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JVC GR-DF550

REVIEW DATE:06.14.05

JVC GR-DF550

REVIEW

By Terry Sullivan

JVC has recently unleashed a swarm of inventive consumer-electronics products, from tiny ear-clip headphones with built-in MP3 players to 3-CCD hard drive camcorders. Unfortunately, that spirit of innovation doesn't seem to have filtered down into the JVC GR-DF550 miniDV camcorder. The GR-DF550 gives you clear images, smooth footage, and very good audio, but nothing really sets it apart from the pack.

red arrow Read the JVC GR-DF550 full review

Company

JVC Americas Corporation

http://www.jvc.com

Spec Data
  • Price as Tested: $599.95 List
  • Weight: 1.1 lb
  • LCD size: 2.5 inches
  • CCD Resolution: 1.33 megapixels
  • CCDType: Single CCD
  • Video Recording Format: DV Tape
  • Still Image Recording Format: Secure Digital type / MB, MultiMedia Card type / MB
  • Battery Life: 1 Hr
  • Optical Zoom: 15 times (X)
  • Image Stabilization: Digital
  • Focal Length (Wide): 3 mm
  • Focal Length (Telephoto): 45 mm

Bottom Line

The JVC GR-DF550 is a safe and reasonable choice for a midprice digital camcorder, especially if you want to get creative with the oddball effects.

Pros

Good video quality. Night mode is funky (in a cool way).

Cons

Needs better instructions and feature descriptions in menus and manual. Grainy electronic viewfinder. Poor still-image quality.

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