If you are more than a casual video user or if you have bought a video camera more than twice in the last 10 years I would say that you probably need a high end HD camera to satisfy you. For me, someone who has only owned 1 other video camera in the last 10 years I find this camera to be amazing. I do not shoot professionally and if i did there are many great HD solutions in the 3-6 grand range. Since this is not my business and I do not have money to burn this was the camera that satisfied all my needs. Those needs were: no tapes, large hard drive, HD quality or something far, far better than my old mini DV camera. I also needed to be able to archive the files on my mac which is a dual 800mhz G4 and possibly edit on the mac in imovie. This camera does all of that, and quite easily I might add.
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br /I had no problems installing the codec that came with the camera for quicktime. Once I opened a clip in quicktime it did not play properly, however once I imported it into imovie it worked fine. I edited simple edits, added new audio and was satisfied for what I need. After all, all I will be doing with this is shooting the wife and kids.
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br /JVC recommends A 1.25 Gigahertz G4 or higher, so do not complain about the camera not working smoothly on your mac unless you meet those requirements. They are stated on the GZHD7 box. I suggest the newest mac with 2 gigs of ram at least. In my experience, more RAM makes all the difference in the world. Eventually I plan to get a new mac to be able to handle the footage.
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br /I have a 1080i sony plasma TV. The picture looked great. There was some banding of subtle gradients I shot. It was acceptable to me. Also the banding was not apparent on my mac in imovie. I think because my TV is already 2 years old it is not up to the same standards as the GZHD7 camera and my mac. Bottom line is the camera was producing better images on my mac than on my TV. Now all this is nonsense because I will be using this to mostly shoot video of my family and friends for recreational use. Compared to what my dad shot of us when we were kids and then the sandy grainy video we used in the 90s this camera is AMAZING. The quality is good enough for me and I would also add that any film student on a zero budget could easily get by with this. Like I said earlier, if you have the means and require perfect HD video, spend the few extra grand and go for the gold.

First of all let me deny all the idiotic reviews that keep copying one another that this camera produces inferior video. This is 3ccd baby produces unmatched quality footage with perfect color separation, great sharpness and smooth operations. Technically speaking this camcorder is way over the category it was placed in. HD7 has a Fujinon PRO lens with 3(!!!) AS EL elements and it has consistent 1,8-1.9 aperture all across the range while Canon and Sony are 3 on the tele end.
br /I also deny any credibility to "reports" that claim its weak low light performance. I own vx2100 that is THE BEST low light camera for any price below $5000 and this hd7 is very near.
br /The optical image stabilization works very well, it is not supposed to suppress all shaking but for what it is billed it produces! I have absolutely no problems with it. In fact the image stabilization in this JVC keeps up MUCH BETTER than Sony VX2100! I linked two cams and shot the same footage with both. JVC wins easily and unequivocally.
br /I edit with FinalCut and using the free utility I downloaded from Internet all the footage is ready for edit in two minutes. The 60Gb of the drive makes a superb storage. To mention this camera has all the belts and whistles of full scale pro or near pro camcorder and if you know what you are looking for it is a steal for the money. Not to mention that it is pleasure to hold camera, quality made and convenient to operate.
br /Well, this camera awarded "Best expert camcorder of the year 2007" by META(!!!), so if you you are looking for a camcorder under $2000 it is a best you can get. You can get slightly better one for $3000 but it will not be so nicely compact and ready for the action.
br /I was stunned to see how competition tries to discredit superior product by pouring fake review supported by morons.
br /Do not use software included with the camcorder. Download free MPEG StreamClip that is SUPERB program!
br /For a full Professional review and complete instruction how to use it with Final Cut go to digitalcontentproducer.com and look for first and second parts of the review on this camcorder, it includes complete illustrated instructions! I use in Final Cut and I do not use FireWire with this camcorder at all!
br /I download full resolution footage via usb2 just like described in aforementioned review and footage is very quickly and without conversion in full quality is available is for editing (it can simply unwrap it in the same format as it is on the hard drive of gz-hd7).
br /I can't comment on iMovie as I do not use one. But for Final Cut it is a snap. BTW, also allows shooting events (like plays for example) that last longer that cassette allowed).
br /If you buy a camcorder to enjoy convenience, great image quality and boundless creativity it is the best thing you can buy.

