GR-D 725 here in austria for 190 € (including 20% tax)
The price is fair IMO. 190€ is $265 and this camcorder sells for $150 instead.
Well, I also checked I can get a D725 for about 1.5 the price of this refurbished D347 with just 3 months wy. I’d bet on the new one.
This is an OS site? Who cares about a darn camcorder? I read this site to see what is going on in the OS arena and its collateral subjects as well.
If I wanted a digital toy hardware review I would have looked lelsewhere. Maybe if they talked about the embedded OS or how it can be hacked to work with multiple operating systems it would be relevant.
I fail to see why this article his here…
No one forced you to read the review. I personally found the review very useful as I am looking to get my first camcorder and this seems like a decent choice. Since I have no idea if I will use it much starting cheap is smart. Thanks Eugenia, the test footage was particularly useful.
No one forced me to read it, that is true.
However…
1) I never said I was forced to read it. I asked what it was doing here. Stay on topic please.
2) I read it in hopes that there would be some sort of connection to an OS…maybe better Linux hardware compatability or maybe some included software that runs on OSs other than OSX or MS platforms. Those would make it much more related to a site called OSNEWS!
The general category of geek stuff fits more at slashdot or somesuch.
3) Given Eugenia’s fine posts before, which I have enjoyed, by the way, this whole article seemed to be a non sequiter….
4) I dont care where the article was referenced from. There are a million geek sites and electronic sites. THis is an OS site. This isnt a shot at you, so chill out there…please…you’ll avoid heart failure alot longer…
I think you will find that OS News has had the remit “NOT JUST Operating System News” for some time… it’s even the tag line on the Beta site.
You are not the first person to belly-ache about the subject matter on OS News… I did once too. However, the editiorial stance is firmly in the “Geek” and not just OS arena now (and has been for a number of years) so I guess you can either get over it or find a new site that covers Operating System related news as much as this one does.
I really do commend Eugenia on her new found restraint 😉 She has commited virtual manslaughter for less in the past.
>I really do commend Eugenia on her new found restraint
My internet connection was off for 4 hours.
I agree, this does not even have anything to do with computers. What’s next, car stereo reviews?
Exactly!
Well, the details…
, now you see. [no offence]
This is an OS site? Who cares about a darn camcorder? I read this site to see what is going on in the OS arena and its collateral subjects as well.
If you look closely, you’ll find that the article is called “Review: The JVC GR-D347US Camcorder”
If you don’t want to read it, don’t click on it. It’s that simple.
I can’t believe people are really whining about this article.
Edited 2007-09-26 18:44
Better to get this new from newegg for $15 more:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830145065&Tpk…
The geek.com one is refurbished.
Edited 2007-09-26 03:38
“Recertified” might just mean the same thing as “refurbished” at geeks.
Then what is a DV camera review doing here? I agree with the comments above…
Eugenia – your reviews are all well thought out and well executed. This miniDV review supports that statement.
Solid job!
When they have to do with an OS anyway…
Have you ever visited the ‘Topics’ category within this site?
http://osnews.com/topic.php
If you do, you may notice categories for:
Geek Stuff
Hardware
Graphics
Multimedia, AV
Games
Internet & Networking
To say, if the post does not relate to an OS topic it has no place on this site, is very close minded and opinion based.
The taxonomy of this site and obvious category structure disproves that statement completely.
If a headline does not peek your interest move on to one that does. Don’t bash quality writing because it’s not a topic ‘you’ are interested in.
I visit 100’s of blog’s a day via my Google reader and if my favorite tech site has a headline about ‘why the Bears are going to win the super bowl’, I don’t question, I move on to the other 99 sites and look for a different post that catches my eye.
No worries….life is too short to spend it going against the grain.
Edited 2007-09-26 19:00