JVC GZ-MS100EK Digital Camcorder Review
JVC Everio GZ-MS100EK SDHC Flash Memory Camcorder
Small, slender, and classy JVC Everio GZ-MS100K is a talk of the town, especially among the youngsters. This avant-garde little genius is definitely loaded with impressive qualities, such as powerful 35x optical zoom inside Konica Minolta lens, SD/SDHC memory card, sharp 2.7″ widescreen LCD viewfinder with touch sensitive controls.
It shares its visual cues with popular Everio G series hybrid cameras, but Everio MS100K SD Flash Memory Camcorder is lot smaller than its precursors measuring 53mm wide, 69mm high, and 112mm deep and weighing only 224 grams due to its in-built SD recording capabilities that makes this camcorder so palm-sized.
Made up of silvery plastic body MS100K looks trendy and feels good to carry it around. Greyish tint polished on all the corners gives it a sheen look. MS100K is designed to fit in all most all the essential components but battery takes out its majority space. It has brief room for the start/stop record button to the right of Everio. On top of this chic camcorder occupies Zoom Rocker and a Snapshot button. Flip the small switch on the left to shift to still photography mode. Still photos measures 640 x 480 and are good enough for the Web.
A button resides below for changing from Auto mode to Manual mode. You will also fine ballyhooed one-touch Upload button and its partner Direct DVD button. This one-touch Upload for uploading videos to YouTube, through bundled Cyberlink software. This software is available on Windows only.
Pellucid Konica Minolta lens
Featuring cutting-edge technology JVC GZ-MS100EK SD Camcorder is also loaded with 35x optical zoom back up by F1.8 Konica Minolta lens offering 35x of Optical Zoom Ratio. 800x (max.) of Digital Zoom Ratio, and Focal Length ranges from 2.2 – 77.0 (35mm film equivalent: 36.0 – 1260.0) mm. The sensor is the usual 1/6in CCD, in this case with 800,000 pixels which makes it identical to JVC’s Everio GZ-MG330. It also has a manually operated protective lens shutter, and electronic image stabilisation.
In fact, MS100K’s features are virtually identical to JVC’s Everio GZ-MG330. But the main difference is the recording medium, with the MS1000 SDHC memory card is used rather than the MG330′s hard disk. As a result, the MS100 is surprisingly lighter.
Impressive Memory and recording feature
JVC GZ-MS100K CCD Camcorder houses SD memory card which is SDHC compatible. The memory card allows you to record for 3 hours 45 minutes or 19 hours 50 minutes video to a 16GB SDHC card which you can fit in separately. Its impressive Gigabrid engine not only delivers clear and crisp video with the powerful 35x optical/800x digital zoom feature. You can use SD memory card slot for recording both still photos and video.
The camcorder is able to record MPEG-2 video. With Ultra Fine setting works at 8.5Mbps you can record a single footage in a little less than 15 minutes on each 1GB of storage. This setting is commonly used when shooting video. Other options include Eco runs at 1.5Mbps allowing you to record up to 20 hours of recording time on a 16GB SDHC card.
Great Features on Manual mode
Apart from the features available on automatic mode JVC GZ-MS100EK Flash Media Camcorder offers great options on Manual mode. When in manual mode you can control brightness which also includes controlling exposure variants, but only from -6 to +6, and there is no direct relation between the exposure values and iris or video gain. With manual options you can personalize the shutter configuration from ½ to 1/4000th of a second. That’s not all you also have the option of manual focusing referred to as ‘Photometry‘. But this feature tends to be little fiddly when you use it with the Laser Touch or when using switching whole screen or spot exposure measuring feature. Also, you have to stroke fingers continuously to browse through the options in the manual mode and once you switched to manual mode you need to get acquainted with the full menu options to understand the various options available in manual configuration.
Captivating 2.7-inch LCD screen
Playback your clips or home videos on 2.7″ widescreen LCD supporting 112k pixel. Accessing and reviewing footage on LCD screen using camcorder’s multidimensional functions make life easy and adds to that is a touch-sensitive scroll bar that comes along with the LCD screen for easy browsing. Not only you can transfer your films online but can also rip up a DVD and play it on your computer’s DVD drive with a single click of button.
In-built touch sensitive controls enables you to quickly access your recent footages, manage your files and share with your family and friends.
For supporting you from any damages JVC provides 2 year guarantee for free.
Varied Filming Modes
MS100K runs on 2.3W of power offering impressive shooting modes, such as One Touch Upload to YouTube(TM), Programme AE mode supporting Night / Twilight / Portrait / Sports / Snow / Spotlight, Multi-Language On-Screen feature enabling 12 Languages (Eng. / Fre. / Ger. / Spa. / Ita. / Dut. / Por. / Rus. / Pol. / Cze. / Swe. / Hun.). Varied modes assist you by catering to diverse shooting spots, example evenings by the beach, camping, etc.
Easy Tagging
Use Register Event feature to tag videos by a labelling them with Holiday, Sports or Anniversary. This definitely helps you when you are digging in to a large stack of clips thus providing quicker and faster navigation.