I have had this camcorder for about three weeks and have some useful information for the user and prospective buyer. I would also like to offer my opinions. Firstly, I bought this camera because I often need manual controls for focus etc. This camcorder fits the bill. I also didn't want a touch screen. I don't know why users want to plan on having to scratch and gunge up their display by having to touch it. I hate a screen that has been damaged and/or is dirty. This is what you ask for when you have a touch screen. This model uses, instead, a small joy stick which will help keep your screen nice and clear.
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br /I was puzzled by the placement of the mounting hole on the bottom which is not centered as it should be. The professional lens is very nice and yields a quality picture. I have ordered two additional lenses to expand the 10X zoom range which is not enough for wildlife photography, my main use for this camcorder. The optional GL-V1846U Tele Conversion Lens is heavy. Perhaps it weighs as much as the camcorder. This makes the whole assembly front-heavy but not excessive. Using this lens, you will get a tunnel effect at 1X on the zoom. This will disappear at 2X and beyond. I have not yet received the GL-V0746U Wide Conversion Lens but expect that it will also be heavy. Together, these lenses will expand the total potential range from 0.7X to 18X (a span of over 25X).
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br /A number of users on forums have had questions about how to use the TOD files that this camcorder produces. My platform is Windows XP. The camcorder comes with a Cyberlink software package that includes three programs: PowerCinema, PowerDirector and PowerProducer. PowerCinema allows you to browse and save video clips to your PC using a USB interface. You can play these TOD files from your PC's hard disk or directly from the camcorder. Few software packages know what to do with TOD files (even Cyberlink's). PowerDirector is an NLE video editor and when you go to import the TOD files, it converts them to MPG files in the process. What I do is to import them just for the side effect of getting the MPG files. PowerProducer seems to be a DVD authoring package. Now for the bad part. Many people have complained about the OIS not working very well. I can live with that because, with the higher resolution, you need to get used to using a tripod (or some other mechanical stablizer) anyway.
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br /Users have reported that Pinnacle can use TODs directly but I have stopped using that package because it has some really bad behavior (including corrupting your project file when it crashes often). As it stands the MPG files are unusable for anything but static or nearly static scenes.
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br /The pixel-shifting technique used in this camcorder allows its half-resolution triplet of CCD's (960 X 540) to stretch the images to full 1920 X 1080i so the image quality is probably below theoretical 1080i (but still better than 540i). Imagine what JVC could do with true 1920 X 1080 CCD's. This technique could produce a camcorder that rivals the Big Red One professional cinematic camcorder at a small fraction of the cost. At 3840 X 2160, its images could approach the 4K resolution of some very expensive equipment. My hat goes off to JVC.
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I bought this camera and the JVC CU-VD40 Share Station DVD Burner for HD Everio Camcorders. Our goal was to get an HD camera that was the best, and tape our kids, etc in HD. When we wanted to send a copy of the big game off to Grandma's house so she could pop it into her DVD (in SD) we could just push a button and make it so. If you look at the JVC website - this combo should fit the bill! So, $2000 later... The camera is really nice, easy to use, full of useful features, and is well built. My wife and I both sat down, read the manual and figured it out in very little time. We videotaped the dog doing a trick and went and played it on our plasma. Nice picture! Shot a few more dog tricks and kids and then we decided to open the CU-VD40 "Share Station" and hook it up. Piece of cake, very intuitive - in fact I'll bet my 8 year old could burn a DVD off this thing. It's literally as easy as plug it in-click-click-click-burn. Here's the rub: the "DVD Burner" spits out a DVD of your selected recordings that CAN ONLY BE PLAYED BACK ON THE CU-VD40. I asked JVC why they call it a share station... Exactly who am I able "share" this with? This unit spits out a DVD "that cannot be played on normal DVD players" (manual, page 47 small print). So I called JVC who denied it - but when I pointed it out, they confirmed it. The CU-VD40 is essentially an "archiving" burner. At $400, I'd say its the most expensive DVD archiving method known to man. The manual also said the DVD could be played back on a PC... Not the 3 PC's in my house. So, if you're an HD movie maker and love to burn things to your PC and edit them - YOU CANNOT BEAT THIS CAMERA. If you don't like having to go through a PC, but would rather just burn a DVD on the fly - not gonna happen. JVC's Tech Support solution: Shoot your video in SD and it will work like a charm.... Ummmm why did I just buy a $1600 HD camera if I'm going to wind up shooting in SD. Anyway, after more research, I found nobody has a solution that will do this (shoot in HD and burn in SD). So I kept the camera and returned the CU-VD40. The camera is just too good to return.

I bought this camera as an upgrade from my trusty Canon GL1. The light weight, compact size, high def, three CCDs, and hard drive recording are real pluses. I was considering the Sony HDR-SR1 AVC HD 30GB but was concerned about the inability to edit their new format. I edit my video in Adobe Premiere Pro and burn DVDs. Video is stored on the hard drive in *.TOD format, which is uneditable. However, included software converts it to MPEG-2 for editing. I assume the *.TOD format will allow the video to be converted to future video formats. Each video sequence is recorded as a separate file with ascending numbers (001 - 999)._
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br /The picture quality is superb, the camera fits one's hand well and the controls are well placed. To avoid shaky video, I would recommend using the viewfinder rather than the LCD screen. Holding the camera in outstretched arms drastically decreases stability. In addition, LCD screens are hard to visualize in outdoor light. The only missing feature is 5.1 Dolby surround sound (available only on the Sony unit (one CCD)); however, I wonder how practical that feature is on a compact camera with small mics. I often remove sound tracks from my videos and add appropriate background music during editing.
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br /I am looking forward to an upcoming European trip, after which I will edit and prepare a DVD. Apparently, HD can be burned to single or dual-density discs (I believe 20 to 40 minutes per disc). My next purchase will be a Blu-Ray burner.

I bought this camera while deployed to Iraq as the heat and the dust killed a lesser camera. The compact-with-heft size is perfect, as is the 60GB huge sealed-against-dust hard disk drive. I've been able to generate images of non-repeatable events from day one in full auto mode and the images just get better and better as I master the range of manual controls.
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br /This camera should never have been marketed as a high-end consumer point-and-shoot camera as a lot of consumers don't seem to have the patience to actually read the manual and learn how to use the machine; the HD7 seems to be the very definition of a prosumer camera despite it's compact size.
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br /A lot of the user forums are waking up to the professional use of this camera as a B-Camera for harsh environment and dangerous work. I couldn't agree more. I work with professional shooters and they love, love, love the HD7 machine; three have sworn to acquire one for themselves to augment their work-supplied cameras.
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br /Three CCDs, High Definition, White Balance, Aperture and Shutter controls -- all excellent, and the colors are . . . BEAUTIFUL. Image stabilization works as designed -- and the naysayers know better -- any professional knows to use a tripod for good video -- only more necessary for quality high definition video. It dismays me to read know-nothing reviews from brand-centric partisans.
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br /External microphone jack works well and is now augmented in my system with a wireless mic and with the accessory shotgun mic from JVC. Anyone with a lick of sense understands that a simple cable adapter takes the left-right-video AV jack to a left-right headphone jack for audio monitoring.
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br /I am hard pressed to find anything to dislike about this camera -- especially when I get raves for the beautiful video it produces.
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br /I'm disappointed that the know-nothing reviews have given this machine a beating, but I am elated that the beating has moderated the price. I think I might buy a second. What's the old phrase for an unexpected bargain? Hidden Gem comes to mind . . .
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br /Problems I encountered with this item:
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br /Mastering all the functions offered by the camera.
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br /Waiting for the user community to catch up with the features and workflow for the camera.
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br /Supplied Cyberlink software is deficient . . . freeware MPEG StreamClip for format conversion and AVID Pinnacle Studio 11 or AVID Liquid much better choice.
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br /Previous equivalent item owned:
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br /I have never owned a camera even roughly equivalent to this machine. Approaches the utility of a company-supplied Sony PD-170 at a much lower price, and yet outdoes the -170 with high definition and with the sealed hard disk drive.
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br /Items I recommend:
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br /JVC BN-VF823 Lithium-Ion Battery Pack, Velbon Videomate 607 Tripod with PH-368 2 Way Fluid Head, Quick Release Case

