Quick Camcorder Reviews : JVC GR-D395

The JVC GR-D395 is difficult to distinguish from the four JVC MiniDV camcorders all named “GR-D39….” All offer middling video performance, a fair manual control array, and frustrating handling. The GR-D395’s key feature is a large extended life battery (lasting 3 hours). While this may sound good, the battery creates some balance issues and renders the viewfinder completely inaccessible. Better choices can be found in the JVC line and beyond.

 

The GR-D395 is equipped with a 1/6” CCD, bare minimum specs for a consumer camcorder and standard for entry level models. In bright light, it produced a surprisingly pale image, though the sharpness was better than we’ve seen on a lot of entry level camcorders.

 

In low light, imager size tends to be a deciding factor. The small CCD simply could not gather enough light for decent performance. The result was a dark image with a lot of grain, stemming from the GR-D395’s automatic gain (AGC) boosting. The AGC can be turned on or off if you’re trying to keep the graininess at bay, but we highly recommend that you leave it in the default “on” position. With the AGC Off, the picture is virtually black.

 

 JVC camcorders are generally a good balance of manual controls and ease of use, and hence good camcorders to learn on. If you, or perhaps your child, have aspirations of filmmaking, but find yourselves with an under-$400 budget and no background knowledge, JVC may be your brand. For absolute beginners, GR-D395 sports a large Auto button on the left side. One push and you’re free to point and shoot without a care in the world. The automatic responses are not on par with Sony, the reigning champion of auto controls, with the GR-D395 falling particularly short in auto focus and auto exposure. Auto focus is the most common deficiency in consumer camcorders, so this is no great fault when compared against the competition. The auto exposure is accurate, but it is slower than most camcorders.

 

The manual control suite on most JVC camcorders is second only to Panasonic. While the GR-D395 does not offer aperture control, there is a solid exposure value (EV) control, Iris Lock (which allows you to lock the automatically determined iris value), shutter speed (1/60^th – 1/4000^th), white balance, and focus. All these controls are engaged via a touch pad. In general, touch pads work well, but the one on the GR-D395 is trapped in the LCD cavity, out of site from the shooter. While the touch pad is relatively large and responsive, it’s difficult to top the smooth action and smart placement of Panasonic’s rear-mounted joysticks.

 

The biggest handling problem with the GR-D395 was the enormous battery. While is lasted for an admirable 3 hours of continuous shooting, the sheer bulk made the viewfinder impossible to use, despite its ability to telescope outwards. JVC offers a sister model, the GR-D396, that is completely identical, but it swaps the extended life battery for two standard size batteries. In this respect, the GR-D396 is clearly the smarter buy, side-stepping the handling issues and providing a back-up if the first battery dies or is lost.

 

The GR-D395 captures video onto MiniDV tape in the DV format. MiniDV has been around for about a decade, and you’ll have no trouble finding cheap tapes. Virtually every editing program also offers the ability to capture the video onto a computer via a Firewire connection. Even though the format is dying in the face of greater convenience of DVD and hard disk drive (HDD) camcorders, both fail to match the quality, dollar-for-dollar, of a MiniDV camcorder due to slower data speeds. We have routinely knocked JVC’s Everio series of HDD camcorders for poor performance, while their MiniDV models offer a fairly good competition in the mid-priced range.

 

Other features on the GR-D395 include 32x optical zoom, among the largest of any camcorder. Along with the AGC in low light (albeit grainy), this may prove to be a popular camcorder for surveillance needs. It also offers the great Data Battery feature, which alerts you to exactly how much time remains on the battery.  

 

In conclusion, the GR-D395 has several features we like to see in entry level camcorders. Unfortunately, Canon beat everyone to the punch this year with the Elura 100, a performance powerhouse for under $400. The merely fair performance and rather cheap-feeling housing of the GR-D395 are unnecessary trade-offs if you have the option to buy the Elura 100.