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Home > Consumer Camcorders > Camcorder Reviews > JVC Camcorders > JVC MiniDV Camcorders > Quick Review Camcorders : JVC GR-DX97
Published on October 07, 2004
At exactly one pound, the JVC GR-DX97 sells for a suggested $699.95 or a not-so-suggested street price of about $400. This camcorder comes with the basics: a 1/6-inch 680K CCD, a 12x optical zoom and a 700x digital zoom. What makes the JVC GR-DX97 unique is its 3-inch LCD monitor that flips up instead of out, like most traditional camcorders.
The JVC GR-DX97 is a vertically oriented camcorder with a unique LCD monitor that flips toward the user’s face rather than out to the left side. The menus for manual settings can be found on this screen. With the JVC GR-DX97, the user can manually control shutter speed, white balance, exposure and focus. The white balance offers a variety of options: Auto, Manual, Fine, Cloud and Halogen, but shutter speed is a bit limited with only two options of 1/4 and 1/100. The exposure can also be adjusted between -6 and +6. As with many camcorders in this price range, there is no manual gain control. However, this JVC model does have an automatic gain control. The GR-DX97 also has a .3-inch color viewfinder that extends about one inch, but does not rotate.
For camcorder novices as well as those who want to utilize the convenient, handheld character of this matchbook camcorder, there are simple automatic options also. Programmed settings include Sports, Snow, Spotlight, Twilight, Sepia, Monotone, Classic Film and Strobe. These are great for first-time users who appreciate full automation, but curiosity will soon hit. When it does, disappointment may follow because the JVC GR-DX97 does not allow access to any manual control options while in automatic mode. For example, the user cannot manually adjust the white balance while in the programmed Spotlight mode. This is distressing because it takes the JVC GR-DX97 about 20 seconds to automatically adjust the white balance. Fortunately, the shutter speed gain and exposure adjust much faster.
The JVC GR-DX97 attempts to go beyond the basics with a few extra amenities. There is a 16:9 digitally manipulated widescreen mode. The camcorder sports a three-light LED illuminator and stereo microphone on the front, as well as an external microphone port. The GR-DX97 can record audio in 12 or 16 bit. This camcorder does have exceptional connectivity; ports are available not only for a microphone, but USB, AV, DC and Firewire/DV also. With these, this JVC model can support analog to digital pass-through. Unfortunately, there is no headphone jack or accessory shoe. The JVC GR-DX97 can also record to MiniDV tape or an MMD memory card, as it is equipped with both. For still photography enthusiasts, JVC included a time lapse photography setting which has intervals from 15 seconds to 60 minutes. Although, as one user posted on our message board, “Still performance: Don’t even think about it. Scary bad.”
The bottom-loading JVC GR-DX97 is an all-around decent camera with good video performance and good manual control. For users who don’t mind a slow zoom and fully automatic modes, this camcorder is worth the $400 price tag.
Quick Review Camcorders : JVC GR-DX97
by Emily RaymondPublished on October 07, 2004
At exactly one pound, the JVC GR-DX97 sells for a suggested $699.95 or a not-so-suggested street price of about $400. This camcorder comes with the basics: a 1/6-inch 680K CCD, a 12x optical zoom and a 700x digital zoom. What makes the JVC GR-DX97 unique is its 3-inch LCD monitor that flips up instead of out, like most traditional camcorders.
JVC camcorders, this year anyway, are known for their quality low-light performance. While the GR-DX97 fares better than most camcorders in its price range, it doesn’t quite meet the JVC standard of excellence. At a dim 15 lux, the image is bright, but all of the colors took on a brown hue. There was a noticeable amount of noise and grain, although there was more noise and grain at a brighter 60 lux. The JVC GR-DX97 performed well at 3,000 lux. Because of the bright light, colors were not as saturated as they appeared on the LCD monitor, looking a little washed out. However, the whites were balanced accurately and the overall image was good.
The 12x optical zoom and 700x digital zoom work on one medium paced zoom speed. This could be a problem if the user needs to close in on the subject quickly, but will help stabilize the image. There is also an image stabilization system that can be activated.
