Index:

JVC GR-DVP3u

Impressions
The Good
The Bad
The Ugly

Other Good Camcorders
Sony PC 110
Canon Elura 2 MC
JVC GR-DVM70u

Still Picture Examples

Program AE Modes

White Balance

Other (Miscellaneous) Info

The Camera in Use

Accessories & Camera Views

Specifications

Menus w/Detailed Capabilities

Tape Formats

Links

DV Primer

Home

I bought one of these digital Mini DV camcorders about a month after they came out.  All the local stores (Good Guys, Circuit City, Best Buy) were charging $1500 for it, I bought it online and paid less than $1100.

Primary motives: 

Small:  This one is obvious; I don't want to lug around a big old behemoth just to capture videos of interesting events.  I want something I can carry in a pocket or attach to my belt.  Something that won't discourage its use by its sheer bulk.  Also I want to film concerts I attend and I figure the smaller the better.

Mini DV:  Of course this is the only way to go these days.  Forget bulky analog systems with their low image quality and degradation from use.  Buying another format seems like poor future planning to me.  See FORMAT overview below.

XGA Still Image Resolution:  VGA just doesn't cut it.  See below examples.  I don't want to have to lug around multiple cameras, but I like still-images.  The only camcorder currently with better resolution is the Sony PC110 but it's so big you might as well lug around multiple cameras.

Zoom Microphone Attachment:  For concerts.

USB Connector:  My friends with digital cameras tell me of how agonizingly slow it is to transfer still images via serial cable.

Small Multimedia Card for Still Images:  I can't even imagine how completely unfriendly it must be to work with a camera that sucks up 6-seconds of your video to capture still images which are interspersed throughout the regular video.  Fill up a card with images?  Carry spares; like film without the developing; except more expensive.

Impressions: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

The Good:  

• Small size
• Light weight
• Sturdy
• Sleek design belongs in a museum for industrial art - just beautiful 
• Integrated lens cover
• XGA still images
• Natural color low light shooting (very flexible settings available for this)
• Easily flip between still and video recording
• Eye-diopter adjuster for viewfinder
• Hot-shoe for accessories
• Digital Zoom actually works well beyond the optical range (up to about 30x, not 200x), the camera appears to be doing some sort of "edge-find" like Photoshop to determine how to represent the image accurately.  Beyond about 30x the image starts to pixelate.
• MMC for still images
• Internal microphone placement makes more sense than on many small camcorders
• Righties and lefties can use (not that it matters to this righty)
• USB
• I.Link.
• Beautiful Output.  Color is good, picture clean, etc.

The Bad:  

• XGA still image quality could be better
• No progressive scan mode (has a "sport" mode which is similar)
• Short battery life (what can you do here? its small)
• Menus and menu buttons more difficult to use than they should be
• Bigger screen would be better
• Digital sounds built-in (what is this for? America's Funniest Home Videos" TV show?), stupid
• AC is supplied to power the camera by a fake battery with a cord that connects to the charger

The Ugly:  

• No threads for filters - most people that use filters with their camcorder attach a UV filter to protect the lens (UV rays are normally something which affects standard photo film, I don't know what effect they would have on a CCD, if any); I like to attach a polarizing filter to deepen colors and clean up the sky during outdoor shooting 
• No built-in flash like JVC GR-DVM70
• No analog in (just analog out)
• For a $1700 list price you'd think the cheap bozos at JVC could have thrown in a case

Other Notable Camcorders I was Considering

Sony PC110: Sony quality. Best still-image resolution around. Zeiss lenses.  Too big for me.

Canon Elura2 MC: Nice camera.  Small.  I use and love my Canon 35mm film cameras.  This camcorder also has some very still-camera like features, like the ability to shoot with an open aperture to isolate a subject from its background, like in portrait photography.  Of course the VGA resolution sort of limits the usefulness of having ANY advanced still-image features.  This camcorder also has analog in, a big plus.  Didn't buy this over the JVC because the Canon has: no built-in lens protector; VGA-only still resolution; bigger than JVC; funky low-light mode; bad internal microphone placement; weird looking.  This camera was a very close second.  The analog-in almost outweighed the VGA still resolution; I have video capture on my PC, so I can do that instead and send it to the GR-DVP3u via I.Link.

JVC GR-DVM70u: Bigger than GR-DVP3u, but still small.  Built-in flash.  Bigger display.  Snazzy auto lens cover.  No USB (uses that weird JLIP thing, whatever that's all about) and VGA only.

Still Picture Example: Click on Thumbnail Image for Original Picture

These are pictures from my backyard taken on a somewhat overcast day without cloudy white-balance correction: flowers, my Doberman, bird-bath, etc.  The quality is the best the camera can do: XGA/Fine.  The pictures look better when the colors are similar, like the dog.  When there is stark color contrast, the .JPG logic used seems to have more difficulty properly determining color gradations.

