Quick Review Camcorder : JVC GR-D270

It is such a good value for very self-evident reasons. It includes a number of features over the GR-D250, the most prominent among which is its ability to capture stills to card media, namely SD card or MultiMedia card. Stills can be captured at a resolution of 1024 x 768 (the GR-D250 can capture stills to tape at 640 x 480). You’ll find that these two camcorders are priced very similarly. Moving on, the only difference between the GR-D270 and the GR-D295 is the inclusion of a remote control and batteries. For nearly forty more dollars, I don’t think so.

Continuing onto the camcorder’s performance, its stills mentioned above are mediocre. You could do better buying a Panasonic for stills, but then again, you shouldn’t be buying a camcorder for still photography anyway. It’s just a nice option to have if you don’t have to spend much more money to have it.

Video performance was okay on the GR-D270. It, as well as the GR-D250 and GR-D295, perform similar to Sony’s entry level HC line this year. For better bright light performance look to Panasonic’s and Canon’s offerings. That said, the camcorder’s low light performance was bit of a surprise. We figured that the lack of JVC’s 3D noise reduction technology, the amazing feature seen on last year’s excellent-performing entry level JVCs, would push these new models into the dark ages, so to speak. But they performed quite well, definitely better than most Sonys and on par with both Panasonic and Canon entry level machines.

The camcorder features no microphone input, but all other necessary ports are included (A/V, FireWire, DC in, and USB). A decent amount of manual control is also provided but perhaps with equal limitations as Canon’s ZR line. There are exposure offset values which don’t really free you up too much; shutter speed lacks in extreme rates, and focus is pretty much unusable as it is so awkward to use. White balance is available, and perhaps the most usable manual control.

All in all, if I wanted to buy a JVC, I’d buy this one, especially since you can get these things for not a lot of money. JVC camcorders are among some of the most affordable on the market.

JVC GR-D270 Compared to the...

JVC GR-D250 Rating: 172.41	Canon ZR200 Rating: 190.66	Sony DCR-HC32 Rating:177.60	Panasonic PV-GS31 Rating:	JVC GR-D72 Rating: 94.275
Better	Better	Better	Better	Better
-Audio -Analog to Digital Pass-through	-Navigation System -Low light -Ease of use -Audio -Widescreen	-Automatic Controls -Ease Of use -Portability -Accessory Shoe -LCD -A/V dubbing	-Manual Control -Navigation system -Ease of use -Optical zoom -Audio dubbing -Ports	-Still Performance -Low light Performance -Ports -3D Noise Reduction -Portability
Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal
-Video Performance -Automatic Control -Manual Control -Ease of use -Low Light Performance -Optical Zoom Specs -LCD Viewfinder -Portability	-Imager Specs -Video Performance -Manual Control -LCD -Editing Features	-Imager Specs -Digital Zoom Specs -Bottom-loading	-Imager Specs -Optical zoom -No accessory Shoe	-Imager Specs -LCD Built-in Auto Light -Image Stabilizer
Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse
-Still capability -Ports	-Optical Zoom Specs -Image Stabilization	-Low Light -Manual Controls -Navigation System -Accessory Shoe (None) -Still Capability	-Digital Still Capability	-Optical Zoom Specs -Manual Control -LCD -Audio -Handling -Portability