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"Don't buy it!!!" on by caribbeanlegal
Pros: Great for HDTV
Cons: Does not work
Summary: I bought this camcorder on September 28, 2003 when it was still fairly new on the market and more expensive than it is now. By July 2004 both the LCD screen and the viewfinder just went black. No image but I was still able to record audio. I reported it to JVC. They told me I had to send it in for repair, which I did. It seems that this was a common problem. They didn't ask too many questions. The warranty had already expired so I had to pay a couple hundred dollars. Six months later, the same problem again. I called JVC again and told them the problem. The technician who attended to me suggested that I turn it off and disconnect all power for about an hour and then try again because "that usually works." Now what kind of advice is that? I need this camera to shoot footage of events. What am I supposed to do each time this happens? Turn it off for an hour and ask the event organisers to postpone their events for an hour? Anyway, even that super solution didn't work, so I called again and they said I had to send it in for repair again. So I asked, would I have to be sending this camera in to you every six months? "No," she responded but "thank you for calling JVC."
The words I would like to use to describe this camera and JVC cannot be expressed here but do not buy this camera!!! For the short period of time that it did work, it was great, but I will never buy this or any other JVC product ever again.
I thought about fixing it and then selling it used but then my conscience wouldn't let me pass this problem on to someone else. So I decided to write this review. -
"Great by day, a bit frustrating at night" on
Pros: At the current ~$2K street price, this product is a good buy. Augmented with a real HD-capable PC NLE (e.g., Vegas Video), you can produce great videos -- indoors and out -- with this camera. Buy this for now and skip the new Sony HD camera (currently twi
Cons: Not for beginners; mediocre performance in low light; supplied editing software is marginal.
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"A breakthrough" on
Pros: HD means content has future value. Add a Viewsonic N6 and see a full highdef picture on your computer monitor (HD for <$200, also works with your cable HD box composite outputs). Want a really large image? Get a projector with composite inputs. The
Cons: In an $80,000 market, this is a $20,000 camera for $3,000 (pro version, local dealer). It isn't perfect, but it is outrageously good. An auxiliary lens may be used to widen the field of view. Manual override for audio would be nice.
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"Sweet Camera!!" on
Pros: True 16:9 without the squeeze. Composite output and for the price makes a nice alternative for indie film makers. And you can capture HDV but you have to manually install the "TAPE DRIVER" and use their HD capture and rename m2t to mpg.
Cons: No 24p (For the price they should have added it. Its only a single charge coupling and not a 3CCD.
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"Quirky, but does a decent job" on
Pros: Only HD out there
Cons: Color depth poor unless well lit. Editing HD takes about 100 hrs of practice to get right.
JVC GR-HD1 user reviews
Where to Buy
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