- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 11 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Another look"
Pros: Video quality and size
Cons: Photo Quality
Summary: I found the pictures to be good at 3Mp. At 5Mp the are a bit noisy and grainy. The other features of the camera are great. I found that it records video well at night if you use the advanced settings. In low light situations I slow the shutter speed down to 1/30 and use the gain. With these settings the detail looks decent.Updated
I found that the camera will generate a movie with a 16:9 aspect ratio, but that the included Cyberlink PowerDirector software reduces the video to 4:3. I cannot find anywhere that the Cyberlink editing software supports 16:9. I also tried Pinnacle Studio 9, and Sony Vegas Studio. Neither of these packages can correctly open the video files. The Sony software will open the mpeg, but won't provide any sound. I called JVC, and was told that I need to call Cyberlink regarding the lack of 16:9 support. When I questioned them about problems opening the files from this camera with other editing packages, I was told that they only support the Cyberlink software included with the camera.Updated
I finally received a reply from Cyberlink support, and was told that none of their products support the 16:9 aspect ratio. They specifically told me that the software included with the JVC Everio GZ-MC500 does not support widescreen dvd authoring.
I did find another application that does support both the video files from this camera and the 16:9 aspect ratio. The software is called Womble MPEG Video Wizard.
- 1 reply to this review
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Dgreene noted that the still images are grainy at 3 megapixels, but good at 3 megapixels.
Ah-ha! That is what I have stated about the video. At 320x230, the video looks beautiful. If not re-sized, it looks grainy, etc.
JVC has pulled the wool over peoples' eyes. This camcorder is for small, multimedia files. That workls out for me, but I feel for those expecting better quality at larger sizes.