The JVC GR-DX97 is a vertically oriented camcorder with a unique LCD monitor that flips toward the user’s face rather than out to the left side. The menus for manual settings can be found on this screen. With the JVC GR-DX97, the user can manually control shutter speed, white balance, exposure and focus. The white balance offers a variety of options: Auto, Manual, Fine, Cloud and Halogen, but shutter speed is a bit limited with only two options of 1/4 and 1/100. The exposure can also be adjusted between -6 and +6. As with many camcorders in this price range, there is no manual gain control. However, this JVC model does have an automatic gain control. The GR-DX97 also has a .3-inch color viewfinder that extends about one inch, but does not rotate.
For camcorder novices as well as those who want to utilize the convenient, handheld character of this matchbook camcorder, there are simple automatic options also. Programmed settings include Sports, Snow, Spotlight, Twilight, Sepia, Monotone, Classic Film and Strobe. These are great for first-time users who appreciate full automation, but curiosity will soon hit. When it does, disappointment may follow because the JVC GR-DX97 does not allow access to any manual control options while in automatic mode. For example, the user cannot manually adjust the white balance while in the programmed Spotlight mode. This is distressing because it takes the JVC GR-DX97 about 20 seconds to automatically adjust the white balance. Fortunately, the shutter speed gain and exposure adjust much faster.
The JVC GR-DX97 attempts to go beyond the basics with a few extra amenities. There is a 16:9 digitally manipulated widescreen mode. The camcorder sports a three-light LED illuminator and stereo microphone on the front, as well as an external microphone port. The GR-DX97 can record audio in 12 or 16 bit. This camcorder does have exceptional connectivity; ports are available not only for a microphone, but USB, AV, DC and Firewire/DV also. With these, this JVC model can support analog to digital pass-through. Unfortunately, there is no headphone jack or accessory shoe. The JVC GR-DX97 can also record to MiniDV tape or an MMD memory card, as it is equipped with both. For still photography enthusiasts, JVC included a time lapse photography setting which has intervals from 15 seconds to 60 minutes. Although, as one user posted on our message board, “Still performance: Don’t even think about it. Scary bad.”
The bottom-loading JVC GR-DX97 is an all-around decent camera with good video performance and good manual control. For users who don’t mind a slow zoom and fully automatic modes, this camcorder is worth the $400 price tag.
| JVC GR-DX97 - THE BOTTOM LINE
CamcorderInfo.com Rating: 98.18 Full Review Message Board Price Comparisons |
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| Likes |
| - 700x digital zoom
- Low light, video performance - Spot exposure control |
| Dislikes |
| - Mic input, with no headphone input
- No accessory shoe - Manual control |
JVC GR-DX97 Compared to the...
| Canon
Elura 60 Rating: 95.8 |
Canon
Optura 40 Rating: 108.55 |
JVC
GR-D93 Rating: 92.22 |
Panasonic
PV-GS120 Rating: 108.35 |
Sony
DCR-HC30 Rating: 94.70 |
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| Better | Better | Better | Better | Better |
| - 14x optical zoom
- Hot accessory shoe - 1/4.5 inch (1.33MP) - Selectable Focal points - headphone jack - Cold accessory shoe - Manual control - Handling - Still photo resolution (1280x960) |
- CCD size (1/3.4")
- Effective pixel count (1.23V, 2P) - Manual control - Focus ring - Still photo resolution (1632x1224) - Headphone jack - Hot accessory shoe - Audio level control - Video performance - 14x optical zoom |
- 1/4 inch CCD (1.33MP)
- Low light performance - Still resolution 1600 x 1200 |
- 3 CCD camcorder (1/6 inch, 460K pixels each)
- Manual Control - Low light performance - Headphone jack -Cold shoe - Still resolution (1280x960) |
- Cold accessory shoe |
| Equal | Equal | Equal | Equal | Equal |
| - Still media
- Ports (minus mic) |
- Optical and digital zoom
- SD card media - headphone jack - Ports (minus mic) |
- Ports
- Still media - 700x digital zoom - No headphone jack - Manual Control - Video performance |
- Still capability
- Mic input - 700x digital zoom |
- Ports
- Analog to Digital Passthrough - 1/6 inch CCD - Mic input, no headphone |
| Worse | Worse | Worse | Worse | Worse |
| - Low light performance
- Video performance - No mic input - 700x digital zoom - JVC has spot exposure control - JVC has 3" LCD |
- Low light performance
- 280x digital zoom - JVC has 3" LCD |
- 10x optical zoom
- No mic input |
- 10x optical zoom | - 10x optical zoom, 120x digital zoom
- Manual Control - Still to Memory Stick at only 640x480 - No headphone - CCD pixel count |
