JVC Everio GZ-MG30 30 GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder w/25x Optical Zoom
By: JVC Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 16
More Information
 On: 2008-01-12
it does a lot of amazing things, you wont need any special cables just the only cable to transfer everything to your computer, it is a camera and a cam-corder, it has great pictures and ive made a lot of good quality short films with it. Good editing system.
 On: 2007-07-02
The camera itself is simple to use right out of the box and takes very nice still pictures. The video, however, leaves a lot to be desired. For whatever reason, JVC has decided to use a proprietary "MOD" format and no programs (3rd party or stock) on my media rich macintosh can play these files. Go figure, but my little Palm Treo can create video files that are easily uploaded and viewable, so why cant JVC? Very poor showing from JVC in my opinion.
To rectify the situation (every time I upload videos - arrggggg), I have to upload the video directory off the hard drive of the camera, remove some .MOI files, run this 3rd party program so I can export the videos into the Macs standard video editing tool, then export of this tool to viewable video for Macs & PCs. This is ridiculous - it takes over an hour start to finish and makes this video camera - or ANY of JVCs similar units a DO NOT BUY.
JVC - go back to drawing board please and write standard file formats, ok? You guys are not in the software business so please do what you do best and simply build good video cameras, leave the software formats to the professionals.
 On: 2007-01-28
I brought this cam at an extremely low price ($80.shhhhhhh). I had already seen the camera at stores and was already interested in the no need to buy recording media feature. I must admit that and the fact tht it transfer to the pc was a strong selling point. However once I got the camera and began using it I saw the problems I was having with it. I was having problems with finding software to burn it to disc. The Power Producer did NOT do the trick. It froze several times and so did Power Dirctor. I was having nooooo luck with Adobe Premiere 2.0. I even tried doing a capture first then seeing if i could saveit as a MPEG and use a different program. No such luck. It would not read the camera. However becasue Im a stubborn S.O.B. I kept messing arond with it and found out that Nero Premium 7 (which I already had on my pc)did the trick. the only error I found with the program was my fault and I learned from it. That mistake was to NOT compress the files. Try to burn the files at their actual file size (even if you have to make it a 2disc burn). The difference is extremely noticeable. Also record at the Ultra settings.
As for the poor indoor light quality issue, That IS a problem. Even after playing arund with the different light settings on the camera I found it "ok" at best. One setting made it too cool (a blueish "washed" tone) another setting made it too warm (orange tone). One trick that might help is to try and make sure you and the subject are between to unshaded lights. That has worked the best but still set your light settings first. Also you can purchase an external light and attach it to the camera (not sure how to do it.but it will compromise the lightweight feature.)
As for the digital camera settings...just stick to a true digital camera WITH A FLASH.The camera pics are about as good as a cellphone.
Overall this is a good camera for the price (mine and retail). I know some people are thinking to wait til the bugs are worked out to buy it.... but I got a feeling the light issue will be resolved with an external light that can be purchased (more money for JVC) as opposed to a standard upgrade to newer models.
The main thing I would wait to see is if the .mod files become more common and therefore readable in more programs.Hopefully this will happen
 On: 2006-09-23
Frankly, I like my MG30. The only thing that gives me pause is its propensity to physically generate heat to the point of becoming uncomfortable to hold. This is a well known problem within the JVC line itself. (Much like Honda cars and bikes having BAD RINGS. Theyve known forever - but they just never correct it...)
For all the reviews that we read and write, nothing is ever gonna replace actually holding the equipment and shooting with it. You can have the best camera on the planet and if its uncomfortable to you, then youre simply not going to get the most out of it.
Me? Im a workin newsmedia junkie and actually have nearly 20 separate video cameras - and nearly as many digital still cameras. Why? Cause no company is ever gonna MAKE the "perfect" camera. In fact, they go to great lengths not to. So its up to me to know which voodoo combination of cameras Ill need to coax the best work out under whatever the conditions. In fact, the old "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" thing is fully in play here. Some folks actually LIKE the block/blended foilage look - or a special off green SAW II tint...
To that end, the Everio is a FUN TOY/EASY CARRY, but in low light, it can look like connect the dots - even with much personal tweakin of the settings.
