I am about to buy a JVC Everio GZ-MG155. I am a novice who just wants a decent HDD camcorder for family stuff / new baby / holidays etc.

Is this OK for £399??

Thanks for any replies.

[lurcher]

I used to have a JVC MG50 which was the first gen JVC HDD model , pq was reasonable but not as good as Mini Dv.
I have now moved on to a Sony SR90 HDD and this is a much better pq than the previous JVC.
I would say it is comparable to DV models in picture quality.

[redsox_mark]

The JVC MG155 is a new model and I've not seen it or any reviews... but from experience with the previous range, performance from cheaper HDD camcorders with a single 1/6" chip hasn't been very good.

Camcorders like the SR90 (with a large 1/3" chip), or the new SR190, cost a bit more but perform much better.

[panaman]

Bit of a late reply, but thought I would post anyway as it could help a future purchaser from making a mistake

I was thinking about getting another camcorder to replace my old Panasonic MiniDV (GS30 I think it was) which packed up last year, so thought about a HDD one. I don't use it often, so I thought it seemd a convienient solution.

I ordered the JVC Everio GZ-MG155 from QVC, so I could try without obligation (they are great at that) and boy am I glad I did. I really wasn't prepared for how poor the footage would be. I thought with the Megapixel sensor it would have been better than the 130 which only has 800k. I had read a few reviews and they were very mixed, some fantastic, some not, so I needed to see for myself.

I footage was very soft, focusing & white balance slow to react and the picture blurred when you panned even at moderate speeds and the image was very artificialy looking with very muted colours too. Plus points are that its pretty solid (apart from a couple of plastic covers) and very easy to operate.

My stills camera is a Sony DSC-H1 5MP with a 640x480 movie mode and although the JVC does produce a better picture and in widescreen with stereo sound, its not that much better and certainly not £300 worth better. I accept that footage from my Sony is a compromise and I am quite happy, but I certainly could not accept the quality from the JVC, so that is going back to QVC.

I did think about getting the Sony DCR-SR52, but I cannot find any professional review on it, so I think I will stick with my stills camera. Pity as I am going to NY & Canada in a few weeks, but I think I will wait until the Hybrid camcorders are better and come down in price, then I can have one item for both tasks.

[redsox_mark]

Originally Posted by panaman

I thought with the Megapixel sensor it would have been better than the 130 which only has 800k.

This is a common misconception. Video resolution is fixed (for Standard def 720x576). Any extra pixels over 800k do not help in terms of video quality, in fact they can only hurt (as putting more pixels on a sensor of a given size means less light can get in).

With High Def the theory is the same but the resolutions are higher.... but again any additional resolution over what is needed for HD (e.g. 1080i) doesn't help your video, only stills performance.