Reviews |
Quick Review Camcorders : JVC GR-D33
by Matt CullerPublished on September 24, 2004
With an MSRP of $350.00, JVC's GR-D33, the first in the company’s GR line, includes a 1/6th inch 680k CCD, zoom power to 16x, built in LED, and a 2.5 inch LCD. But these specifications aren’t what’s going to sell the camcorder, or even what’s important. The JVC GR-D33 really excels in the low light department, bounding away from its competitors like a sprightly butterfly zigzagging its way from the pernicious net of the entomologist.
On par 3000 lux wise with the HC20, noise reduction feature on these JVCs make for good video performance with no washing or bleeding within the spectrum.
With none of the amenities that a camcorder like a Sony would offer in the automatic control department such as spot metering and spot focusing, the JVC GR-D33 has just average, mediocre automatic control settings. It would be one thing the camcorder was easy to use in general, but alas, this is not the case.
Manual control on the JVC GR-D33 is not something to right home about, but perhaps, admissible with reverence to the camcorder’s extraordinary image quality. Most of the manual control is controlled by the camcorder’s depressible jog dial, which is a nice feature which improves handling as it doesn’t encourage image-motion during adjustment.
While the zoom toggle on the JVC GR-D33 is well-constructed and easy to control, the pitiful optical zoom of 16x on the JVC GR-D33 is the worse at its price point. The manual focus is controlled by the depressible jog dial, which would be nice except for the fact that the options are buried in the menu system. And don’t get excited, it’s the same story for the manual exposure control, and shutter speed options. But, that’s life, for a same camcorder.
The shutter speed options on the JVC GR-D33 should be mentioned here separately because it is unusual for a camcorder of this price range to have a full manual shutter speed function. In the JVC GR-D33’s price point most of the camcorder’s have what is called Program AE settings (Auto Exposure), which are a group of “environments” reminiscent of Joe McCarthy’s America, where all camcorder users record in the Sun or Snow, or the Beach or any other family outing destination, the magnates at JVC could imagine. The JVC GR-D33’s manual shutter speed options range from 1/50 — 1/1000th of a second.
White balance options on the JVC GR-D33 are the standard white balance options found on many low-end camcorders: manual, auto, indoor, and outdoor. They are also accessed and controlled with through the jog dial menu system.
While the JVC GR-D33 does not have card media to capture still photos, stills can be captured to tape at 640 x 480.
Great low light considering the price and CCD size. At the testing light level of 60 lux, the JVC GR-D33 did exceptional, and this is the real selling point of the camcorder. Colors are presented in a very balanced distinct, which also brighter and crisper than the competition. There is a bit of grain, but thanks to the camcorder’s noise reduction feature, it is minimal, especially compared to something like Canon’s ZR series. At 15 lux things get substantially worse, but the overall result is still miles away from the competition.
The 2.5 inch LCD is decent, but a bit crowded, and color viewfinder is immobile. The audio department of the JVC GR-D33 is a bit shabby offering no mic input or headphone output or accessory shoe, forcing the user to rely solely on the camcorder’s built-in stereo microphone, which isn’t governed by any manual audio level controls.
Handling the JVC GR-D33 is okay. While button placement, including the superbly placed jog dial and good port placement, are plusses, the unsubstantial heft of the camcorder feels kind weak. The jog dial and zoom toggle are in correct placement for thumbs and fingers, which is a nice thing, and they allow for single-handed adjustment and shooting. Included ports on the JVC GR-D33 include a DC in port, a Firewire port, an A/V output, and a S-Video output.
The JVC GR-D33 features a digitally affected 16:9 mode, and cannot accommodate Analog to Digital Pass-though as there is no Analog input.
The JVC GR-D33 is a great $350.00 camcorder primarily for its low light performance. In other areas, such as manual control, connect-ability, and ease of use, the JVC GR-D33 maybe falls flat, but to excel in a category of utmost importance, such as low light, pushes it up in significantly in the rankings.
| JVC GR-D33 - THE BOTTOM LINE
Rating: 92.03 |
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| Likes |
| - Low light performance
- S-Video port |
| Dislikes |
| - Ease of use
- Ports - No analog to digital passthrough - Mediocre manual control - No card media - Only 16x optical zoom |
JVC GR-D33 Compared to the...
| Samsung
SCD103 Rating: 70.91 |
Canon
ZR80 Rating: 84.10 |
JVC
GR-D72 Rating: 94.28 |
Panasonic
PV-GS9 Rating: 88.55 |
Sony DCR-TRV260
Rating: 85.12 |
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| Better | Better | Better | Better | Better |
| - 900x digital zoom
- Mic input - Memory Stick Still Media - 18x optical zoom - B/W viewfinder |
- Analog to digital passthrough
- Handling - Cold accessory shoe - Headphone input - Manual control - 18x optical zoom |
- S-video input, USB port, A/V input
- Analog to Digital passthrough - Card media (SD/Multimedia card) |
- 20x optical, 800x digital zoom
- Manual control - Headphone jack - Top loading - Video performance |
- Ease of use
- Better LCD screen - 20x optical zoom |
| Equal | Equal | Equal | Equal | Equal |
| - CCD size
- No accessory shoe - No Analog to digital passthrough - S-Video output - No headphone jack |
- No mic input
- CCD specs - Bottom-loading - No card |
- CCD size, pixel count - Video performance
- Manual/Automatic control - Handling - Zoom capabilities |
- 1/6" CCD, pixel count - No accessory shoe
- No mic input - No analog to digital passthrough - No card media |
- No mic input, or headphone, no card media, shoe
- USB - 1/6 inch CCD - No analog to digital passthrough - 700x digital zoom |
| Worse | Worse | Worse | Worse | Worse |
| - Handling
- Manual Control - Video performance - Video/Low light performance |
- 360x digital zoom
- Low light and video performance - No S-Video |
- Low light performance
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- No USB port, S-Video output
- Low light performance |
- CCD pixel count
- Digital 8 format - Manual Control |
