JVC EVERIO GZ-MC500EK REVIEW

Size
It's about as big as your fist. Build quality feels solid, nothing flimsy about it. You can squeeze it into a large pocket, but you look a prat. Because the screen doesn't rotate sideways (just up and down), it is not easy to take pictures while holding it at right angles, seated at a table of friends for example. You can't point it at yourself.

Video Quality
The camera has 4 video settings (the back of the manual has tables which compare every mode combination, very useful):
Recording times on the 4gb disk in mins
Economy 352 x 288 at 1.5 mbps = 300
Normal 720 x 576 at 4.2 mbps = 120
Fine 720 x 576 at 5.5 mbps = 90
Ultrafine 720 x 576 at 8.5 mbps = 60

I can't see much difference between Normal and Ultrafine. Normal is certainly fine for my holiday movies.

Video Format.
Video is recorded in mod format, which is basically mpeg2 with dolby sound. If you rename the file extension to mpg it will play in most packages (I tried Studio 9 and Premier). Premier lost the sound though. Also when you put a clip on the timeline you can see a blank bit at the end which is presumably where the dolby data is.
Widescreen is a hassle. The included Cyberlink PowerDirector does not support widescreen. Premier can be configured to recognise the widescreen format, but loses the sound. PowerDirector can export in mpeg and avi if you need to retain the sound, but squeezes any widescreen footage. The only workable solution for editing is to forget widescreen and just work in 4:3.
Video zooming in playback mode is supported.

Still Pictures
More options here, you have to balance image size and image resolution. Looks like there is a ceiling of 9999 images for some reason.
Playback mode allows rotation of the image.
Number of shots you can save on the 4gb disk:
640 x 480 Fine = 9999
640 x 480 Standard = 9999
1280 x 960 Fine = 6575
1280 x 960 Standard = 9999
1600 x 1200 Fine = 4460
1600 x 1200 Standard = 7345
2048 x 1536 Fine = 2775
2048 x 1536 Standard = 4305
2560 x 1920 Fine = 1805
2560 x 1920 Standard = 2835

Voice Recording
Very useful for recording meetings, except that people want to fiddle with the camera. Quality is excellent, and files are in wav format. The large capacity would be good for long unpredictable projects like capturing bird sounds. Sensitivity can be set at low or high. In high mode it recorded someone talking quietly on the other side of the partition in my office with negligible background noise.
The Mode button cycles between Video, Still, and Audio, Oddly it goes instantly between Video and Still, but you have to hold it down for three seconds to get it to go into Audio mode, and this is not mentioned in the manual.
Playback speed can be Fast, Normal or Slow. Useful for locating sounds in periods of silence.
Recording time on 4gb disk (in mins):
Fine (48 khz at 1536 kbps) = 350 (5hrs 50mins)
Standard (16 khz at 512 kbps) = 1060 (17hrs 40mins)
Economy (8 khz at 256 kpbs) = 2130 (35hrs 30mins)

Battery.
Battery arrives uncharged.
Battery is removable, but the JVC web site quotes £75 for a spare one. There is only one size, no high capacity battery available as it wouldn't fit in the slot.
It take 1.5 hours to charge. It is lithium-ion so no memory problems.
Normal mode continuous shooting, battery lasted 1 hr 3 mins
Ultrafine mode continuous shooting, battery lasted 57 mins.
I suspect if you use the zoom a lot this would come down.

Low Light.
Need to keep the Gain on full (in the menu). I have read reviews that say low light recording is poor, but I thought it was fine. Bit subjective I guess. I pointed it at the gloomy space under my desk and it showed more than I could see with my eyes.

Zoom
Zoom can be set to 10x (optical), 40x digital, 200x digital. Quality is fine, but obviously it pixelates if you zoom x 200.
Macro mode lets get as close as 70cm.

Disk
The included 4gb microdrive slot will take a CompactFlash card, but I read somewhere you have to get the high speed ones. Haven't tried recording on a CF card.
There is also an SD card slot in the bottom of the camera. You have to go through a couple of menu levels to tell it which media to record on, no quick switch if you run out of space while shooting.
There are 6gb disks available but they are about £200.
Manual says you need to format the supplied disk, but you don't. Just stick it in.

Interfaces and bits
Using the supplied adaptors you can get video out in SVideo, Composite, or Scart.
USB. Copies a 1gb file to my laptop in 3 mins
No firewire
No DV in (so you cannot record from an external source).
No audio in (so you cannot use an external microphone).
No hotshoe for lights or mics.
No remote.
The Headphone jack is 2.5mm not the standard 3.5mm, so you have to use the supplied adaptor. Tedious if you lose it.
Lens cover included.
No cover for the screen.
No case included (£40 on JVC site).
Screen only rotates 45 degrees up or down so you cannot film yourself.
Body gets hot because of the disk drive, doesn't seem to impair performance.
Each file (video, still or audio) can display properties on the camera's screen. Useful for seeing what the format was, date/time when you shot it, and how long it is.
Can do manual Aperture and Shutter priority.
Can do bracket shooting (3 stills at 3 different exposures for one click)
There is a normal threaded hole in the bottom for mounting on a tripod.

Software
Digital Photo Image Navigator 1.0. For getting stills off the camera.
Power DVD. Plays mod format video files, recognises wide screen ok.
PowerPoducer. For creating DVDs. Not sure if it supports widescreen footage.
PowerDirector. For editing video, adding titles etc. Only has one video channel, does not support widescreen. Can export avi and mpeg.

Overall I'm glad I bought it.