JVC GR-DF470EK MiniDV Camcorder/Compact design with SD Card [15x Optical, 2.5"LCD]

Many of the customer reviews that I have read for various video cameras have said that it is imperative that you use a firewire connection. When using a USB connection my attempts to capture a movie clip were poor, it was like I had recorded in fast-forward. A firewire cable cured this. Before I purchased I found it difficult to find the format that these cameras turned out, well on the GR-DF470 the default is AVI but you can have MPEG 1 and 2 also many other formats. AVI requires a lot of space but MPEGs as you would expect are much compressed, my eyes cannot tell the difference.

A word must be said for Power Director 3, which is the editing/capture/burning software that is bundled with the camera. It is excellent and will enable you, quite simply, to make movies that will blow your friends minds. One of the big problems with video in the past has been that you had to shoot the scenes in a logical order. With Power Director 3 you can easily split and arrange the files in any order you wish. A part of the capture software has a useful fine movement adjustment; this doesn’t work using USB, more reasons for a firewire cable. So much software that arrives with computer peripherals is either useless or only just adequately basic, this is really good and allows you acres of creativity.

Having this software renders a lot of the camera bells and whistles unnecessary. Fading in and out for example is much better done during final editing in Power Director where if it is wrong it can be altered. I very much like the video insert feature in the camera this is very good when you don’t want to interrupt the continuity of sound but wish to insert say some close-ups. Although I love the feature I would have much preferred to do it in the more controlled atmosphere at home but sadly it seems to be beyond Power Director. Other minor criticisms are that the camera doesn’t come with a MiniDV tape, or much more importantly a firewire cable.

I have for some time said, rather tongue in cheek, that all people who bought video camera should be made to seek some tuition, such was the awfulness of their results. With cameras of this quality and software that puts you in the directors chair there is now no excuses.

I have found it produces great results for my needs. The features for the money are great. DV In and Out is particularly good in this price bracket, full manual control of everything and a nifty battery data system that shows remaining power. You can also switch off the LCD and use the viewfinder to conserve battery power. Program modes include night scope, shutter speeds from 1/50 to 1/4000, sports, snow, spotlight, twilight, sepia, B&W, classic film flicker, strobe, mirror and 5S mode for stop frame animation or time lapse.

I tend to use Auto mode almost all of the time and the image is fine. There's the occasional white balance error but it quickly corrects itself. Shooting outdoors gets particularly bright and rich colours, even in cloudy conditions.

Takes stills on a supplied memory card, also has some clever sounding Biphonic sound system, which I haven't tried yet (two extra mics supplied on something that looks like a pair of headphones. You wear them when recording and the tape records a triangle of sound from the built-in mic and the earpiece mics, which is supposed to simulate surround sound).

I was amazed at how small and light the camera was when it arrived, it's great to handle. The mic picks up slight tape mechanism noise during quiet spells, but nothing annoying. All in all, I've been delighted with the results - it's been a great introduction to digital video. Perfect for grab out of the bag and point and shoot, getting great results (but the Tamrac 5696 bag Amazon recommend for this model is just a little small for my needs - it's tight with the camera, AC adapter and a couple of tapes in).

As a companion, I'd also recommend Tom Ang's 'Digital Video Handbook' and Adobe Premiere Elements for editing.