JVC Everio GZ-MG30 30 GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder
| JVC Everio GZ-MG30 30 GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder w/25x Optical Zoom |
Manufacturer: JVC
UPC:
046838021787 Retail Price: $799.99 Avg. Rating:
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The JVC Everio GZ-MG30 30 GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder w/25x Optical Zoom is no longer in stock at any of the 20,000 stores listed on GoSale.
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 "Geat image quality, software confusing" | 2008-09-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: A16PZR3RIK7QJG |
| I lost 6 hours of important video recording while trying to negotiate their very confusing software. I returned the camera. |
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 "camera" | 2008-01-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1YITR4REGM2VB |
| it does a lot of amazing things, you wont need any special cables just the only cable to transfer everything to your computer, it is a camera and a cam-corder, it has great pictures and i've made a lot of good quality short films with it. Good editing system. |
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| "Nice camera, but TERRIBLE video format - not recommended" | 2007-07-02 |
| - Reviewed By jhoover@pricingdynamics.com |
The camera itself is simple to use right out of the box and takes very nice still pictures. The video, however, leaves a lot to be desired. For whatever reason, JVC has decided to use a proprietary "MOD" format and no programs (3rd party or stock) on my media rich macintosh can play these files. Go figure, but my little Palm Treo can create video files that are easily uploaded and viewable, so why can't JVC? Very poor showing from JVC in my opinion.
To rectify the situation (every time I upload videos - arrggggg), I have to upload the video directory off the hard drive of the camera, remove some .MOI files, run this 3rd party program so I can export the videos into the Mac's standard video editing tool, then export of this tool to viewable video for Macs & PCs. This is ridiculous - it takes over an hour start to finish and makes this video camera - or ANY of JVCs' similar units a DO NOT BUY.
JVC - go back to drawing board please and write standard file formats, ok? You guys are not in the software business so please do what you do best and simply build good video cameras, leave the software formats to the professionals. |
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 "Not the best.not the worst" | 2007-01-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: A5160L8L6MYIR |
I brought this cam at an extremely low price ($80.shhhhhhh). I had already seen the camera at stores and was already interested in the no need to buy recording media feature. I must admit that and the fact tht it transfer to the pc was a strong selling point. However once I got the camera and began using it I saw the problems I was having with it. I was having problems with finding software to burn it to disc. The Power Producer did NOT do the trick. It froze several times and so did Power Dirctor. I was having nooooo luck with Adobe Premiere 2.0. I even tried doing a capture first then seeing if i could saveit as a MPEG and use a different program. No such luck. It would not read the camera. However becasue I'm a stubborn S.O.B. I kept messing arond with it and found out that Nero Premium 7 (which I already had on my pc)did the trick. the only error I found with the program was my fault and I learned from it. That mistake was to NOT compress the files. Try to burn the files at their actual file size (even if you have to make it a 2disc burn). The difference is extremely noticeable. Also record at the Ultra settings.
As for the poor indoor light quality issue, That IS a problem. Even after playing arund with the different light settings on the camera I found it "ok" at best. One setting made it too cool (a blueish "washed" tone) another setting made it too warm (orange tone). One trick that might help is to try and make sure you and the subject are between to unshaded lights. That has worked the best but still set your light settings first. Also you can purchase an external light and attach it to the camera (not sure how to do it.but it will compromise the lightweight feature.)
As for the digital camera settings...just stick to a true digital camera WITH A FLASH.The camera pics are about as good as a cellphone.
Overall this is a good camera for the price (mine and retail). I know some people are thinking to wait til the bugs are worked out to buy it.... but I got a feeling the light issue will be resolved with an external light that can be purchased (more money for JVC) as opposed to a standard upgrade to newer models.
The main thing I would wait to see is if the .mod files become more common and therefore readable in more programs.Hopefully this will happen
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 "A l'il sumpthin' to generally consider..." | 2006-09-23 |
| - Reviewed By neparis2001 |
Frankly, I like my MG30. The only thing that gives me pause is its propensity to physically generate heat to the point of becoming uncomfortable to hold. This is a well known problem within the JVC line itself. (Much like Honda cars and bikes having BAD RINGS. They've known forever - but they just never correct it...)
For all the reviews that we read and write, nothing is ever gonna replace actually holding the equipment and shooting with it. You can have the best camera on the planet and if it's uncomfortable to you, then you're simply not going to get the most out of it.
Me? I'm a workin' newsmedia junkie and actually have nearly 20 separate video cameras - and nearly as many digital still cameras. Why? Cause no company is ever gonna MAKE the "perfect" camera. In fact, they go to great lengths not to. So it's up to me to know which voodoo combination of cameras I'll need to coax the best work out under whatever the conditions. In fact, the old "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" thing is fully in play here. Some folks actually LIKE the block/blended foilage look - or a special off green SAW II tint...