I bought this at Circuit City Online for $1349, which was 200 bucks off plus an extra 10% off for Easter Sunday since all retail stores were closed. I shot some sample footage and its so easy to operate, no tapes to mess with, just turn it on and push record..When i got home i hooked it up via HDMI to my 37" MItsubishi LCD flat panel 1080p TV, and the picture was amazing. The clarity and color for outdoor video was like watching Discovery HD. I actually bought the jvc808 battery but i am thinking of getting the extended battery that will last over 3 hours. I purchased the Sony Handycam Case which fits the JVC HD7 like a glove.
br /Archiving is done via an optional Share Station without the need for a computer, or you can save the extra bucks on the share station and just archive using your PC or MAC. Apple Computers import the JVC tod. files directly into IMOVIE but I think it takes a little longer as it trascodes to HDV, but the ability to Edit in the easy Apple Software is a definite plus. I would love to burn to Blu Ray to wach on my Sony PS3, but the disc prices are expensive at 25 dollars for one 25gb blank disc, so i plan to archive to my computer and then to DVD data files. When the Blu Ray discs decrease in price in a few years, i will then be burning Blu Ray movies of all my files.
br /This camcorder has all the features i was looking for, and is the best prosumer model on the marked i believe. The high bit rate, the fujinon lens, the hdd 60gb drive, the hdmi and Full HD 1080i and nice compact size; not too big not too small. Highly Recommended..

There are three new (non-AVCHD) consumer HD camcorders that many people are looking at, the Sony HDR-HC7, the Canon HV20, and the newest, most expensive of the three, the JVC GZ-HD7. The specs on the JVC sure are great, it looks great, and the Amazon reviews for the JVC are glowing. However, the Amazon reviews seem to be written by people who haven't checked out the Sony or Canon, so they don't really have anything to compare the JVC to (except experience with much older cameras). Just about every reviewer on camcorder websites has complained that the GZ-HD7 has absolutely horrible image stabilization, much inferior to the Sony and Canon. And even though this JVC has 3 CCDs and supposedly a "pro" lens, the majority of reviews I've read favor the Canon HV20's image quality, and think the Canon has the best low-light performance. This may be due to the small size of the 3 CCDs on the JVC, compared to the larger single chips in the competition's cameras. Of course, the JVC is a hard disk based camera, while the other two use MiniDV tapes using the HDV format. While many like the idea of not having to use tapes, don't forget that tapes are a great way to save valuable raw footage. How are you going to back-up a 100GB of footage from the JVC? Just something to think about before you buy a non-tape camcorder.
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br /In favor of the JVC is the build quality and ergonomics -- it seems a little easier to use than the Canon.
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br /A feature that only the Canon has is that if shoots in very high quality 24p (look it up if you don't know what that means). Some people (such as indie filmmakers) think this feature alone is reason to buy the Canon HV20, while many people may never use this shooting mode. On the down side, the Canon feels cheaply constructed and is a little awkward to use.
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br /I started out as a huge fan of the JVC GZ-HD7 as I read the specs, looked at the pictures of it, and waited for it to come out. I really thought I would buy this camcorder. But after reading comparisons between it and the competition (actual tests, not specs), I have changed my mind. And so I wanted to post my opinion so that other Amazon customers don't rush and get this camera without considering the (less expensive) competition. Read user reviews on the dedicated camcorder / DV sites before you leap! This camera might seem great compared to the standard def camera you've had for 5 years, but other, less expensive cameras may deliver better overall image quality, which I think is what most people's bottom line.

If you are using Final Cut Pro or other professional non-linear editing programs on the Mac, you cannot use the camera's native .TOD format, which is basically an MPEG inside the .TOD container. Forget about following JVC's instructions: they are too time-consuming and don't allow batch processing. The easiest conversion method I've found requires two freeware programs: The VLC media player, and MPEG Streamclip, both available on the Apple Website (and elsewhere). You'll first need to use the VLC player to convert the .TOD into a .TS file, which takes seconds (you are only changing the container format to MPEG TS, not actually changing compression). Once you've changed the .TOD file to a .TS file, you can use MPEG Streamclip to change to a variety of file formats that Final Cut Pro can recognize. Of course since you are recompressing the file at this point, expect this to take far longer than the first step.
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br /While you can use a variety of compressions, I use DVCPRO60. Files compressed using DVCPRO60 can be viewed in Final Cut immediately without a need to render. The quality of the final DVC PRO .MOV file seems identical to the original .TOD file.
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br /As for the quality of the video, I think it's lower than some other cameras that cost less, and it's capture resolution is far lower than true HD (at approximately 510 lines verticle it's lower than other comparably priced camcorders, according to one review). If you are are looking for true HD in a consumer or pro-sumer model, this camcorder (or any other so far in 2007) won't cut it.

After spending hours at the local Fry's Electronics, trying different camcorders, I picked out this model. I did not like the Canon camcorder cheap feel and its inability to focus as I zoomed in, even with plenty of light inside the store. The Sony camcorder felt good in hand, but the picture as monitored in the viewfinder was noisy and grainy - again, with pleny of indoor light. But as I picked up JVC GZ-HD3 (the younger brother of the HD7, they didn't have the HD7 model at the store) I was amazed - the picture was clean, alive, with vibrant dynamic colors. And the build quality is superb - the JVCs are made in Japan, unlike Canon and Sony, which are made in China. In any case, after a week of contemplation, I got the JVC GZ-HD7 camcorder from Amazon for just over a grand, and after about a month of ownership, I can share the good and the bad.
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br /I used the unit both indoors and outdoors. In my opinion, the strength of the camcorder is its color reproduction - me and my friend tested it on a color-calibrated high-def TV unit through HDMI, and the colors were very true. Using the said setup we confirmed that the level of detail is also superb. In low-light situations the unit performs well up to a point, after which manual shutter speed adjustment will be necessary to increase exposure time. It's not a problem though, as I have used the camcorder indoors with moderate lighting (parties, etc), and didn't need any tweaking away from the automatic mode. The manual adjustment of shutter speed come in handy when recording trully low-light conditions, like sitting at night by the fire - I set it to 1/15 and the camcorder picks up the image from the darkness. In general, I think it's great that the unit has a lot of manual controls - you can adjust the aperture for depth-of-field, shutter speed for low-light or high-speed shooting, exposure bias, manual focus with focus assistance, and so on. The camcorder has an optical image stabilizer, which mechanically filters out shaking and jolting. I am suprised that it seems lots of people have problems with the OIS, as to me the performance is acceptable - I can definitely see big improvement when the stabilization is enabled - the sharp, high-frequency hand shaking is gone from the picture.
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br /Soundwise, the camcorder operation is very quiet, there is no messy tape mechanism inside, so you won't complain on the mic picking up any hum. The unit has an input for an external high-quality mic, plus an accessory shoe where you can mount it. The drawback is the abscence of a dedicated 1/8" headphone jack, even though you can use the A/V Out jack to connect to external audio equipment.
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br /Storage-wise, the camcorder has strengths and weaknesses. The obvious plus is the HDD storage, which allows quick backup through a USB/Firewire. I, being a PC person, connect through USB. The Cyberlink software included with the camcorder package allows viewing the files, and authoring DVD/Blue-Ray disks (HD DVD burning is available from Cyberlink in newer software releases). The minus of the camcorder is that even though it records video as an MPEG2 stream, the stream is embedded into the proprietary .TOD file, so that before authoring a DVD, the files need to be converted to the MPEG files - which is an extra step I would rather not have altogether. Even though, the currently bundled software is not certified for Vista, it works no problem with the OS. I have Vista at home, and I already created a DVD without problems.
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br /At the end, this is a great HD camcorder, with a couple of drawbacks.

