JVC EVERIO GZ-MC500EK REVIEW

Pros: Small, easy to carry around. Picture quality in good light is excellent, as good as any other I've seen. In low light, its still very good - definitely better than the previous gz-mc100/200 models. More manual settings than aforementioned models but the average user can stick to 'auto' and get very good video. Still pics are good quality as well, not as good as a dedicated digicam but still more than adequate for everyday pics, and better than my previous 3MP camera

Cons: Only an hour of video on the included 4Gb microdrive, and the battery life is about an hour as well. If going on vacation may well need to invest in extra microdrive (relatively expensive) and battery. The bottom of the cam gets very hot during use. No remote included.

ValueforMoney: Not cheap at £750, but you pay the price for cutting edge technology. If you already have a decent camcorder may be worth waiting a few months for other manufacturers to follow suit and prices to fall. Remember for less money you'll get a superb mini-dv camcorder.

Bottom line: For less money you can get a mini-dv camcorder that's smaller, has more features and better video quality. So why buy this one? Answer: convenience - I guess this is why many are attracted to the DVD-R camcorders and the new flash based MPEG recorders. It's like 35mm film vs digital cameras. No doubt this will happen to camcorders eventually. The process of shooting video/editing/burning to DVD/viewing is just easier with this camcorder than any other I've used. I have hardly any of my old mini-dv tapes transferred to DVD for this reason. Inevitably this means the tapes get stuck gathering dust on a shelf and dont get looked at. Then what's the point of a home camcorder? Anyway I'm rambling - this camcorder is presently the best in it's class: i.e harddrive/flash based consumer camcorder. I've been waiting a long time for a tapeless camcorder to come along that had video quality on par with a decent mini-dv camcorder and here it is! Recommended.