Shop RadioShack for Great GiftsJVC Everio GZ-MG21
Manufacturer: JVC Part number: GZ-MG21
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The JVC GZ-MG21 is a nice idea, but its poor video quality and irritating control scheme make conventional camcorders seem a lot more appealing.
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Where to buy
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/08/2009 |
CNET editors' review
JVC Everio GZ-MG21 price range: $559.00
- Reviewed by: Will Greenwald
- Edited by: Lori Grunin
- Reviewed on: 05/12/2006
- Released on: 02/04/2006
The good: Light and tiny; many hours of recording time.
The bad: Poor video quality; awkward control scheme; image stabilization is a joke; not for big hands.
The bottom line: The JVC GZ-MG21 is a nice idea, but its poor video quality and irritating control scheme make conventional camcorders seem a lot more appealing.
The first thing you'll notice about the JVC Everio GZ-MG21 is that it's small--really small, about the size of a large fist. It's light, too, weighing less than 14 ounces with its battery. We like tiny devices, but the GZ-MG21 just doesn't feel comfortable in large hands. If you have tiny mitts, though, this camcorder will probably fit just right.
Even with its small size, the GZ-MG21 is built like most consumer camcorders: a strap handle on the right side, a flip-out LCD on the left side, the battery pack in the back. The bottom side of the camera holds a tripod mount and a Secure Digital card slot. Since the camcorder uses a hard drive rather than tapes or DVDs, the entire case is solid, with no pop-out door for video media as in most camcorders.
I found the control layout simple, direct--and awkward. With the screen closed and the camcorder strapped to your right hand, only three switches are available. The record button rests under the right thumb, the zoom rocker rests under the right forefinger, and the mode slider sits just above the flip-out LCD.
The real frustration begins as soon as the LCD flips open. A control stick and the quality/battery button sit on the left side of the screen, while the photo/video toggle and the menu, info/light, auto, and trash buttons sit on the camera body, beneath the LCD's inset. The buttons on the camera body are so recessed and awkwardly placed that your thumb will develop arthritis long before it actually hits the menu button. Since the control stick is on the other side of the LCD, your left hand has to dance between the display and the body to navigate the menus and change settings. If JVC had simply switched the menu button on the body with the nearly pointless quality/battery button under the control stick, the camcorder would have been a lot easier to operate.
Despite its design flaws, the JVC GZ-MG21 has some decent features. Its onboard 20GB hard drive can record as much as 25 hours of video at the lowest quality or 4.5 hours of video at the highest setting. Its 680,000-pixel CCD works with an image-stabilized 32X optical zoom lens. The 2.5-inch LCD is nice and bright, though it tends to wash out colors.
Once you record video to the camcorder's hard drive, you can transfer it to a computer via a USB 2.0 connection. The video uses standard MPEG-2 encoding format, although you'll have to rename the .mod file extensions to .mpg so that many players will recognize them. Alternatively, you can connect it to the JVC Everio Share Station to burn DVDs directly from the camcorder.
The GZ-MG21 can shoot both standard 4:3 and wide-screen 16:9 video, although its LCD is designed specifically for 4:3. If you can spend a little more and plan to shoot 16:9, the more expensive but almost identical Everio GZ-MG27 has a wide-screen LCD. Regardless of your preferred aspect ratio, you're stuck with the LCD to frame your shot; neither the GZ-MG21 nor the GZ-MG27 have an eye-level viewfinder.
While the GZ-MG21 has image stabilization for its 32X zoom lens, it doesn't work very well. Even at a modest zoom level, the slightest shakes and bumps still show up in video. Unless you use a tripod, zoomed-in video can be effectively unwatchable. Ultimately, poor video quality kills the GZ-MG21. Movement tears constantly through video, and it's hard to find a few seconds where jagged bars don't show up onscreen. Watching video from the GZ-MG21 is like watching the world through Max Headroom's eyes.
Color reproduction is decent in sunlight, but indoor videos tend to be washed out. The camera's gain-up/night functions can boost the image in low light, but they're essentially slow-shutter modes, which further blur an already mediocre picture. The GZ-MG21 has an onboard video light, but like most of its species, it's effective out to only a few feet.
On paper, the JVC Everio GZ-MG21 looks like a great camcorder: a small video camera with a strong zoom lens and a big hard drive for taking lots of video without swapping media. Unfortunately, its awkward control scheme and terrible video quality make this a camcorder to avoid.