Plus, when in Upload mode JVC Everio GZ-MS100EK Memory Camcorder splits larger videos into 10 minutes segments by breaking up records as you shoot. This indeed saves lot of time of managing video files. Even when you are hooking up your MS100K to the PC it automatically enables One Touch YouTube upload feature for enabling faster upload. This feature is definitely a great addition to MS100K camcorder.
Performance
All the feature details are listed in the guide but it is not exhaustive enough. That means you may have to rely on internet for information from time to time.
In the accessory list MS100K does not comes with microphone mini jack, accessory shoe, and headphone socket.
Also USB ports are tucked inside the lens case at the front of the camera and it fits in only one mini jack for A/V.
But compare to its descendants MS100K is equipped with LED video light which you can turn on when you have poor lighting, but to turn on the in-built LED light you have to hunt through the menu options, there is no shortcut. Separate quick access button proved to be beneficial in this respect.
When shooting indoors performance is average even when you turn on the LED light. If you intend to post videos on Web try shooting outdoor during daylight since it displays impressive results when you view your videos on YouTube, but same is not true when for full screen computer monitor.
Another negative aspect is MS100K is devoid of optical image stabilization. It comprises of digital image stabilisation only. Therefore, reaching out to 10 x, and further 35 x, results in a wobbly mess if you do not have a tripod. The zoom rocker also performs in a fragile manner, but with practice it can be stabilised. Also, there’s a wind-cut filter that can be used for the stereo mic under the lens, but it barely comes handy.
As such colour proportion is pretty pleasing including perfect white balance when you have abundant natural light.
With PowerCinema NE remote-friendly interface you can browse videos and still photos on your Everio camcorder, and later transfer them to your computer disk. The interface features One Touch Upload to YouTube option, but this feature only works when shooting films in Upload mode. But shots taken in a different mode won’t appear in the PowerCinema NE list. So you need to take care if you start filming.
This model is not ideal for people who love to watch their family video on a TV or a computer monitor. This camcorder is meant for web strollers who love uploading and downloading videos on internet.
However, The JVC Everio GZ-MS100 is perfect for an individual who needs a small flash memory card based camcorder that is simple to use and allow easy upload to Web.
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JVC Everio GZ-MS100EK Camcorder – Technical Specifications, Features
| Manufacturer | JVC |
| Model Name | Everio GZ-MS100EK |
| Camcorder type | Mini, HD Camcorder |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 6.3 cm x 11.4 cm x 8.5 cm |
| Weight | 225g / 270g Approx |
| Colour/Finish | Silver |
| Monitor | 2.7-inch LCD display, 112k-pixel |
| LENS AND ZOOM DETAILS | |
| Lens | Konica Minolta |
| Zoom Ratio Optical | 35x |
| Zoom Ratio Digital (max.) | 800x |
| Focal Length (mm) | 2.2 – 77.0 (35mm film equivalent: 36.0 – 1260.0) |
| Zoom ratio | Optical: 40
Digital: 2000 |
| CAMERA DETAILS | |
| CCD | 1/6 inches |
| No. of CCD/CMOS Pixels | 800k |
| Moving images | 400k-pixel |
| Still images | 400k-pixel |
| Scene Selection | Night / Twilight / Portrait / Sports / Snow / Spotlight |
| Number of Pixels (K) | 800 |
| SteadyShot | Super (Electronic) |
| Features included | Digital Zoom : 2000 x Image Stabilizer : Electronic (Super Steady Shot) |
| RECORDING DETAILS | |
| Movie Format | [SD-VIDEO] Entertainment Video Profile: Video: MPEG-2 PS / Audio: Dolby Digital (2ch), Still: JPEG |
| Recording Media | SD Memory Card |
| Compression of still image | JPEG |
| Still Image Size | 640×480 |
| No. of Still Images (max.) | 9999 |
| Video recording features | ULTRA FINE (8.5Mbps)/FINE (5.5Mbps)/ NORM (4.2Mbps)/ECO (1.5Mbps) |
| PRODUCT SPECIFICS | KONICA MINOLTA LENS Gigabrid Engine Laser Touch Operation 2.7″ 16:9 Widescreen Clear LCD Monitor Auto LCD Backlight Control One Touch Upload to YouTube(TM) Auto Illumi. Light Data Battery Quick Restart Direct DVD Button USB2.0 High-Speed Transfer 1/6-inch 800k pixel CCD 35x Optical Zoom / 800x Digital Zoom Memory Card Slot for SDHC/SD |
| Battery | (BN-VF808) |
February 10th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
I am using this camcorder to save our super 8 films. Showing the film onto a screen then filming with with the camcorder. Works fine but for one problem is that I cannot mute the sound of the super 8 projector. Can this be done. I have tried programming to silent and moving volume as far as it will go to with the minus sign and also blank what appears to be the sounds intakes on the camcorder without success. Am I doing something work or is not possible with this camcorder to change to mute.