Was looking for a nice camcorder for the birth of my baby (next week!) Bought this at Circuit City over Easter - they had a $200 online discount plus an additional 10% Easter Sale - came to $1349 plus tax! I was originally looking at the Sony SR1, was impressed by the lens, LCD and built, but felt it was somewhat hefty - lo and behold, the JVC HD Everio comes out and this Camera is very well built, fits the hand like a glove (unlike the larger SR1 which I feels like it needs 2 hands to avoid jitter)it has everything I was looking for and more, with Full HD (1920 x 1080) its basically futureproof, also has an extremely wide prosumer lens (fujinon) which has awesome light gathering capabilities (Great for indoor filming), a huge 60gb harddrive, HDMI port, 3CCD for true-to-life color reproduction, 200x digital zoom, plus a lot of other features for the enthusiast - supports external mic, flash via hotshoe, s-video etc. etc. Kudos to JVC for putting the time to develop this one, this is a well-thought out product that oozes quality (hard to find these days). Easy to understand, well illustrated manual, great editing package that supports PC/MAC (incl iMovie!) and an LCD menu system that is intuitive to use and easy to transfer files to/from PC/MAC or an external Harddrive. Supports both USB and firewire cables! This is the creme-dela-creme of prosumer camcorders - Thank You JVC!
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br /PS: I found the Tamrac Adventure Messenger 3 bag to fit the camera nicely.
br /Also, there are several extra batteries available beyond the supplied 1hr 25 min model, including a 2hour battery up to a 5 1/2 hour beltclip model - ideal for daytrips etc.

The Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) feature on the GZ-HD7 is not working on my camera and from what I've read on the internet its not working for alot of other GZ-HD7 owners either.
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br /I've been in contact with JVC for a week now about the OIS issue. The first time I called JVC the support technician obviously knew nothing about this problem. It wasn't until I requested a higher level support technician that I started getting some answers.
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br /The 2nd level support technician told me that JVC is aware of consumer complaints about the OIS not working and they are analyzing the problem and will reach a solution by the end of the month. According to him, JVC is collecting information to see if specific serial numbers have the OIS problem or if its all of the cameras. They are also talking to the engineers from what I remember talking to him. I believe its only specific cameras because camercorderinfo actually gave it a decent rating for image stabilization and some owners claim that their camera's OIS is working.
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br /I called back a few days later to speak to them again just to see if I could get some more information and convince them that this is indeed a problem that needs to be fixed ASAP. I explained to them they better have a solution fast or I'm returning the unit real soon.
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br /Here's where it gets interesting. The support technician asked me to hold so he could get their GZ-HD7 camcorder that they had there in the call center. When he came back he told me he would try turning the OIS off then on too see if there was any visible difference. I was put on hold again for 2 mintues while he operated the camera testing the OIS feature. He came back on the line and actually agreed with me that there is no visible difference with OIS on or off. Their camera they had in there own tech support call center didn't even have a working OIS feature!!! THEY KNOW THIS IS A PROBLEM.
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br /I'm begging that everyone that owns this camera and has this problem to please contact JVC customer support at 1-800-252-5722 and let them know. If the first guy on the phone try's telling you its not a problem then ask to speak to the next level support technician. Tell them you want it fixed or your returning it. JVC will only fix this if they hear about it from enough consumers.

I purchased this video camera a little over a week ago. The build quality is outstanding as is the video it takes. I didn't give it 5 stars that it deserves because my $200 pentax Optio w10 camera does a better job of image stabilization than this thing. So, that being the case, the camera is overpriced since it does not live up to that particular promise from the JVC marketing group. Realistically, this is an outstanding camera were it in the price range of $1200 to $1300 dollars which it may get to eventually with all the negative press regarding the OIS. Even without the OIS I still control shakes up to 8x zoom very well even without a monopod as I have always been accustomed to stabilizing the camera manually, be it with my other arm or a nearby fence, wall, column, etc. Plain and simple, the video is outstanding for an HDD video recorder. And a note to JVC.....Fix the OIS sytem or remove it from the advertising and lower the price $200. Just my 2 cents...... BTW, I got from Circuit City with a Case, monopod, extra battery, and 2 yr all inclusive warranty for $1900 including tax ($130 bucks, yikes!!).

