Would be great if Low-Light video was better
This camcorder seemed like a great deal with a 20x optical zoom HD filming Time-Lapse and CLAIMS of super low-light performance.
Reality: Low-Light performance is TERRIBLE !!! Horribly grainy pictures in even moderate lighting. Inside at night with normal lighting from 3 overhead lights plus a lamp on the video is grainy and washed out. The video looks like the sample pic in their description that shows what it should NOT look like. This thing has a TEENY TINY little sensor. There is no way this could ever take good video in low or moderate light. I bought this to take video of my soon-to-be-born first child which will be mostly indoors with normal lighting. To use it for this purpose I would need to invest in several industrial-strength halogen lights and aim them all at the baby at the same time to illuminate him enough.
Outside this takes good video assuming there is plenty of light.
The time-lapse feature seems awesome at first but it sucks down the battery very quickly unless it is plugged in. The screen must be kept open while filming or else the camera will shut off. Why not have a time-driven system that only turns on the camera for a few seconds at a time which would vastly improve the battery life???
This camera is HD but it is 1080(i)... Interlaced and not full true 1080p. The description is misleading when it states that it can PLAY BACK in 1080p... they don't come right out and say "oh but by the way it only records in 1080i." Quite misleading.
This cam does not come with a HDMI cable (most in this price range don't either). It does come with a RCA type connector and usb cable. This is an HD cam WHY oh WHY would I EVER choose to use an RCA cable to watch it??? I can't even tell you if it takes decent hi-def video because I can't hook it up properly to my HD tv. Should really INCLUDE HDMI CABLE... they could include one for very cheap since they would be buying them in bulk at probably 50 cents apiece.
I returned this the day after I bought it. I have ordered the Sanyo FH1a instead which has a MUCH larger sensor and is actually CHEAPER now than this JVC! Whatever you do watch some youtube videos showing demo videos of the actuall camcorder you want to buy BEFORE you purchase.
This gets 2 stars one for good zoom and one for time-lapse. But this cam really is 100% worthless indoors. I tested it indoors first at Best-Buy but they have those very bright ceiling lights so I was unaware of how bad this cam really is.
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