Digital 8 Camcorders Digital8Camcorders.com is your one-stop source for information about digital 8 camcorders.

1. 

   Josh L
   May 21st, 2010 - 18:03

   I bought this camcorder at Bargain ultimate through Amazon. It was delivered to me as promised and I got everything as I expected. I realy like this camcorder. It’s so convienent to carry and shoot.
   Rating: 4 / 5
2. 

   B. TUNG
   May 21st, 2010 - 20:33

   It has all the perfect features, but one down-site is Zoom noise. The noise appear when you recording at a quiet place and zoom in/out fast. I think the mic is too close to the lens motor.
   Rating: 4 / 5
3. 

   zack66
   May 21st, 2010 - 22:29

   I was intrigued by the prospect of a small, lightweight camera with no tape. I bought it at the first opportunity. However, having used it for a week, this is a huge disappointment. The battery lasts for meagre 30 minutes or so, and the picture quality indoors is very poor. Colors are pale in weak light. I guess most potential buyers of this camera already own a mini-DV camera of decent quality. Well, compared to my 5 year old Sony TR-V 8 I was greatly disappointed. Stay away!
   Rating: 1 / 5
4. 

   Gene6
   May 22nd, 2010 - 00:10

   Ok.. this is now the 4th Review of this “Sort of” neat little camera. I decided to totally rewrite the review.

   Here we go again!

   I now own (5) GZ MC100 Mini Cams.

   One was bought as a traditional Referb. Two were bought new [...]. The other two were bought [...].

   It is interesting to note that the $90 used camera was not labeled JVC but VICTOR. The camera must have been a Japanese version. I was quite lucky as there is roughly no difference (other than logo) from the other cameras and it was in very NEW condition.

   Right now I am shooting live events in a small Las Vegas Theater for First Friday.

   These are really wonderful cameras. (SEE BELOW) They recognize the new CF standards. So all five of my cameras use 32GB CF memory cards. These 133x Transcend cards cost me around $100ea. They now sell for about $80.

   Since I use these cameras for shooting video for the Internet.. SD (Standard Def) is perfectly fine for my use. The main reason for buying these camera’s was their size, cost and shooting to CF card. (Tapeless) Also all of my high end editing tools only use SD quality.

   I suggest you buy extra batteries for this camera from Ebay. Buy the Gray 1000ma batteries. Avoid the black batteries! I did find Black ones that said they were rated much higher than the standard 800ma. That is either a misprint or an exaggeration. There is also a lens set that costs about $40. It comes with one wide and one 2x lens. You should also buy a UV lens. This will protect the built in lens from scratching or damage. Once the camera lens is scratched you should just throw the camera away.. or use it as a voice recorder.

   I strongly suggest you buy the GZ MC100 new. Once you start using it.. I’m sure it will be a camera that you will use the heak out of. My Refrb camera’s zoom lever is already “Sticky”.. That is probably because it was refurbished.

   I really like my little JVC GZ camcorders:

   Each camera is small to carry and takes very good still images. It also has an interesting “Shoot on the fly” mode. Where you can shoot 1600x photos more or less without stopping. It makes for an interesting video effect when I place the images into my video editor time line.

   To get the most out of the Video side of the GZ MC100 you have to read the documentation. There is a “Low Light” setting in the main menu that must be set. There are also more menu settings only found on the CD that comes with the camera. Nearly all of the “Bad or Poor Reviews” are the result of the owners not bothering to read the manuals.

   There are other cameras out there. The JVC GZ MC100 was a big deal when it came out in 2004. The 4GB microdrive was about $300 back then. Right now you can buy the drives for about $14ea used.

   What makes this camera unique is its size and quality. It is a good “All around” video, still, audio solution. It also has some very interesting features that can be useful.

   It is also worth pointing out that I can take down all five cameras and put them into my shooting vest. That would not be possible with many of the “Small” HD tapeless cameras today.

   Check out the band DVIR in the “First Friday” directory on OpenVegas dot TV. (Type it into your browser) The wide angle shot is my $9000 Canon H1. The close up shots are from the GZ. Also watch for videos shot after August 2009 “First Friday” on OpenVegas TV. You will see what SIX (5 GZ MC100′s) cameras can do.

   ——-
   
   9/07/09
   
   ——-

   The main problem with my “Tape-Less” GZ-MC100 Solution is the file size. The media is formatted for FAT32 not NTFS. That means that no matter what size media you have in your camera.. it will only capture to a 2gb size.

   I did try to format at NTFS.. but the Camera will not read the format. I can lower the resolution (The camera has 4 settings) to cram more time into the 2GB file size. I seriously hate that idea BTW.

   At $500 – NEW this is a really dumb camera to buy. My 2nd choice would be the Canon HV10 that shoots super amazing HD (single chip) quality. The HV10 is slightly larger than the JVC.. and the Canon does not shoot to CF or SD media. The Canon HV10 shoots to MiniDV tape only.

   My practical Tape-Less shooting experience has only been with the JVC camera. I will be buying a FOCUS CF Card recording system for my H1 at some point.. and I have shot directly to laptop using DVRack. But DVRack is no longer made.. it is now an Adobe (crap) Product. And so it goes..

   I will get my money’s worth out of the JVC cameras.. just means more dumb steps! Uggg!

   If you can find the GZ-MC100 in good condition for about $150 – $200 get it. But it will NOT run longer than 1hr in Ultra Fine mode. You will have to stop the camera and restart it (create a new file) to continue shooting the action.

   JVC made a serious error NOT giving the GZ camera the ability to read NTFS formatted media.

   Thanks,

   GENE
   Rating: 4 / 5
5. 

   Knight Owl
   May 22nd, 2010 - 00:12

   I’ve had this unit for about 2 weeks now, and I really like the convenience of its size and digital file transfer, but I’m very disappointed with its color performance. In less-than-ideal lighting conditions, the image is dark and the color is very washed out. With bright ambient lighting, it’s acceptable, though not nearly as vivid as my old Sony Digital 8mm. I concur with most of the cons already mentioned here, including the slow boot-up time and mode switching between video, photo, and voice recorder.

   I’ve also had numerous instances when it has trouble locking focus on a subject. This is annoying, and from my experience so far, I don’t feel that the manual focus options are easy enough to make an override effective in these cases.

   Battery life is short. With my limited use so far, I do not feel that it would last an entire hour under normal use. In three days, I got about three 10-minute sessions on a single charge. Sure, it may have lost a little charge over the course of a few days, but under the circumstances, I consider this very short battery life. However, I did notice that there are eBay sellers selling knock-off batteries and chargers for very attractive prices.

   The included software, though extremely basic, makes it easy to quickly create a DVD. Using the provided templates, you can make a DVD with a simple menu, chapters, photo slideshow, and transitions in just (10) minutes (not including recording time).

   Overall, I would have no MAJOR complaints with this cam if it weren’t for the low light/color problem. I consider the other issues to be relatively minor. Personally, I wouldn’t value this unit over $300, considering the quality of most cams out there these days. But, for the price I paid ($240 special at ABC Wharehouse), I may keep it just because its small size gives me no excuse for not taking a camcorder everywhere I go with my young son. Elusive memories captured in sub-par color are better than missed memories any day!
   Rating: 3 / 5

Leave a comment