On: 2006-07-31
Other people have covered the good aspects of this camcorder - light weight, no tapes/discs to mess with, pretty good menu. However, these are easily outweighed by the lack of thought by JVCs engineers; and to add insult to injury, the downfall of this camcorder hinges on the very feature that is supposed to be its selling point - storing video files on a hard drive (and not other media).
You would think that if this was to be the camcorders selling point, that these knuckleheads would have come up with an easier system for transferring the video files from the camcorders hard drive to your computers. The complete lack of thought is amazing. To come up with the goofy .mod naming convention is outside my comprehension. Why not give customers a naming convention with which they are generally familiar? (Besides the .mod files, Ive also got .moi files- what the heck is that about? Are they important? Do I need to keep them associated with the .od files? And the uselessness of the Capty software (even its name is goofy) is astounding.
Finally, I dont mind having to actually read the users manual. However, in this case its useless. It doesnt explain anything about file transfers, the naming conventions, etc.
Obviously, the customer wasnt first in JVCs thinking. I would recommend staying away from this camcorder...What good is the convenience of recording on a hard drive is the files then become a mystery to access and edit. Stick with the "inconvenience" of tapes & discs...I wish I had!
On: 2006-07-10
I read all the reviews and have to say I have no idea what they are talking about. Sure you need a computer thats not 3 years old and up to date software like anything thats new these days. But just imagine NEVER having to buy tapes or CDs again! And the picture is always prefect! I am in love with this camcorder. Its like my forth one and I had the best DVD camcorder, there is just no way to compair them. Inside, outside, in the sun, in the dark are all a great picture. My sister used it for her sons birthday , now she bought one of her own and loves it as much as I do. And all the people having issues transfering video files or pictures to anything, hmmm, I dont know but it takes me 5 to 10 minutes to sort and then i just burn them. You have to buy this camcorder, youll love it!
On: 2006-06-11
I am a bit perplexed by the odd reviews this camcorder has gotten.. Personally, I am very happy with mine... no real problems... of course, I dont profess to be a geek....
On: 2006-05-31
I was excited to have a camcoder device and not bother with any media, so bought this one before our trip to Tahoe. Well, Im not gonna say its horrible - may be someone will find it suitable for the purpose but these are my thoughts :
good :
- very light (ive checked the bag couple of times to see if its inside, it felt so light.
- bright lcd screen
- fancy menu
- convinient presentation of clips : you see first frames of your footage tiled on the screen - very easy to navigate.
bad :
- no viewfinder : that mkes it impossible to use in a bright environment
- video quality is avg to poor, for example green foliage comes together to a green pixely substance
- takes long time to start up
- turns off when you close lcd screen (was annoying for me)
- digital image stabilizer (doesnt compare to optical one at all...)
Once again, it might be suitable for someone, but Im looking for better wuality, view finder and i guess optical image stabilizer...
--
V.
by: nishiko On: 2006-05-12
First the good: this camera is small and very convenient in MANY ways and you dont have the cost of tapes or mini CDs. And if you are a little computer savvy, the file format issue that people are always complaining about really isnt that big of a deal. I have Pinnacle Studio Plus 9.x (ie, with all the latest online updates to that version) and it handles the files just fine once you rename the file extension from .mod to .mpg. Ive seen a lot of reviews here and elsewhere on the Internet that Adobe Elements Premiere 2.0 also handles the files just fine. I think ULead and a few others might as well. If you arent that computer savvy (and dont necessarily want to be), then you may want to consider another camera just for this reason alone (unless perhaps you buy JVCs external DVD burner drive and are happy with mostly unedited clips).
However, I have learned my lesson by putting too much trust in Amazons online reviews and discounting what is said in official reviews too much sometimes. I dont think any of the reviews here mention this cameras poor indoor (low-med light) picture quality... so I figured the official reviews of it I found elsewhere online were just being too picky. PC Magazine does a good job of describing the poor (especially low to medium light) picture quality in their Oct 17, 2005 review of this camera (you can find it by searching PCMag.com - search on "GZ-MG30"). Im sure there are many other reviews noting the picture quality issue as well.