To that end, the Everio is a FUN TOY/EASY CARRY, but in low light, it can look like connect the dots - even with much personal tweakin' of the settings. |
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| "What Were They Thinking" | 2006-07-31 |
| - Reviewed By cclausen3 |
Other people have covered the good aspects of this camcorder - light weight, no tapes/discs to mess with, pretty good menu. However, these are easily outweighed by the lack of thought by JVC's engineers; and to add insult to injury, the downfall of this camcorder hinges on the very feature that is supposed to be it's selling point - storing video files on a hard drive (and not other media).
You would think that if this was to be the camcorder's selling point, that these knuckleheads would have come up with an easier system for transferring the video files from the camcorder's hard drive to your computer's. The complete lack of thought is amazing. To come up with the goofy .mod naming convention is outside my comprehension. Why not give customers a naming convention with which they are generally familiar? (Besides the .mod files, I've also got .moi files- what the heck is that about? Are they important? Do I need to keep them associated with the .od files? And the uselessness of the Capty software (even its name is goofy) is astounding.
Finally, I don't mind having to actually read the users' manual. However, in this case it's useless. It doesn't explain anything about file transfers, the naming conventions, etc.
Obviously, the customer wasn't first in JVC's thinking. I would recommend staying away from this camcorder...What good is the convenience of recording on a hard drive is the files then become a mystery to access and edit. Stick with the "inconvenience" of tapes & discs...I wish I had! |
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| "Greatest camcorder ever!" | 2006-07-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2DK0M49EHET6H |
| I read all the reviews and have to say I have no idea what they are talking about. Sure you need a computer thats not 3 years old and up to date software like anything thats new these days. But just imagine NEVER having to buy tapes or CD's again! And the picture is always prefect! I am in love with this camcorder. Its like my forth one and I had the best DVD camcorder, there is just no way to compair them. Inside, outside, in the sun, in the dark are all a great picture. My sister used it for her sons birthday , now she bought one of her own and loves it as much as I do. And all the people having issues transfering video files or pictures to anything, hmmm, I dont know but it takes me 5 to 10 minutes to sort and then i just burn them. You have to buy this camcorder, you'll love it! |
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| "A new Trend in Video !!!" | 2006-06-10 |
| - Reviewed By starfighter_456_2000 |
| I am a bit perplexed by the odd reviews this camcorder has gotten.. Personally, I am very happy with mine... no real problems... of course, I don't profess to be a geek.... |
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| "Good idea, implementation suffers..." | 2006-05-30 |
| - Reviewed By bogakvm |
I was excited to have a camcoder device and not bother with any media, so bought this one before our trip to Tahoe. Well, I'm not gonna say it's horrible - may be someone will find it suitable for the purpose but these are my thoughts :
good :
- very light (i've checked the bag couple of times to see if it's inside, it felt so light.
- bright lcd screen
- fancy menu
- convinient presentation of clips : you see first frames of your footage tiled on the screen - very easy to navigate.
bad :
- no viewfinder : that mkes it impossible to use in a bright environment
- video quality is avg to poor, for example green foliage comes together to a green pixely substance
- takes long time to start up
- turns off when you close lcd screen (was annoying for me)
- digital image stabilizer (doesn't compare to optical one at all...)
Once again, it might be suitable for someone, but I'm looking for better wuality, view finder and i guess optical image stabilizer...
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| "Indoor picture quality not sufficient." | 2006-05-11 |
| - Reviewed By nishiko |
First the good: this camera is small and very convenient in MANY ways and you don't have the cost of tapes or mini CD's. And if you are a little computer savvy, the file format issue that people are always complaining about really isn't that big of a deal. I have Pinnacle Studio Plus 9.x (ie, with all the latest online updates to that version) and it handles the files just fine once you rename the file extension from .mod to .mpg. I've seen a lot of reviews here and elsewhere on the Internet that Adobe Elements Premiere 2.0 also handles the files just fine. I think ULead and a few others might as well. If you aren't that computer savvy (and don't necessarily want to be), then you may want to consider another camera just for this reason alone (unless perhaps you buy JVC's external DVD burner drive and are happy with mostly unedited clips).
However, I have learned my lesson by putting too much trust in Amazon's online reviews and discounting what is said in official reviews too much sometimes. I don't think any of the reviews here mention this camera's poor indoor (low-med light) picture quality... so I figured the official reviews of it I found elsewhere online were just being too picky. PC Magazine does a good job of describing the poor (especially low to medium light) picture quality in their Oct 17, 2005 review of this camera (you can find it by searching PCMag.com - search on "GZ-MG30"). I'm sure there are many other reviews noting the picture quality issue as well.
I am giving this a 2 rating (really s/b about 2.5, no option for that) because I feel the low to medium light picture quality issue is enough to sink this camera for many people... especially at this price (I paid $550). If it was only $400, then I would have given it 3 stars (for overall price/value). If you will be using it almost exclusively outdoors, then I could probably give it a begrudging 4 stars.
For my all-around purposes, I am dissatisfied with this camera and wish I could return it. If you don't have good video quality, then nothing else really matters, does it? For some people, this camera might be just fine, but for the rest, I hope this review saves you from a costly mistake.
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