JVC GZ-MG750 80 GB HDD Camcorder

This is a wonderful compact camcorder for filming family and sporting events. I prevously had a Sony handcam which uses DV tapes, but it finally broke down after 10+ years. This JVC camcorder is about 1/4 the size and weight of my previous one, so it's handy to put into my purse. I also looked at the new Sony handycams, but I was not impressed by their image stabilization. The JVC camcorders were much better. The controls are pretty easy to operate. I read the manual front to back, but I was able to show my husband how to use the basic controls in 5 minutes. He probably could have figured it out himself, since it's fairly intuitive. I like how the camcorder turns on automatically when you open the screen. We tape our daughter's gymnastic competitions, so the 45X zoom is fantastic since the equipment is usually far from the spectators. The zoom button is a little hard to operate with your right finger since it's also holding the camcorder, but you can also zoom using the screen. The picture quality is fine, if you want better, you might want to get the HD version. For the price, it's definitely a good buy.The only disappointment for me is that JVC camcorders output in their proprietary .MOD format, which is not readable on my old MAC 10.4x Tiger OS. I found a s/w program that supposedly converts various formats that the MAC can read, but the output resolution was awful. I ended up using the JVC supplied Pixela s/w to create a DVD that I can play on the TV. The Pixela s/w is OK, and you have to do some reading in order to figure out what you want to do, but it does the job. I wish I can use iMovie on the MAC since it has more features and is easier to use.

This is a very nice camera. It was easy to begin using and very logical in it's design. As others have mentioned, you should use a tripod when using a higher zoom. The image stabilization works well at wider fields. I like the tilting video door to be able to see what I am filming when the camera is not at eye level. I have wished for the ability to open the viewing door past 90 degrees, however.What I appreciate most is the ability to take still pictures even while taking a video. This allowed me to capture a wonderful still picture at my daughter's graduation in the middle of filming her entire walk. It takes better still pictures than my older Cannon digital camera (and has a higher zoom).The biggest surprise is that every time I hit stop it ends the video file, even if the camera remains in the "on" mode. The next time I hit start, even if it is 30 seconds later, it is a different file. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the first time I used the camera I took about 30 short shots and I ended up with 30 different very short clips that I had to merge later. This was not made as clear in the instruction as I would have liked.The battery life with the standard battery has worked ok for me so far. I was able to film an hour-long concert with no problem. However, it seems to be critical to charge the battery immediately before using the camera, or the charge seems to fade faster. Charging it on one night and using it the next night yielded an unhappy surprise for me (and an incomplete video of a recital).

I bought this camcorder as an upgrade from my twenty year old panasonic that finally died recently. Boy how times have changed! This camera is tiny by comparison and is even smaller and lighter than my digital camera. I was able to operate my new camcorder right out of the box without reading the instructions(of course I went back and read them later). It is so simple to operate and I love all of the features and the software that comes with it for reviewing and editing video on your PC. I was kinda skeptical prior to my purchase because of the low price compared to some of the other models. Honestly, I dont see how the higher priced units could be any better. The videos that I have taken are crisp and clear and look and sound absolutely fantastic. I would reccomend this camcorder to my family.

I like the camera for the fact that I can upload videos I record with ease. What I don't like about it is that the battery life is too short. I would buy extra batteries but they are too expensive.

This camcorder shoots extremely poor quality video, even at highest "ultra fine" setting and with plenty of light. The videos look blurry even with a YouTube-size window, and are unwatchable at full-screen size. My cheap compact camera (not a camcorder) shoots much higher-quality videos.The case is made of cheapest flimsiest possible plastic. In fact I wouldn't buy a toy made of such low quality material.Battery life is very short, and is made still shorter by stupid design: the only way to turn on the camcorder is by opening the LCD screen. So all the while you are copying files to the PC or uploading them to YouTube, the LCD screen has to stay open, eating up battery life, which is already very short. The battery life is barely enough to record a 10-minute video and upload it to YouTube.The software that comes with this camcorder has plenty of useless features but is missing one key feature: there's no way to delete a clip from the camcorder! I wonder if JVC views this camcorder as disposable - fill it up with videos and throw it out? It definitely feels like that. Luckily, I found it's still possible to delete a clip file manually, bypassing the Everio application, by opening an appropriate Windows folder and finding the file corresponding to the clip you want to delete.Also be aware that this camcorder saves clips in MOV format rather than MPEG. Each clip needs to be converted from MOV to MPEG on the PC, which takes forever with Everio software. Would be much more convenient if clips were saved as MPEG from the beginning.