I am giving this a 2 rating (really s/b about 2.5, no option for that) because I feel the low to medium light picture quality issue is enough to sink this camera for many people... especially at this price (I paid $550). If it was only $400, then I would have given it 3 stars (for overall price/value). If you will be using it almost exclusively outdoors, then I could probably give it a begrudging 4 stars.
For my all-around purposes, I am dissatisfied with this camera and wish I could return it. If you dont have good video quality, then nothing else really matters, does it? For some people, this camera might be just fine, but for the rest, I hope this review saves you from a costly mistake.
On: 2006-05-11
First the good: this camera is small and very convenient in MANY ways and you dont have the cost of tapes or mini CDs. And if you are a little computer savvy, the file format issue that people are always complaining about really isnt that big of a deal. I have Pinnacle Studio Plus 9.x (ie, with all the latest online updates to that version) and it handles the files just fine once you rename the file extension from .mod to .mpg. Ive seen a lot of reviews here and elsewhere on the Internet that Adobe Elements Premiere 2.0 also handles the files just fine. I think ULead and a few others might as well. If you arent that computer savvy (and dont necessarily want to be), then you may want to consider another camera just for this reason alone (unless perhaps you buy JVCs external DVD burner drive and are happy with mostly unedited clips).
However, I have learned my lesson by putting too much trust in Amazons online reviews and discounting what is said in official reviews too much sometimes. I dont think any of the reviews here mention this cameras poor indoor (low-med light) picture quality... so I figured the official reviews of it I found elsewhere online were just being too picky. PC Magazine does a good job of describing the poor (especially low to medium light) picture quality in their Oct 17, 2005 review of this camera (you can find it by searching PCMag.com - search on "GZ-MG30"). Im sure there are many other reviews noting the picture quality issue as well.
I am giving this a 2 rating (really s/b about 2.5, no option for that) because I feel the low to medium light picture quality issue is enough to sink this camera for many people... especially at this price (I paid $550). If it was only $400, then I would have given it 3 stars (for overall price/value). If you will be using it almost exclusively outdoors, then I could probably give it a begrudging 4 stars.
For my all-around purposes, I am dissatisfied with this camera and wish I could return it. If you dont have good video quality, then nothing else really matters, does it? For some people, this camera might be just fine, but for the rest, I hope this review saves you from a costly mistake.
 On: 2006-04-21
I got this camcorder yesterday. After taking some video images, I transferred the files to my PC and renamed the file extension from "MOD" to "MPG". It turns out that there is no audio playing the recorded video files using Microsoft Media Player 10. My Studio 8 software also failed to "initialize the audio file". To listen to the audio, I have to use the "Power DVD 5" or "CyberLink PowerDirector Express" came with the camcorder. As we all know that the video image software came with the camcorder is very limited. To do anything meaningful, I have to buy their upgrade. So far, I could not find a way to convert the MPG files to a compatible format so that I can play and edit them in Studio 8 or Media Player. For this reason, Im going to return the camcorder to the vendor soon.
On: 2006-04-20
Thats the only drawback that I find with this camera. 640x480 still pictures means you still have to lug the old digital still camera along as well...
As for the proprietary MOD file format, dont be fooled - simply transfer the files to your PC and rename the extension to MPG. The files will open & display just fine in whatever video software you already have. No need to buy ridiculous add-on software!
On: 2006-04-04
hey there! ive just bought my everio g last saturday(april 1, 2006). the exterior design is really nice coz its small and when my family saw it they were surprised, in a good way. its very light too. ive been checking out the everio g site for quite sometime before i bought one so im pretty much aware of its features and stuff. well, i didnt know the difference between the ultra fine mode, the fine mode, and the eco mode. for me, theres no difference at all, maybe because im just 14 so i still dunno how to distinguish their differences.
the everio g is really easy to use. and the best things about this are (1)the playlist function coz it lets you sort out your videos depending on the event or whatever it is youre filming. and (2)the zoom...is just awesome! before, in my old videocam, when i zoom in like 25x, this huge pixels appear but with my everio, zooming 25x above still produces clear images.
the only problem is the battery! im spending much more time on charging it than using it!!! thats the worst part of this camera. so i advice you, before buying one, be sure youll buy an extra battery and a battery charger if you can. so that while youre using one battery, the other is charging so you wouldnt have to attach it on the videocam to charge.
