JVC brings $1,000 HD Everio GZ-HM400 camcorder to America

JVC introduced its HD Everio GZ-HM400 in Japan way back in late July, but at long last, the time has come for the Yanks in attendance to grab one as their own. Shipping now (as in, right now) here on US soil, the Full HD camcorder packs a 10.3 megapixel sensor, 32GB of internal storage, an SD / SDHC expansion slot and the ability to capture stills at 9 megapixels. Over on the video side, users will have access to a trio of slow-motion recording modes (600fps, 300fps and 120fps), though we can't express in mere words how disheartened we are to hear that this thing utilizes the thoroughly worthless AVCHD format. If you aren't bothered in the least by that, you can pick yours up now for a nickel shy of a grand.

JVC brings $1,000 HD Everio GZ-HM400 to America

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2009 6:19PM]

It's probably worth mentioning at this stage in the discussion:
AVI is not a format, it's a container. What's inside can be encoded in a number of formats. Same goes for MOV. So in matters of bitrate and data rates, they're not relevant.

Also, count me as one of those who also took exception with Engadget's AVCHD remark. AVCHD has its place. It's not ideal, but does work OK as a stop-gap way of getting high bitrate content onto slow media. I mean... frankly, the alternative is to have people complaining about the price of the hardware if they want ProRes 422 or the like.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2009 3:32PM]

a thousand dollar camera, not for me obviously

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2009 3:54PM]

AVCHD might be billed as a consumer format but if you know what you are doing you are able to handle it's cons, that's why some of the Prosumers can't find any Lumix GH1 in stock... it has its pros and cons, but for the right user who knows what they are doing it is FAR from worthless.