User reviews
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Easy to Use, Not Disks Needed, Small Size
by jl54 on April 1, 2006
Pros: Size, Nice Screen, Sound on Playback Good
Cons: Assoc software diificult to use, Playback sound on camera lousy
Summary: I bought the camera to film my son and his rock band and for the family. I liked the no disk req'd. Found it very easy to use, produced ...
Summary: I bought the camera to film my son and his rock band and for the family. I liked the no disk req'd. Found it very easy to use, produced great video, and the compact size lets's me put it in my coat pocket. Intitial setup was easy though instructions are a little confusing. You get a set for 5 languages, a waste of paper. Zoom is great and focus was always right on. Picture color was realistic and I'm very happy with the camcorder. I'm not too happy with the software included. It's a "lite" version and it has conflicted with other programs, hung, and is difficult to get a disk burned to just a straight DVD format. Upgrading the software is expensive. Support is through a Japanese website and voice support is through Cyberlink for a fee. Support is limited on the software given.
If you're looking for a great little camcorder I would recommend this one, but find another software to use to make DVDs or produce movies with.7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great choice if you like to edit on PC
by M_L_Weiland on July 9, 2006
Pros: No disks/tapes, image quality, features
Cons: No viewfinder, low-res stills
Summary: Had bought a mini DVD camcorder, thinking that would be an easy way to get video from camera to computer for editing and backup in better than real time like ...
Summary: Had bought a mini DVD camcorder, thinking that would be an easy way to get video from camera to computer for editing and backup in better than real time like a tape would require. The problem was reliability - as often as not the DVDs failed to write, and I lost some irreplaceable video as a result. So I exchanged the mini DVD and got the Everio. This hard-drive recorder is solid and it's very easy to copy the image files from camera to computer with USB 2.0. The files are MPEGs (though with a ".MOD" suffix, have to rename as .MPG for my editing tools to handle). Both video and stills (640 x 480 max) can go to the hard disk and/or an SD card. Video image quality is excellent -- no compression artifacts like with the mini DVD recorder -- and it will hold 4+ hours at that highest quality setting, Haven't felt a need to try the lower quality settings. The recording capacity TONS better than the 20-60 minutes on a mini DVD. Only quibble so far: no viewfinder, only the LCD screen; in bright light I'd prefer a viewfinder. Do get an extra battery since the disk holds 4+ hours but one battery only will give an hour or so. The CNET review about image stabilization is misleading -- it's fine at medium zoom levels, as good as any other camera. Can't expect IS to give rock-steady pictures hand-held at 33X zoom!
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Disappointment
by docism on July 8, 2006
Pros: No tapes to mess with - Size
Cons: Video quality
Summary: I really had high hopes for this camera. Ive owned a Canon GL2 and a couple of Sony's so Ive seen the quality end of camcorders. I read all ...
Summary: I really had high hopes for this camera. Ive owned a Canon GL2 and a couple of Sony's so Ive seen the quality end of camcorders. I read all the reviews and with so many positive reviews I assumed that the negative reviews were from people that didn't know how to set it up correctly. The video quality isn't even as good as my Panasonic Lumix digital still camera. Its a great concept but the technology isn't quite up to snuff. Ill be returning my JVC tomorrow.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great camcorder, but only if you live your life outdoors.
by lnlester on May 10, 2006
Pros: Great sound, easy to use, great recording capacity-no disks or tapes to worry about.
Cons: Forget about shooting indoors in normal room lighting. Video is very dark, can't hardly see who people are.
Summary: I bought this camcorder with great expectations. The idea of a camcorder with a hard drive, and a large one at that sounded really good. It was'nt until we ...
Summary: I bought this camcorder with great expectations. The idea of a camcorder with a hard drive, and a large one at that sounded really good. It was'nt until we tried to watch our sons kindergarten play that we realized that we'd made a big mistake. It was in the school cafeteria, which is not dark, but the video sure was! Back at home, my wife tried panning around the living room, and the picture was so dark. Many things were unrecognizable. The little light on the front puts out less light than my mini-mag lite--MUCH LESS! We are VERY disapointed. As I said before, this is a great camcorder, but only if you live your life OUTDOORS!
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great small hdd camcorder
by Rick2730 on March 11, 2009
Pros: Size and good video quality
Cons: Low light video quality is so-so as with most all hdd camcorders and still pics.
Summary: Great camera for on the go recording. Menu setup works really well in my opinion. For the $500 price range you can definitely find a better camera but these can ...