i was a bit worried about the video/picture transfering on my computer since ive read one of the reviews about it. but installing the software was really easy for me. i wouldnt give the Power Director a two thumbs up coz i wasnt really amazed on what it could do. but atleast i could convert the MOD file into MPEG/AVI and i could just edit it on the other editing software i have. the Power Producer made burning into dvd easy for me since i dont have to download a software anymore. the only problem is my cd-writer only burns VCDs and not DVDs so the quality was a little lost. but it works for me! the image quality isnt as impressive as the images you can get on a digital camera but hey, its its video quality that i care about!
all in all, i would have to say Everio G is great! if you like going out and loves to seek fun and adventure, you definitely need this one so you wouldnt miss a single thing! well, goodluck to you then! see ya
On: 2006-03-07
After buying this product I found out the hard way that the only way this works as advertised is with a fairly new computer, preferable with a media center. I spent many, many, many frustrating hours trying to get the system to work on my 3 year old machine (Windows XP with plenty of memory). In the meantime I loaded the Cyberlink software into my old machine (with Windows 98) just to print out the docs, and the software completly fried the computer. So, we replaced the old computer with a new HP and voila, the camera and software now run as easy as the ads claimed. I think this camera is great, but most likely ahead of the general publics access to the hardware to make it function as it is intended. Unless you have a new system with a media center or are ready to upgrade, I would not recommend purchase.
On: 2006-02-09
I waited a while before writing my review to really experience this camera. I have to say I love it. I went through some trial and error in the beginning but I really am enjoying the camera. I am not a professional videographer so this camera is fine for me. I have been taping all my sons basketball games and after a few times, I finally found a sports mode which works great. The camera is a perfect size. The convenience of not using tapes is incredible. I would suggest downloading your film often. It takes 11 minutes to download about an hour worth of filming. Since the camera can hold over 30 hours of information, I would not suggest downloading all the material at once. I have not used the software that came with the camera. After reading other reviews on the internet, I decided to get Adobe Premier Elements 2.0 which I am very satisfied with. The camera records in .MOD format so you need this software to convert it to MPEG. Yes, it takes a while for the process to complete, but once it is done, it is ready to be burned onto a DVD. You can also save the MPEG file to watch your entire movie on the computer in Windows Media Player. I would strongly suggest having at least a gig of ram and alot of hard drive if you plan on filming alot and keeping the footage on your computer. Even though this is the first hard disk camera, I am very happy with it for my use. Anyone that wants to record family events, games, etc., and is computer literate, this camera is for you. Would I recommend it to a professional videographer? No. The film quality is the same as a mini-dv or hi-8 recorder. The menu buttons are small, but easy to use and simplified. If anyone has this camera and has some good tips for me, please email me at joyce72266@nj.rr.com. Maybe we could exchange helpful hints.
On: 2006-01-08
The image quality, small form-factor, small size, large hard drive, and battery life make this a winner. However, the .mod files are a pain in the butt. The only thing that you can view these with is the PowerDVD viewer. In order to convert these files to AVI or MPEG I had to by something called Power Producer, and let the computer work for an hour to convert a large file to MPEG. Thats just wrong. The camara should have an option to compress to MPEG. This is similar to what the early Kodak digital camaras, such as the DC-120, did in saving images to the proprietary .kdc format. A royal pain.
Hopefully generation 2 will have MPEG conversion built in.
Anyhow, better and easier than converting from tape. A buy if you need a camcorder now.
On: 2005-11-25
In regards to whether or not you should keep your old camera, thats up to you. Really, most people are turning their video into digital anyways, so its really not a question anymore. This just facilitates that process. However, keep in mind one thing: digital items fail. Then again, so does analogue. But now instead of having 7 tapes and only 1 failing, you have 7 hours in one spot. Personally, Id rather this than the old tapes.
Also note, this is the first release of a HDD based video camera. Either A, the price will come down and youll kick yourself in the butt, or theyll keep coming out with better versions quickly for a while. But this is mostly based off the iPod frenzy. Its just a standard JVC camcorder made to store the information on a different format.
|
|