This mighty-mite shoots near broadcast quality while weighing only two pounds. The lightweight cam is a blessing over lugging a larger Sony or Canon for a full day. Besides, Sony is very proprietary and difficult to intergrate with anything else. JVC was not very high on my list until I began to use the HD7 in August 07. We have four HD7's in service. JVC's HD7 camera shoots great video on steadicam, tripod or boom mount. On-camera audio is poor as you would expect (as all cameras need external mics). Just add the Audio Technica ATR lavalier mic or any good quality shotgun mic and you'll have a clear and strong audio track.
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br /The features on this camera are exceptionally good for a sub $3000 camcorder. Manual whitebalance, F/stop and appeture settings are very easy to use. Just a little practice with the menus/function buttons will have you up and running with all the pro settings. JVC's menu layout is easy to follow after your initial practice.
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br /Shooters advice: Don't forget at least one extra battery and charger. The 60G hard disk holds quite a bit of video, even at Full-HD settings (FHD). Your battery will run out before the disk is full. Besides, you should be recording on battery power anyway to avoid electrical hum (all cameras running on wall power have hum noise pollution issues).
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br /Overall the camera is easy to use after a walk-though with your user manual. Take an hour to practice all the settings. Picture quality is outstanding in this price range. It looks great on a 1920x1080 big screen. The manual says you can edit your shots using JVC's free software (included). However we are using Adobe CS3 creative suite plus Final Cut Pro. Our video work is being sold commercially in distribution on DVD. All our clients are asking who we used to make the videos. Quite a compliment, they think it's better than we could have made ourselves.

I just spoke with JVC customer support and they acknowledged that the OIS in the GZHD7 is 'weak'. He said the issue is mechanical and that no fix or patch will be released for the current model. Instead, they plan to address the issue in the next model, possibly due out in the March/April 2008 timeframe. He made the point (confirmed by many in these posts) that the other features easily make up for the the lacking OIS capability.

This camcorder has a full set of ports (external mic, USB, HDMI, firewire, S-video, component, regular RGB, etc.), manual focus, excellent optics, built-in lens cover to protect it, great looks, and a decent battery life. It's one of very few non-Chinese products (Made in Japan).
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br /Someone mentioned that the optical image stabilization doesn't work well or not at all and I have to agree. It seems that it has some limited impact but not much. I may not understand this technology very well but I figure that 1920x1080 is a lot of pixels to shift and keep track of, so I can't compare it to my reg def miniDV that were just superior when it came to keeping the image steady.
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br /It has pretty good low-light sensitivity but not better than what you'd expect from 3 small CCDs. It seems that its current 1 large CMOS (superior to 1 CCD) competition can almost keep up if not match it.
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br /The biggest letdown for me was the software suite in which only the DVD burning piece is compatible with Vista (confirmed by Cyberlink with no update being available at this point). I can't edit my clips at all and it freaked me out because this cam's .TOD files are not exactly "industry-standard". The trick that finally worked for me was selecting the files and prepping them for DVD writing. The software then generates MPEGs that are pretty close to the size and quality of the original TODs.
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br /I'm just glad I didn't pay the full price and I'm keeping it for now...

Actually grabbed it from Best Buy.. one location was out so I had to truck down to Soho.. needless to say the unit is smooth and easy to use. I was debating between the Sony HDD until I read they aren't really compatible with Mac's and iMovie. I loaded the JVC software and blamo.. no problem copying, playing with Quicktime or importing into iMovie. The ONLY thing that seems strange is that I've recorded movies at all 3 JVC quality settings (FHD, SP and 1440 CBSomething) and when importing they all look EXACTLY the same. Not sure what's up with that. Will keep everyone updated as I keep playing..

I've had this camera about 4 months now, replacing a Canon mini-DV about 3 years old. It was definitely worth the upgrade, especially since I now have an HDTV to watch the results.
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br /When I first got the camera, I was disappointed by the native TOD format that the camera uses. I used the JVC PowerCinema/PowerDirector software for conversion to MPG. That worked, but the software, as is true in most OEM software, wasn't any fun to use. But now, I have two methods to convert TOD files to MPG files and both are easy to use, so I have uninstalled the JVC Power* software from my (Win Vista) computer.
br /
br /I found a recent patch to Ulead 11 Plus video editing software which allows the UL11+ to read TOD files natively. So after copying files from the camera to my computer's hard disk over the USB port, I just open the TOD files, edit away, and then export the final result to an MPG file or DVD. Ulead 11+ is easy to use and very stable software and does everything I need to generate my "home movies". I have also used ffmpeg on the command line to convert from .TOD to .MPG and that is also very satisfactory on both the Win Vista computer as well as my Fedora 6 Linux box. The command is : ffmpeg -i myclip.TOD -acodec copy -vcodec copy myclip.mpg. ffmpeg is freely available on the internet.
br /
br /I have also found the OIS unsatisfactory, as stated in many reviews. Maybe in the next version... In the meantime, this emphasizes the importance of a good tripod. But even without OIS or a tripod, I get more than satisfactory results. See: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUKRpVMAqfs - taken without tripod or OIS, yet using a moderate amount of telephoto.
br /
br /But the greatest pleasure of this camera is the hard disk media. How great to not have to wind/rewind the tape to find your place before starting to shoot. Imagine, just power it up and shoot! With 5+ hours of space in hi-def mode, I can go for days until I have to upload the files.
br /

