JVC Everio GZ-MG21

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 17 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 8 stars

  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 ...

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  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.

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  7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  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 ...

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  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!

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  2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 4 stars

  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 ...

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  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.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 4 stars

  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 ...

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  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!

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 2 stars

  expensive, with poor battery and hard disc capacity

  by yogiseema on June 2, 2011

  Pros: handy size and easy to operate.

  Cons: poor battery life.
  cannot be used as a webcam.
  files cannot be deleted from the computer(only through the camera).
  zippers of camera case of very poor quality.
  lens gears got worn out in three months.
  spares available a month after placing the order.

  Summary: a very poor experience

  Summary: a very poor experience

• 8 stars

  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 ...

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  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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• 3 stars

  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 ...

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  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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• 3 stars

  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. ...

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  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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• 3 stars

  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
  
  ...

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  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

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• 8 stars

  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 ...

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  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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