I purchased this camera for use in some of the worst environments, giving it a relatively short life expectancy. Its first test was mounted on a SunPak monopod from circuit city, using a SunPak UV filter (30.5mm) and a PNY 8GB SDHC card from best buy. The monopod was heavily bungee-corded to the front rack of a four wheeler. Foam grip and rubber telescoping adjusters provided a bonus shock-suppressing feature. The filter's sole purpose was damage prevention due to flying rocks, debris, dust, mud, and water from the trail. Testing commenced with the WindCut and OIS options enabled at UltraFine video mode.
In clear-sky daylight, the camcorder adjusted very well to lighting conditions as the quad barreled down dusty trails peeking in and out of tree cover. While I would have preferred to close the screen completely to reduce exposure and conserve battery life, I quickly discovered this camcorder will go into standby mode and cease recording with the screen closed. The screen can be rotated 180* and then closed without halting recording. I opted to tilt the screen to an angle viewable from the driver's position. Occasional wiping of the UV filter was necessary as well as a full camera wipe down at the end of a 40-mile ride. The camera acquired some dust even behind the UV filter on the lens, but cleaned with no internal breaches evident. The stock battery lasted surprisingly longer than anticipated. Granted, if you are doing a lot of zooming, you will deplete the battery quicker, but for my set-and-forget purposes, it performed very well.
The camera function is handy. I carry a Canon XTi for the shots that count, and it stays in a custom camera-molded-foam tough case that takes longer to open for fun shots than it takes to unscrew the JVC from its mount.
Point being, if you want great shots, get an SLR or a high-megapixel point-and-shoot. If you're out having fun and don't want to carry a second camera, this works well. Keep in mind your cell phone (usually 1.3 or 2MP) likely has a higher megapixel sensor than this (<1MP).
The WindCut feature does a reasonably good job, but if you plan on holding it out the window doing 50mph+, you're gonna get wind noise.
The OIS works well in good light, but as our four wheelers approached 50mph in late afternoon, tail lights of the lead bike began to blur. The internal LED light works well for up to five feet. Beyond that, well, if you've got this thing strapped to a four wheeler with the headlights on, you can see about 10-15 feet in front of you depending on the light intensity.
The SDHC recording medium is GREAT! I performed a substantial amount of research prior to purchasing (started in March and bought the camera September 18th) this (my first) camcorder.
MiniDV tapes are working their way out and they have the potential for video bleeding as you reuse tapes over and over.
HDD cams are awesome but from years of IT experience, HDD failures are nearly impossible or ridiculously expensive to recover.
MiniDVDs, again, this is my first camcorder, but I know that I can ruin a burning DVD in my laptop just by setting it down on the carpet a little too hard.
The SDHC cards are cheap, reusable, and super easy to download. Most laptops these days are packing SD card slots. They're small and easy to carry spares, they survive washing machines and dryers if you forget them in your jeans, and you can format them easily with your computer or right in the camcorder.
I recommend the fastest write-speed card you can afford. From personal experience, write speed is crucial in SLR cameras and holds just as true for camcorders. If the base model 8GB SDHC and the high speed 8GB SDHC card are only 5 bucks apart, do yourself a favor and get the fast one. SanDisk is my card of choice, though the PNY card I have now works very well, too. If you're getting a SanDisk, get the Ultra II or eXtreme III.
The built-in lens cover is great, or at least it would be if it covered my UV filter. I've lost so many lens caps that this was a blessing to have one built in. If your lens cover is open but it's really dark and your light isn't set to auto or on, when you turn on your camera, the screen will flash "check lens cover". This is a great reminder for when you really do have it shut.
For my purposes, this camcorder works very well. It has the most shock-resistant media in my opinion. The menus are logical and easy to navigate. The laser scrolling takes a little getting used to but seems faster than a joystick. The touch-sensitive buttons respond very well, though not with gloves on.
It comes with a charging cable that charges the battery right on the camera. This lets you record while the camera's charging, a great option if you're driving and have an inverter in the car. This is also great to let you play with the camera while not killing the battery.
Another plus is how well this thing fits in your hand. It's small enough to fit in your pocket but big enough to deliver quality video.
If you're a Firewire fan, this probably isn't the camera for you. The only ports you'll find are a USB 5-pin mini port, a 3.5mm combination video/stereo audio port, and a proprietary JVC DC power port. There is also another access panel in the palm of the grip that appears accessible using a screwdriver to pop off the panel but I've not tried it yet.
This camera creates a new ".mod" file every time you engage the recording button. This suits me fine as I'm not looking to splice a lot of segments together. I've read that renaming these files to ".mpg" will make them more universally readable, but thus far, Windows Vista Home Premium translates them just fine as ".mod".
The camera also supports one-touch uploads to YouTube as well as PictBridge printing, but again, these are features I've not tested.
Things to remember when considering this camera:
-no viewfinder
-average night mode capability
-difficult to navigate menus while wearing gloves
-add-on lamps will require an external mount (no shoe)
-if you're going to treat your camera like mine, I'd recommend Best Buy's extended warranty. It's pretty cheap for the peace of mind you get.
-no easy switch to engage the onboard lamp
The next test awaits winter and ski season for chase cams down the mountains and four wheeling in the snow.