My first impulse when I saw it and read about the features was to buy it, then a friend showed me the bad reviews and i ended buying a different one (Panasonic HDD)... this last one is great but i am an enthusiast and I'm used to have more control over my Cam (exposhure, sensitivity, backlight, sound recording rate, etc... that JVC everio GZ-HD7U has) so.. i ended bying it (Everio HDD)...
br /
br /Good things
br /-I like the idea and flexibility of this 'new media recording system' HDD (LOVE IT).
br /NOTE: for those concerned about HDD versus tapes, tapes get old and after afew years can't read it or recover (i'm not saying it is bad, i love my Sony D8 that in some manner is still superior to these HDD cams generation)
br /NOTE: need place where to save your shooting, get a Terabyte!
br /
br /-The quality of the image is superb, magnificent, excelent... better than any... o yes, i do video editing on 5 different formats... and this is it! (Good for everio)
br /
br /-Good manipulation and control features, much, much better than the majority of other brands... but be aware it means more responsability on your hands, so learn more, study more about cam video possibilities, manipulation and controls... sorry but i like it this way...
br /
br /-Compare to others, JVC everio has Very good sensitivity to low light situations if you know how to use the MANUAL controls for diafragm, exposhure, sensitivity settings... you'll get better results if you learn MANUAL mode than leave it all to AUTO mode... can't be lazy!
br /
br /-Much better hardware features and conectivity than others in this range (USB, fire wire, AV, S-video, componet, HDMI and microphone)
br /NOTE: fire wire (ilink or 1364)not compatible with many video capture editing software... yes i got in contact with JVC support and could not give me a straight solving answer... nore the software support that comes with it!
br /Any way you'll end up using more your USB, AV, S-video and HDMI than the other two connections.
br /
br /-JVC everio has a shoe to connect accesories (others don't)
br /
br /-Sound recording quality its good, better than others...
br /
br /
br /Be aware
br /-Steady cam? well it's not bad or so umbelivably terreble as many say... the trick is to USE YOUR TRIPOD... or lean to a fence, wall, column, etc, try not to walk arround to much when video shooting, if you use only your hands with this cam you need to start thinking like a pro cameramen, hold it very still, if you could use both hands, better...
br /NOTE: i understand that the technology on this cam is very good for getting amazing good quality film that the steady cam system fall behind... not that is not good...
br /(for example: other cams SEEMs to have better steady cam, but it is a trick, because they are handling a much LOWER RESOLUTION - lower quality image... you see?) so be more carefull holding your JVC everio while filming... have this in mind and will be ok.
br /
br /Not so good things (sorry i have to say)
br /-For those that would like to edit your video from JVC everio, brother sister, this format ".TOD" is a pain in the A, can't have a codec to handle it... I finally got in touch with JVC (yes again) who could not give me an answer, they send me to the software that comes with it who made me buy an actualisation for Windows Vista but did't work, then said i needed a new software, that a bought but didn't work either... (i solved the problem using a pro editing software... and works terrific, wou! love it)
br /
br /For those who use Fire wire (ilink or 1394)
br /-Fire wire incompatibility to many software aplications and interface.. only one way connectivity - OUT (what happened to IN?)
br /
br /Very Bad!
br /-what happened to 'AV in' connection? (amazing my old VHS and cheap web cam has 'AV in', i can connect a TV, VHS, directly to it but JVC did leave this feature out, incredible!) - (so the other brands, say what?!)
br /
br /Conclusion:
br /-if you need a Camcorder you just want to take out of the box and go... i wouldn't recomend this JVC everio... get a simpler one... on this JVC everio you need a little bit of more knowledge than the average person to really get the 'meat' out of this JVC Camcorder... so maybe this could be a reason to very bad reviews from customers for this pruduct... but at the end the quality with JVC everio is superior than the ones in the market at this point (9 march 08) when i say market i mean what you regularly see on the majority of stores when you walk in and what actually is there to buy... not professional spetialized stores.
br /The technology for camcorders generation at this moment is still growing, and on these HDD camcorders of different brands, it still has to get better... it is not good enough for me at this moment (i'm not a pro as i said before)... needs to get better spetially on the area of connectivity and software that comes with it that should support this media ...
br /
br /Hope this help.
br /

This is the best consumer grade camcorder using hard drive storage that I've come across. Ditch the tapes, this camcorder is easy to use and looks great too. I was concerned about it working well with my Mac, and I'm happy to say it links seamlessly!

I purchased this camcorder in May of 2007. I took a two week road trip and found the anti-stabilization to be very lacking. To over come this, I purchased a Velbon fluid head tripod, a Manfrotto 560B Monopod, and the GlideCaM 2000 Pro. Now the images I shoot are very pleasing to the eye.
br /
br /One of the primary reasons I purchased this camcorder was it had external audio inputs at microphone level. I have also purchased a Sennheiser shotgun microphone as well as the Sennheiser wireless camera set. I also purchased a "V" adapter that mounts on the shoe of the camcorder to accommodate the Sennheiser wireless receiver and shotgun microphone. I now have professional clarity audio on my recordings.
br /
br /The Everio software that comes with camcorder is a must use in my experience to convert camera footage from on board hard drive to be able to edit MPEG2 1080i footage with my Sony Vegas 7.0 nonlinear editing software.
br /
br /I have three Dell P4 desktops that are not able to play high def footage as the files are too large for these computer to play them without choking. I recently purchased an inexpensive HP dual core AMD 64 running Vista computer and it seems to do the job for me out performing the three other computers I have.
br /
br /I am amazed at the quality this little camcorder delivers. The automatics seem to work pretty well. It seems to work very well in low light as well as bright outside light. The auto-focus seems to do very well also. I have not used the manual features as of this posting.
br /
br /I have recently joined the www.Vimeo.com high def contributers. I have one video test recording I made on Saturday April 26, 2007 posted at http://vimeo.com/947085 and I will upload another video I shot this week while on vacation. Yesterday I took the JVC GZ HD 7 camcorder to Descanso Gardens with the fluid head tripod, monopod and professional audio for a test run. I produced a movie file in Power Director (Software that came with the camcorder) and am now editing in Sony Vegas 7.0. I am impressed how well this camcorder performs for what I am wanting to do. I hope also to include another video of the footage I shot yesterday at the http://vimeo.com site.
br /
br /Final thoughts: I would buy this camcorder again. If you want professional results, be prepared to invest in additional equipment if you want very good results. 1080i video requires a computer with sufficient horsepower to process large files. High def 1080i video is about four times more information per frame than standard def NTSC video. The really great item about this camcorder is I do not have too buy video tape or worry about a tape clogging in the field.
br /
br /Do look for the videos I have posted at http://vimeo.com/user456398/videos all shot with the JVC GZ HD7 Camcorder.
br /
br /
br /Kindest and sincerest warm regards,
br /
br /Lisa J.Kassner
br /Los Angeles CA

We have been delighted with the results we have had with this HD camera!
br /
br /If you have the patience and are willing to follow the guidelines in the operations manual you will also be just as happy!
br /
br /We use a vast array of software and video plugs to produce HD duel layer dvd's that look just as good as anything hollywood can put out! And thats also the trick to producing the type of quality that the video cam can produce! Learn how to use your video and sound edit or prduction software!
br /
br /We have great results using Pinnacle Studio 11 to Avid Xpress Pro as well as Avid Liquid 7.0, plus all of the Adobe video software. We have also found very good results with Sony Vegas Pro 8 and DVD architect pro 4.5. All for High Definition video files.
br /
br /We have 4 of these Everio's. All mounted on professional high quality video tripods with fluid heads. We also use high quality stereo wireless mics on our tallents or on a sound boom to produce outstanding sound reproduction of up to 300 feet away. So this is a nice option as well.
br /
br /The only draw back we have found is that they the (GZHD7) do not have XLR mic inputs! But if you know what your doing your sound quality should be acceptable for the average consumer.
br /
br /If you use long runs out at 20 feet with a shotgun mic you will notice some hum and buzz with the 3.5 mini input mic. The mic shoe mount on this cam will accept any shotgun mic as another option.
br /
br /We would suggest the RODE VideoMic 2 - Shotgun mic 2nd Gen Model with Pad.
br /They sell for $149.00 and produce sound quality in the $500.00 range!
br /
br /With the Rode mic you won't be let down!! And these units are now affordable for just about anyones tight budget!!
br /
br /HAVE FUN!!! :)
br /AXION Studios Inc.

