Victor JVC's Everio GZ-MC200 and GZ-MC100: The official word
posted Sep 14th 2004 4:00PM
Okay, so we've got the real scoop with newly announced Victor JVC's Everio GZ-MC200 and GZ-MC100 cameras, and four high-res shots of them courtesy of our friend David Elrich, of etown fame. Thanks Dave! Click to read on.
So after some confusion today about the proper specs of Victor JVC’s new Everio
GZ-MC200 and GZ-MC100 camera/camcorders, we’ve
got the real deal. Both the MC100 and 200 are identical in specs, differing only in form factor (kind of misleading
given the model numbering scheme and $100 price difference), the GZ-MC200 having a seemingly un-ergonomic rotating
grip, and appearing larger than the vertical-oriented GZ-MC100. They do indeed use a 4GB CompactFlash microdrive held
in a shock-resistant chamber, which is user-replaceable with higher capacity drives (they’ve also got an SD slot; we
don’t know why, but we’re not complaining!).
Each uses a 1/3.6-inch 2.12 megapixel CCD to record up to 60 minutes of almost-DVD-quality MPEG-2 video in Ultra Fine
mode (8.88 Mbps including Dolby AC 3 audio, just shy of the 9Mbps of DVD), or about 5,500 2.1 megapixel still shots. It
has 10x optical zoom and 200x digital zoom, supports data transfer via USB 2.0/1.1, and DPOF (Digital Print Order
Format). The prices remain the same as stated earlier today; the smaller, sleeker GZ-MC100 for $1,200 and (confusingly)
the larger, more unwieldy looking GZ-MC200 for $1,300.
The GZ-MC200
GZ-MC200 all opened up
From the front.
The GZ-MC100
[Via Business Wire, registration required]
Does the 200 have better optics?
I believe that most DVDs are encoded at around 6mbps, but at a variable bit rate. The upper limit that the DVD spec allows is 9mbps, so if we want to be accurate, we would say the camera delivers a better image than most DVDs.
That said, when is someone going to put one of these into my Treo?
This from an official JVC U.S. rep: We provide an SD slot as a convenience to users. Also, the Microdrive slot will accept a CompactFlash card.
This is the form factor that I have been waiting for a long time: camcorder w/out bulky tape/disk.
This is the form factor that I have been waiting for a long time: camcorder w/out bulky tape/disk.
Any optics/software in either unit to stabilize the image? It doesn't look it.
The GZ-MC100 looks like the camera I need. The only things I'm not sure about are the 2.12 megapixel stills. My old camera has 2.0 megapixels and I wanted over 3.0 megapixels in my new camera. Am I missing something? Also, what is the power supply like? Will I have to buy my batteries in carton lots?
In regards to the GZ-MC200, I am curious about how easy it would to convert the data from the smartmedia to DVD. Is the software included to be able to perform this task. Obviously, once you dump the data on your computer hard drive, you will need to find a different media such as a DVD for storage. Any comments on this matter is welcomed
where do I buy it?
Before I bought this camcorder, I have asked the dealer if there is a remote control with the camcorder(which most camcorders have), they confirmed with me that" yes, it has one". After the camcorder arrived, I have found there is no remote control for this camcorder!!! It is very disappointing. I am so used to a camera with a remote control for my use, this is not going to work out for me anyway.
Is there another company ready to make a similar, like Canon? I really dislike being among the first to buy a 1st G product. On the side of itt being a Digital Camera, I had a 2MegaPixel camera and I hated the resolution of the pictures. I now have a 4MP from Kodak and it works great, I guess I don't really want this camera for stills but for Video.
-J
Anyone that has purchased the JVC MC200 and have found out that it's not what they want and is interested in selling it, please email me at dan@wildwestevents.com.
Thanks,
Dan
I understand that the Everio doesn't synchronise with Apple Macs. Is this true? If so, any idea if ths will be rectified sometime soon? Otherwise, this is just what I'm looking for!
Patrick
Anyone that has purchased the JVC MC200 and have found out that it's not what they wanted and is interested in selling it, please email me at toneyc@essex.navy.mil
Hi there I'm from amsterdam holland so excuse me for my bad inglish. I think i got so intresting information about the everio an apple support.
it does work with apple but not with the ilife software.
you are forced to use adobe software for editing the footage on your mac. Make shure you've mpeg2 plugin for Quictime.
if you want your apple does not take the .mpd files at once (my Powermac G5 does but mij 17" imacG4 not) than you can try this software. http://www.alfanet.it/squared5/mpegstreamclip.html
it converts the .mod fil to an mpeg stream DV stream .avi or .mov.
and from than the files are useble in apples ilifes software and adobe again ofcorse.
i hop iv'e cleard it up for you.
Could Engadget do a feature on hard drive based camcorders. I am surprised at the lack of information or interest in them, especially considering the ubiquity of digital cameras and mp3 player.
Is this a joke? JVC is charging over $1000 for a video camera without firewire or that I have to convert from one lossy format to another. I guess what really upsets me is that this could be a really great camera. Really if I can't edit this in Final Cut, what is the point?
Really would like a simple way to figure this Mac compatability issue up. I have a powerbook g4 I have a GZ MC200. It would be really great if someone could put this in lamens terms I'm not really good with Macs I have this new camera and I wanna start doing some film with it. My usb won't even reckognise the camera for pictures and my imove only pics up firewire. Help! Any help would be great, thanks all. Carson
I just got the MC100. A Mac user should be able to pop the MicroDrive into any ol' Compact Flash (Type 2 - thicker than type 1) reader, and away you go. I don't have to edit the video files at all - they burn to DVD quite nicely, with no recompression involved. This is loads better than my old MiniDV camera, where I have to take the time to encode to MPEG2, when converting from MiniDV (25Mbps) to MPEG2 (8.5Mbps). BTW - Any digital video camera available to mere mortals uses lossy compression, folks... 8.5Mbps looks, IMHO, just as good as 25Mbps MiniDV, it just takes more processing horsepower to produce it.