These are pictures of a computer speaker and quartz crystal sitting on my desk, one VGA the other XGA to show the difference between the two output formats.  Notice that the XGA isn't fantastic: as near as I can figure the camera is doing some pixel interpolation.  The result isn't as good as a 1024x768 still camera, but is still better than regular camcorder VGA.  Good enough for snapshots.

Program AE Modes Available

• Slow - Brightens dark areas
• 4X Slow - Brightens dark areas more
• 10X Slow - Brightens dark areas even more
• Night Alive - Brightens dark areas most.  Slows shutter down to capture full color video, but with fewer frames/second. 
• 1/60 Shutter Speed - For shooting a video that contains a TV, reduces strobing of black-lines on image of TV
• 1/100 Shutter Speed - For shooting under fluorescent or mercury-vapor lights to reduce video flicker
• Sports - Variable fast shutter speed between 1/250 and 1/4000 for capturing fast moving subjects or for later frame-by-frame video analysis
• Snow - Compensates when background is so light would cause subject to be too dark
• Spotlight - Compensates when subject with spotlight would appear too bright
• Twilight - Changes White Balance to make scenes shot at dusk appear more natural, changes focus behavior, turns off flash
• Sepia - Makes video look brown, like in olden times (modern technology!)
• B/W Monotone - Black and white video mode
• Classic Film - Strobes film, like old movies
• Strobe - Video looks like a series of snapshots (why?)
• Video Echo - Adds a repeating video ghost after images, like "acid trails"

White Balance 

• Auto - Camera adjusts balance
• Manual - You adjust it by having the camera "look" at a white sheet of paper under the appropriate light source
• Fine - Outdoors on a Sunny Day
• Cloud - Outdoors on a Cloudy Day
• Halogen - Under artificial video lighting 

Other Information

• Fail-Safe Mode - I was in the Bahamas, the camera says it is rated for up to 80% humidity, so I check the local humidity reading and it was 95%.  I took the camera out and tried to use it: it reported "Stand By, Fail Safe Mode:  Condensation Detected, Please Wait."  It detected the humidity and didn't want to work for about an hour and a half, after which it worked fine.

Use

I find the battery life from the included slim battery is just fine for most use.  It lasts an hour (the length of an SP tape) and is just perfect for most usage.  Most of my day trips don't include a whole hour of video taping.

Its funny to watch folks carry around the vast bulk of most camcorders.  Mostly they act like they're news cameraman, and seem pathetically out of place.

I taped a concert like I was planning and it worked out fine.  The only thing that let me do it was the small size of the camera.  I palmed the camera sometimes or set it on the table in front of me.  A bouncer even asked me "Is that a video camera" I replied "Uh-uh, no! It's a still camera!"  They bought it.

The small size really does make a huge difference.  You can slip this in your pocket easily and be ready anytime you want to videotape.  My hats off to JVC!

The camera has a ring you move to select PLAY OFF AUTOMATIC & MANUAL.  PLAY views the still images or video depending upon setting of Video/Still switch (switch 12 below), OFF turns camera off, AUTOMATIC takes pictures using default camera settings, & MANUAL takes pictures using your settings.  I always use MANUAL to make sure the camera is using my preferences, but AUTOMATIC could be handy for grab-and-shoot.  Note that leaving the switch on PLAY will drain the battery.

Accessories, Views of the Camera

1. Lens
2. Lens Cover
3. Screen
4. Analog A/V Jack
5. I.Link Jack
6. Info-Shoe
7. Viewfinder
8. Zoom/Forward-Rewind Control w/Record-Play Button
9. Snapshot Button
10. Stop/Digital Sound
11. MultiMediaCard Door
12. Video vs. Still-Photo Switch
13. Focus Override/Blank Spot Find
14. Exposure Lock/Volume +
15. Backlight Compensation/Volume -

Included accessories left to right (above picture): battery adapter provides power to camcorder from AC (do this & camcorder won't shut off after 5 minute auto-off so you can transfer video or whatever); slim battery 30-60 minute power (BN-V1070; AC adapter/battery charger charges 1 battery at a time (slim battery takes about an hour); 8Mb MMC for still-images; hand strap for easier camcorder holding; remote control to control camera and/or a VCR for editing; docking station includes connectors for USB, headphones, S-Video and Edit (to control VCR when doing a "Random Assemble" output, like you're taking certain scenes from vacation video and creating a more coherent "Vacation Video."  Also included but not shown are: analog A/V cable; headphone cable; carry strap that screws into tripod mount beneath camcorder, and batteries for remote.

Camcorder with long-life (BN-V114) battery.    

Optional Accessories: Zoom microphone; flash; video light.       