Summary: Great camera for on the go recording. Menu setup works really well in my opinion. For the $500 price range you can definitely find a better camera but these can be had for $300 and under now. I think the bad wrap comes from people trying to compare it with higher end models and HD cameras.
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Waste of my money.
by timhofstetter on January 18, 2008
Pros: Okay video camera if you have money to burn.
Cons: New technology isn't always better.
Summary: After a couple successful uses I tried to connect it back to my computer again and it gave me the "error usb device not recognized". Through much extensive troubleshooting and ...
Summary: After a couple successful uses I tried to connect it back to my computer again and it gave me the "error usb device not recognized". Through much extensive troubleshooting and contact with the JVC corporation's technical department, there appears to be no fix to this problem. Although they claim it won't work, I used Pinnacle Studio 8 and downloaded and edited my videos the same way I would do a tape with no problems at all. So it appears it is of no use to buy a hard disk drive camcorder, especially since they cost around $300.00 more than a nice Hi8 camcorder that weighs the same and has the lcd display. No more disks for me, especially JVC
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Major disappointment...
by treetom on August 28, 2007
Pros: Small and light
Cons: Poor image, low battery life, slow transfer, hard to use...
Summary: I bought this camera expecting great things from a fairly new technology. Boy was I wrong. The first time I saw the video on my computer, I was very upset. ...
Summary: I bought this camera expecting great things from a fairly new technology. Boy was I wrong. The first time I saw the video on my computer, I was very upset. I could not believe how poor the image was, and the stills were worse. Unless you are using this camera in very well lite areas, be prepared for some major grain in the picture.
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Stopped buying JVC after I got this camera
by refusion on May 18, 2007
Pros: Great video storage
Cons: Video is very poor, problems right out of the box
Summary: I paid $540+ at walmart for this camera
I was so excited because it was going to save me from buying tapes. I opened it
and followed directions and after ...Summary: I paid $540+ at walmart for this camera
I was so excited because it was going to save me from buying tapes. I opened it
and followed directions and after charging the battrey i started recording things in the house when i play it back it looked fine
but playing it back on my TV I was not pleased then I plugged it into the computer and transfered the movies no problem
later I decided to go to bed and shut the camera off it would not turn off. after
30 mins I removed the battery
this was enough for me back to walmart it went and never looked back. jvc does not stand behind their stuff until a class action is started. sony's hard drive camera is a little better but has the same low quality video. I have a JVC Cybercam GR-DVM90 Mini DV Digital Camcorder that has become a 1,400 paperweight because JVC wont fix it thousand have the same problem look it up and you will see GOOD LUCK -
Good starter for experimenting with artistic video
by hardwarethree on January 25, 2007
Pros: Budget price
Cons: Included software
Summary: I recently bought this camcorder as I did not want to deal with Mini DV or Mini DVD. I was looking for a camcorder with a hard drive. This is ...
Summary: I recently bought this camcorder as I did not want to deal with Mini DV or Mini DVD. I was looking for a camcorder with a hard drive. This is my first camcorder and I was willing to opt for a low resolution sensor as I was not shooting professional video. I was looking an easy way to edit video on my PC and upload to the web. So far my experience with this camera has been a good one. As an artist wanting to learning to 'paint' with video camera this is a good choice to start with and will not bust your budget.
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Fantastic HDD based camera
by brandoshido on January 2, 2007
Pros: 20GB HDD of course, Easy controls, small
Cons: Photo quality sucks
Summary: First off, I dont know why alot of these people are saying it's difficult to use this, because it's not. The learning curve for me was about five ...
Summary: First off, I dont know why alot of these people are saying it's difficult to use this, because it's not. The learning curve for me was about five minutes.
The video quality is outstanding, indoor and out. I have shot many scenes with this and it has not failed me yet. The photo side of things though needs work. The microphone picks up sound from hundreds of feet away without picking up things like the wind or something like that.
This camera is so easy to carry around and is definitely sleek looking. The battery lasts for quite awhile too, and charges quickly as well.
The only thing I don't like is that the camera records in .mod format. This forces me to recode the file to something more common when i need to edit things.