Funny thing about Amazon reviews: anyone can create one and there is minimal fact checking. They range from single review shills who post ad copy verbatim to dingbats who rate a product one star because the delivery took an extra day.
br /
br /With this camcorder, there appears to be three overall groups: those who don't even own it but feel they have to inform others about competing products, those who can't get it to work well in automatic mode or with their computers, and those who love it. For those who have only read reviews on other sites and copy that info here, yeah, I can and do read other websites, too. It's not helpful to include that information here, especially if the reviewer has not even used the HD7.
br /
br /For the second group, I'd agree that the GZ-HD7 does not perform very well as a "point and shoot" camcorder. To get the most out of it, it should be operated in manual mode. It's not difficult but does take a little practice and experimenting. I'd admit the image stability system doesn't seem to work well and drops it down to 4.5 stars. As far as the computer interface, I just bought Corel's Ulead Video Studio 11.5 Plus program and that works perfectly with this--just copy the files over and open the .tod. Note: I got this as an open box and didn't receive the software. The Ulead program was the same price as what JVC wanted for the replacement disc.
br /
br /Put me firmly in the third group. This thing is GREAT! Except for the image stability, it's perfect. Others say mini DV systems are the way to go for archival purposes. Sure, if your camcorder still works. I have a bunch of old tapes and a broken camcorder... and a new MiniDV camcorder that doesn't play those old tapes. Give me an HDD, 3 CCD, slap on an f1.8 Fujinon lens, and I'm happy.

I haven't done much testing but it seems to me that the OIS works better on off position. Maybe the IT people made an opposite mistake instead of on it's off. Please add more comment. I hope I'm right

Hello,
br /
br /I bought it from Circuit city, it was on sale and I paid $1502 with extra extended battery! It was great deal ever! First of all I would say it looks great, solid build! Its not big and not small, its perfect!
br /
br /The picture quality is great! I noticed the videos are stunning! The colour contrast are perfect, it produce little warm video. I found that OIS is not working good or maybe I have doubt that actually it is working or not, maybe my hand shakes lot or what I don't know, but something is wrong, OIS is not putting impact, I don't know why!
br /
br /And one more worst part of this beauty, the still pictures, it capture only 1920x1800 resolution! And picture which I took never focused! Anyway I don't care since I have dedicated Fuji S9000 for digital photography, but if some assume that this camcorder would be great for picture and its wrong, big disappointment! The menu and all other features are well working, no problem. The LCD screen has very poor side angle view, I am surprise nowadays side angle views has been improved and why this JVC camcorder has very low side angle view! Overall, I like the camcorder, the build, size, features are perfect. Only I am worried about OIS, I don't know about it much! The Cyber link software for video is good and I have not check it for still pictures.
br /
br /The video quality is outstanding, stunning! I have seen some Canon HV20 video also, and this camcorder can give decent fight with it. This camcorder would have been perfact if JVC would have put some featues like Canon HV20, for example Canon has one very good feature, if you have some old analogue tapes then you can convert them in to digital through Canon HV2o, this is great feature, and second in Canon you can record film like video, which I like most, and I was always thinking why my videos are not look like Hollywood film! JVC should have include both these feature in this camcorder, and that would have been JVC must drop some price, and if OIS had some problem than they should immediately sort it out.
br /
br /Pros:
br /
br /* Great build!
br /* Looks amazing.
br /* Stunning video!
br /* No tapes more ( which I like most)
br /
br /Cons:
br /
br /* Expensive
br /* OIS has some problem, I am not sure though. Its great camcorder! Full marks to JVC!
br /* Still picture resolution is only 1920x1800!
br /
br /I capture some videos with this camcorder if you would like to see follow below links:
br /
br /[..]

I opened up the box and scanned thru the manual right quick to see how to put in the battery and start it charging as I went back and continued more detailed review of the controls. I didn't spend more than 15 minutes doing that. Later, the battery was charged and I picked it up and started recording the family guests in our house. After a short recording, I went into hook it up to the tv with just a s-video connection and voila - I was amazed at how clear and intense the picture was. I ordered an hdmi to hdmi cable and was really amazed with that picture. My wife picked it up and had not read anything about it and just asked me how to use it and in just minutes she was video recording our cats all over the place with some beautiful clear recordings. Neither of us have used video recorders in years. We have an old camcorder with the mini-vcr tape that you take out and put into an adapter, but we got tired of using it. The JVC is way better and easier to use than those things. That's all we've done with it and there's much more to play with on it. We are just amazed.

Some thoughts on the HD7 performance:
br /
br /PROs:
br /1. 3CCD camera
br /2. Good built, better than most consumer HD cameras
br /3. Auto features for what's listed below
br /4. Manual focus ring, very cool
br /5. Manual aperture adjustment
br /6. Manual shutter adjustment
br /7. Has a cold shoe mount
br /8. Has a microphone jack
br /9. Viewfinder works even for replay
br /10. Saves on a hard drive or SDHC. Awesome!
br /
br /CONs:
br /1. Colors are overexposed or tends to blow out the whites, better outdoors than indoors
br /2. Low light needs tweaking to work. Performance disappointing.
br /3. Tripod hole (at least mine) is larger than average. Not good.