Specifications

       SD Memory Card                   MultiMedia Card
8MB*2 : approx.51 (approx.16)       approx.74 (approx.24)
16MB : approx.140 (approx.46)      approx.150 (approx.49)
32MB : approx.295 (approx.97)      approx.305 (approx.100)
64MB : approx.610 (approx.195)           ---          ( --- )

       SD Memory Card                   MultiMedia Card
8MB*2 : approx.105(approx.37)      approx.150(approx.53)
16MB : approx.290 (approx.100)    approx.310 (approx.105)
32MB : approx.610 (approx.210)    approx.630 (approx.215)
64MB : approx.1255 (approx.435)         ---          ( --- )

Menus 

Wipe/Fader - Right to left, left to right, pixelate, fade etc.  Too many scene wipes to include....  If you ask me, this kind of feature is fluffy bullshit.
Program AE - See above
White Balance - See above
Sound Mode
----> 12 Bit - Records Stereo sound on 2 tracks, leaving 2 tracks open for dubbing
----> 16 Bit - Records Stereo sound on 2 tracks at 48Khz, no dubbing possible
Zoom
----> 10x - Uses only the optical range of the camera.  This is the highest quality setting.
----> 40x - Uses the camera's 10x optical, and 40x digital range.  As mentioned previously, the camera has a good zoom to about 30x, so this is a reasonable setting, though the 30x to 40x range will start to pixelate.
----> 200x - Marketing bullshit.  Why?  Pixelates heavily.
Snap Mode
----> Pinup: Puts a "picture frame" and a "shadow" around the picture.  Why?  Stupid consumer bullshit.
----> Frame: Puts a "picture frame" around the picture.  Why?  Stupid consumer bullshit.
----> Full: Normal.  A picture takes the full frame.
----> Multi-4: Camera shoots 4 frames in rapid succession and puts them on one picture.  Good for "analyzing golf swings" and for???
----> Multi-9: Camera shoots 9 frames in rapid succession and puts them on one picture.  Good for "analyzing golf swings" and for???
Gain Up
----> Off - No picture brightness augmentation for dark scenes
----> AGC - Image may be grainy, but bright
----> Auto A - Shutter speed automatically adjusted in low light, more gain than AGC
Dis - On/Off Compensates for hand shake
5S - For taking 5 seconds of video (why?) and for doing animation like "Gumby."
Tele Macro - On/Off Autozoom to bring macro subject in focus
Wide Mode
----> Off: Normal 4:3 TV mode.
----> Cinema: If you have a normal 4:3, but want to display as 16:9 cinema.
----> Squeeze: If you are one of the lucky cutting-edged-bastards that has a 16:9 TV.  Will appear "squeezed" on a normal 4:3 TV.
Wind Cut - On/Off For use when windy to cut wind-noise
Beep - On/Off/Melody 
Tally - On/Off: If ON a little red light next to the lens will light when recording.
Demo Mode - On/Off: For store display.  Runs through the features on the display.
Cam Reset - Reset settings
Sound In
----> Mic - Use camdorder's built-in microphones
----> Digital Sound - Use digital sound effects from memory card (stupid)
On Screen
----> LCD: Built-in LCD display
----> LCD/TV: Both built-in LCD and an attached TV
Date/Time
----> Off
----> Auto - Displays when first turned on.
----> On - Always displayed.
Time Code - On/Off: Display or don't display.  All DV camcorders record a time-code track along with the normal recording, similar to professional movie or SMPTE recording.  The camera uses this to synchronize recordings and potentially external devices.  
Clock Adj. - Change the time.
DSC Quality - Fine/Standard: Digital Still Camera picture quality.
DSC Image Size - XGA/VGA
DSC Record Select - Tape/MMC or Tape: Record still images to the MultiMediaCard or to tape.  Recording to tape seems so profoundly stupid as to be worthless of consideration.  So for "TAPE" setting consider this: You're in the Bahamas video taping your sweetie frolicking on the beach, you hit still-image, and the camera takes the next 6 seconds of video to record a single still image or your honey.  I record everything to a 64MB card I purchased.  The camera comes with a 8Mb, which seems too small to me.

Camcorder Tape Formats

VHS - Analog, low resolution (240 to 270 lines)
VHS-C - Analog, Same as VHS, but a smaller cassette. The "C" means Compact
S-VHS - Analog, medium resolution (400 line), tape same size as VHS (ie BIG)
8mm - Analog, low resolution (240 to 270 lines), tape is small
Hi-8 - Analog, medium resolution (similar to S-VHS), small tape, best non-digital choice
Mini-DV - Digital, high resolution (500 lines), very small tape

Links

www.jvcservice.com/custrel/download.htm - JVC video camera drivers.  Courtesy Eric Lesniewski.

More to follow....