The camera has many things you can do to organize your photos and videos when they are on the camera. you can assign them by category, chronologically, and in other ways. There's lots of settings to be tinkered with too. I never mess with them though, the defaults have always served me well. I would definitely recommend this to anyoe who needs a new video camera to film home movies, get togethers, or trips.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: JVC
- Part number: GZ-MG21
- Description: JVC is one of the world's leading developers and manufacturers of sophisticated audio, video and related software products. Building upon a wealth of technologies the company is moving decisively to offer appropriate solutions for the multimedia age. To remain at the forefront of the audiovisual industry in the 21st century, JVC is marshalling its resources to create the ultimate in appealing, cost-competitive products. PRODUCT FEATURES: Multi-Language On-Screen Menu; Hard Disk Protection with Drop Detection and Floating Suspension; Auto and manual focus; Digital Image Stabilizer; Program AE (Sepia / Black and White / Twilight / Classic Film / Strobe / Snow / Spotlight / Fixed Shutter / Sports); Backlight/Spotlight compensation; White Balance (Auto, MWB, Fine, Cloud, Halogen); Self-Timer; Motor-Drive Shooting; Macro Shooting as close as 5cm with zoom set to Wide; Tele-macro Shooting Distance: up to 40cm; Playlist Video Clip Playback and Slide Show Still Playback; Playback Scene Transitions (White Fader, Black Fader, Corner Wipe, Window Wipe, Slide Wipe, Door Wipe, Scroll Wipe, Shutter Wipe).
General
- Product Type Camcorder
- Enclosure Color Gray
- Digital Zoom 800 x
- Effective Sensor Resolution 0.68 megapixels
- Optical Sensor Size 1/6"
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Analog Video Format NTSC
- Digital Video Format MPEG-2
- Special Effects Snow, Sepia, Strobe, Classic Film, Black & White
- Image Stabilizer Electronic
- Digital Scene Transition Door wipe, Slide wipe, Black fader, Corner wipe, Scroll wipe, White fader, Window wipe, Shutter wipe, Black & white fader
- Min Shutter Speed 1/2 sec
- Max Shutter Speed 1/4000 sec
- Shooting Modes Digital photo mode
- Shooting Programs Snow, Spotlight, Sports mode, Twilight mode
- White Balance Custom, Presets, Automatic
- White Balance Presets Fine, Cloudy, Halogen
- Exposure Modes Program, Automatic
- Camera Flash Built-in
Main Features
- Color Support Color
- Still Image Format JPEG
- Remote Control Remote control - Infrared
- TV Tuner None
Memory / Storage
- Digital Storage Media Hard disk drive - Built-in - 20 GB
- Image Storage JPEG 640 x 480
- Media Type Hard disk drive
Lens System
- Type Zoom lens - 2.3 mm - 73.6 mm - F/2.0-4.5
- Focal Length 2.3 mm - 73.6 mm
- Lens Aperture F/2.0-4.5
- Optical Zoom 32 x
- Lens system type Zoom lens
- Min focal length 2.3 mm
- Max focal length 73.6 mm
- Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
- Filter Size 30.5 mm
- Focus Adjustment Manual, Automatic
- Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
Additional Features
- Self Timer Yes
- Self Timer Delay 2 sec, 10 sec
- Digital Still Camera Function Yes
- Built-in Light Yes
- Additional Features DPOF support, Direct print, Date/time stamp, Built-in speaker, PictBridge support, USB 2.0 compatibility, Backlight compensation, Digital image rotation, Digital noise reduction
- Remote control Remote control - Infrared
- Software Cyberlink PowerDVD, Drivers & Utilities, CyberLink PowerDirector, CyberLink PowerProducer, Pixela Capty MPEG Edit EX, JVC Digital Photo Navigator
- Included Accessories Lens cap
Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Type None
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5 in - Color
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
- Microphone Features Wind noise reduction
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x S-Video output, 1 x DC power input
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
Audio Input
- Audio input type Microphone
- Microphone type Built-in
- Microphone Operation Mode Stereo
- Microphone Technology Electret condenser
System Requirements for PC Connection
- Operating System Support MS Windows XP, Apple Mac OS X 10.4.2, Apple Mac OS X 10.4.3, MS Windows 2000 SP4 or later, Apple Mac OS X 10.3.1 - 10.3.9
- Peripheral Devices USB port, CD-ROM drive
Miscellaneous
- Cables Included 1 x USB cable
Power
- Power Device Power adapter - External
Viewfinder / Display
- Display Form Factor Rotating
- Display Format 112,000 pixels
Physical Characteristics
- Width 2.7 in
- Depth 4.3 in
- Height 2.7 in
- Weight 12 oz
Manufacturer info
- JVC
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse JVC products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.jvc.com/
- Address:
1700 Valley Rd.
Wayne, NJ 07470 - Phone: 800-526-5308