This camcorder has quite a few drawbacks. It is not true HD as claimed and it is visible compared to others. The camera gets very hot - the harddisk. The connection to the PC and Mac is easy via USB but the video files can not be easily used in PC editing software as a harddisk recorder seems to suggest. There is a mess of XMl control files that make no practical sense whatsoever and I work in IT. In any case I want to shot videos and not program. Not very userfriendly. In all cases a transcoding - meaning decompression and recompression has to take place - takes a lot of time with resulting loss of quality. This camera is the quietest of all the cameras I have used. Dont expect too much of optical image stabilization.
br /I also tried the Panasonic HDC-SD1 AVCHD 3CCD Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom that is a nicer and more usable camcorder but the AVCHD video format also gives grave problems. THe SD1 is noisy because of a fan. Strange.
br /I can recommend the Canon HV20 3MP High Definition MiniDV Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoomfor its outstanding picture and color quality. HDV transfer to PC and Mac is no problem with high quality via DV-OUT. It has some quality loss because of the recompression. It has no harddisk or SD card however.
br /All camcorders have a HDMI output so I recommend to buy a HDMI capture card that solves all these problems. Seems odd, but HD video brought extreme format confusion. It is even worse on a professional level.

I was looking for a nice "prosumer" camera to do some freelancing shooting on the side. The specs and price seemed about right for the camera but after excitedly taking it home and playing around with it, I discover it has NO headphone jack. No excuse for this, how can a camera of this price with an external mic connector not have a way to monitor sound while recording? If I get bad sound on a shoot, I won't get paid. Or what if you're filming a wedding or something else important and you're not sure if audio is coming in too low or too loud? Additionally, after installing the Quicktime plug-in, all videos played back choppy and therefore useless on both of my Macs (which easily clear the system requirements that JVC posts). Had to return the camera, will look elsewhere for other options. The camera IS well-built, great manual features, hard drive, nice solid manual ring focus, etc. and may be what you're looking for but not for me. Price needs to go down to at least $1500 MSRP.

I bought this camera with 1000 USD but after shooting it worth more than 5000 USD as quality it is the best

Despite many hours or work and attempts to get assistance from JVC I have not been able to get this Camcorder to copy files to my well-resourced, high-speed vista computer. The JVC customer support system doesn't help either. Right now they're directing customers to send emails and I just sent another one this morning. It says the average turnaround time is five days.
br /
br /This is a very expensive product and it should be supported and shoud work with systems without much effort.
br /
br /Earlier as I worked periodically on this problem, they had a phone number to call and I was able to get through to someone, but that seems to have disappeared.

This camera is compact and you get 5 hours of full HD recording, optical image stabilization, and three 1/5-inch CDs for full HD recording. Everything you could ever want in a video camera is in this one. It's a amazingly satisfying camcorder with a wide variety of manual buttons. The high definition picture is really great, giving a great picture. I just love this camera.

I bought this product in early January in 2007 upon the recommendation of someone who bought an earlier JVC camcorder and had a good experience with the 3CCD feature of the JVC camcorder.
br /
br /But except for a few test videos that totaled less than an hour, this camcorder stayed in my closet. The video quality were fairly good when I transferred it a DVD and viewed on a 1080p LCD HDTV.
br /
br /Then early this month (December 2007), I took out this camcorder for a birthday event. But to my consternation, the unit would not work despite the very light use I had put on it and despite being stored in a cool, dry and dark cabinet. What a big disappointment it was that a barely used fairly new camcorder would fail so quickly.
br /
br /Then just last night, I learned that another friend bought this same model due to the recommendation of our mutual friend. And he complained that he too experienced the same problem and his unit was less than 2 months old!
br /In all my years of buying electronic products, I have never experienced anything as bad as this JVC camcorder. And I realize that I am not alone in my bad experience with this product. This prompted me to post this review to warn others who might be thinking of buying this product.
br /
br /There will be no more JVC product in my future purchases.

The camera saves files in .tod format instead of .mpg which is unrecognizable to most every video editing software forcing you to pay to download conversion software and codecs. I spent several frustrating hours trying to just get my computer to recognize the camera and still couldn't import the files to imovie, final cut, or on windows vegas 6. Apparently a lot of people are having problems with this camera just google it and read all the posts on help forums. What a waste of money!

I am extremely frustrated with this camera. Its backup feature is not working in Vista Home Premium. It seems the camera software is not recognizing the firewire connection ( 4pin to 4pin) to the laptop. What good does it make if I can not save the videos !!!!

Pros:
br /HD 60gb
br /Size
br /Resolution and quality just for outdoor events
br /
br /
br /Cons:
br /poor picture quality
br /VOD file extension - hard to use Adobe PRemiere Pro 2.0 for editing
br /No nightshot
br /No lights support
br /Poor quality for pictures and video indoors ( forget to buy it if you don't have enough light to record a indoor event.
br /no charger included in the package !!!!!
br /I.link cable is not compatible to Cyberlink software.
br /

Right now I will take a wait and see approach towards JVC's offering. All the research I've done indicates that the GZ-HD7 can only output the video in MPEG2 mode. This is great if you never do any video editing, other than time splices, on your computer.
br /
br /One has to wonder how the video quality will hold up, compared to HDV (1080x1440), once the video stream is decompressed for editing then recompressed back to MPEG-2.

The biggest problem I have with these articles, reviews and even the manual is that important things are missing. Is the Mic in jack mono or stereo? what is it's low light capability? What video editing apps is it compatible with? What kind of image stabilization does it use? gyroscopic prisms or the cheap method used in most consumer camcorders? Battery life? does it last the full 5 hours that you can record? resolution of the viewfinder and flip out monitor, can you see clear enough to focus? will it take an external monitor during recording? will it stream the video out the firewire connection so I can use some pro laptop utilities to see a larger monitor as as well as a scope and other items when recording?
br /
br /Lots of information missing for a camera that is trying to be sold as a higher end pro-sumer level camera.

Disclaimer: I don't own this product and this is not really a product review. I gave it a 4 star rating because that is the average rating on this product at this time.
br /------------------------
br /I looked at this camcorder at a local store yesterday. I couldn't figure out how I can take a still picture while shooting a video (simultaneously) using this device. Most high-end cameras and camcorders have that feature these days and I use it a lot with my camera. I don't think that feature is supported by this camcorder, but if you disagree with my observation, please post a comment to this message.
br /

Most of the time you read some negative feed about products and I believe they usually comes from people that don't know noting about what they are buying and just buy the product just to have it. Thats not good for others that are looking to buy something. So is good to have professional people who knows what they are looking for and given us poseitve feed about the product. So please, if your not an expierence person don't leave any negative comments on product you don't know how to work it.
br /Thank you