A long awaited review from CamcorderInfo has finally been posted. The JVC GZ-MG505 review does not disappoint, and with just under 12,000 words of digital camcorder review goodness it would be a sad waste of effort if it had. JVC Everios have had it hard with noisy footage and recent competition with Sony. Would the GZ-MG505 be any good? We all waited with bated breath for this review and here it is.
Video footage from the JVC GZ-MG505 wasn’t spectacular, but it is the sharpest so far from any Everio camcorder. Problem: the colors are oversaturated and whites are blown out. CCInfo makes the good point that consumers generally will want colors that “pop” more than accurate colors since they won’t usually be color correcting in post, so the overstaturation might be a plus for some. However, the whites blowing out is a bit of a problem since you can’t ever get that video information back.
Still performance on the GZ-MG505 was surprisingly good. Images were sharp and colors were represented reasonably well, although the same oversaturating occurred.
Compared to Sony’s SR100, the JVC GZ-MG505 offers more manual controls and a universal external microphone jack. The SR100 has a nicer looking picture which is sharper and better in low light situations.
Also, CamcorderInfo points out, JVC is going to have another huge competitor, the Sony HDR-SR1, which will record HD footage to hard drive. For only a couple hundred or so more, the ability to record HD footage to hard drive will give JVC a run for their money. Of course, there is the upcoming HD Everio, but will that be too little too late?
