JVC GR-SXM330U is the bargain shopper S-VHS-C flip-display camcorder
Written: Jul 06 '01 (Updated Jul 06 '01)
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Pros: 2.5" display, S-VHS-C, image stabilizer, 400x zoom, sub 1 Lux light sensitivity
Cons: It's spirit is digital, but its tape is not :) small display.
The Bottom Line: It is a must for the bargain buyer, it crams tons of features and excellent picture in a pretty design and costs less than third any comparable digital camera.
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| Awadallah's Full Review: JVC GR-SXM330U S-VHS, VHS-C Analog Camcorder |
I just received my new camcorder this weekend and wanted to share with you my experience leading to my happy decision to buy the JVC GR-SXM930U. There is almost no difference between the GR-SXM930U and the GR-SXM330U so this review applies perfectly here. The only difference is that the GR-SXM930U has a color viewfinder, 3" display, digital still camera and costs about $100 more.
I have been using a JVC VHS-C (VHS-Compact) camcorder for the last 5 years with no problems but it was time to upgrade since I wanted to get a camcorder with a large flip-out display so that I can immediately watch playbacks with my wife and kids. I still wanted to get a camcorder that supports VHS-C, since I can use my old tapes in it and I find the ability to play the tapes on a normal VCR extremely convenient. A digital camcorder was out of the question since I think the price point for digital camcorders is still not a great value per $ spent, specially given that I use my camcorder for just about 20 hours/year and I do not intend to do special video editing on the clips I record (who has time for that!)
I was clueless where to start, so I went to Yahoo! shopping (http://shopping.yahoo.com) and clicked on "Electronics & Photography" then voila, I found a link to Consumer Reports (http://shopping.yahoo.com/domain?d=premium/consumerreports&cf=silver&id=41233400) which I consider to the most reliable source for selecting products. I then read their general camcorder buying guide for free, but had to pay $2.95 to read how they rated individual
camcorders. Their top rated S-VHS-C (Super-VHS-Compact) camera was the JVC GR-SX850U. But the JVC GR-SX850U did not have a flip-out display, on the Consumer Report review page for the JVC GR-SX850U they said that the JVC GR-SX930U is the newer model (I did not find reviews for either model on epinions, hence I am writing this now). I then went to the JVC website (http://www.jvc.com) and found out that indeed the JVC GR-SX930U is the newer model which has a ton of features packed into it that made me sold on buying this baby right away. I ended up buying the GR-SX930U, but the GR-SX330U is a stripped down model with no digital camera, B&W view finder, 2.5" display and is $100 cheaper, so the GR-SX330U is a better deal if you already own a digital camera.
Here is the excellent feature for the GR-SX330U:
1. Two and a half inch flip-out display: The flip-out display is 2.5 inches which is OK and allows me to immediately view playbacks with my wife and kids, this is one of the main reasons I am upgrading to a new camcorder. The display also flips round 270 degrees allowing me to film from lots of angles which you can not do with the eye-piece.
2. S-VHS-C: It supports S-VHS-C, short for Super-VHS-Compact which is a special recording format that increases the quality of recording on S-VHS tapes up to 60%, the quality is very close to entry level digital camcorders costing twice as much!
3. Seven digital effects: Different wipes and fades between scenes, photo effects and automatic exposure effects.
4. Digital Image Stabilizer: This feature compensates for hand shaking to get a much more stable picture, I no longer need to worry about my kids hanging off my legs while I am shooting the monkeys in the Zoo.
5. Incredible 400x Digital Zoom + 16x optical zoom: Speak about zooming in on where the action is, I think I can record flys standing on players backs in a baseball field :)
6. Sub 1 Lux Light Sensitivity: It can record very good pictures in very dim light conditions due to some special technology like infrared technology used with night vision goggles, unbelievable to say the least.
7. Black and White viewfinder: This is the eye piece you look through when recording. Most camcorders that have an external flip out color display have a black and white viewfinder.
8. Remote Control: Even though you will rarely need it since you can plug the tapes in your normal VCR, it also has a remote control that allows you to sit back and control this camera as you do with your VCR and some more.
9. Manual Focus: All camcorders support auto-focus, the real value add is a camera that also supports manual focus and this one does that too. Manual focus is very useful if you are doing a close-up shot to capture the pudding on your toddler's nose, because auto-focus seems to keep going in and out of focus when you are shooting something very close.
10. Extended Recording Speed: It can record at SP speed (Standard Play) which offers the best quality, or at LP (Long Play) which doubles the recording time), or even better if you are short on tapes it can record at an EP mode (Extended Play) which triples the recording time. so a 30 minutes tape can record 90 minutes of action (at the cost of lower picture quality).
11. Built in auto light: It has a built in light bulb that automatically turns on when it gets dark.
12. Up to 1/2000 Shutter Speed: This camera can take a picture in less in 1/2000th of a second, this is very important when recording fast moving objects, like a basketball game, otherwise things will appear blurred.
13. Audio dubbing: This is yet another very useful feature, since many times when I am back from vacation I would like to sit down and record additional commentary over the pre-recorded video, this camera does that too.
14. Title Generation: I can select a title for the event being recorded.
15. Animation Time Lapse mode: I always wanted to experiment with doing a small film like Chicken Run movie with my kids play dough, this allows you to do that!
16. S-Video Output: Do not confuse this with the S in Super-VHS. S-Video output is a connector from your camcorder to the TV/VCR same as the standard audio-video (AV) output, but S-Video output carrys the color information in two signals instead of one, hence the playback color representation is much more superior (e.g. try shooting a sheet of paper half red and half blue, then view it on your TV using the normal AV cable, you will see a flicker at the border between the two colors, while if you use S-Video cable the flicker goes away)
17. J-Terminal: OK, I won't lie to you, I did not use this feature yet, but according to the manual this allows you to integrate a JVC VCR and JVC Camcorder with a PC to create a computer-controlled video playback and image capture system.
Finally, you can verify everything I mentioned here at the JVC website for this camera:
http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL026100&page=2
BTW, do not buy this camcorder from Amazon since they will rip you off, they currently charge $399.99 for it (after a 27% discount!) while you can find it on Yahoo! Shopping for as low as 318.88. (but take care how much you pay for shipping and handling), this is the link at Yahoo! shopping:
http://all.search.shopping.yahoo.com/search/all?p=jvc+sxm330u&Y=1&did=59&X=2&f=14489115
I hope you found this review helpful, and good luck with your purchase,
-- Amr
Sites that I visited while doing this:
1. shopping.yahoo.com
2. www.jvc.com
3. www.amazon.com
4. www.circtuicity.com
5. www.jandr.com
6. http://www.epinions.com
7. www.google.com
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 318.88
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Epinions.com ID:
Awadallah
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Member: Amr Awadallah
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 5 members
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