Digital Trends

JVC GZ-MG505

July 20th, 2006 | by David Elrich

The Everio GZ-MG505 boots up in about three seconds once you move the power key to on and open the LCD panel. This is very quick and much faster than the tape- or disc-based competition. 

As noted, the camcorder uses three 1/4.5-inch imagers rated 1.33 megapixels each. For more on three CCD technology albeit from a competitor, check out this quickie video.

I started out in Auto for video and stills then moved to explore the manual options after I got the feel of the unit. The ergonomics of the GZ-MG505 are quite good. It feels just right and the basic controls for zooming and record on/off are within easy reach. The owner’s manual points out that the unit heats up after extended use but don’t worry about it. We used it for hours and didn’t feel the need to purchase a fire-retardant glove. Zooming was very smooth and there was very little focus grab. 

If you want to go beyond point and shoot, simply hit the Auto button and you’re in manual mode. By pressing down the joystick you have manual focus which is adjusted by pushing the joystick left and right. There’s also access to backlight compensation and spot exposure. Thank goodness there’s printed owner’s manual because you’d never figure out what is what trying to decipher the onscreen icons. Move the joystick down to “M” and you get access to Program AE settings (four of them) plus you can adjust exposure compensation, white balance, aperture, shutter speed and the overall tone of the footage (strobe, sepia, monotone). This is a good set of manual controls (once you know where to find them) and more adventurous shooters can have fun with them.  

There are many of the same manual options in the still mode too. You can adjust the flash, white balance, aperture and so on. Plus there’s a continuous burst mode and three-shot bracketing that shifts the EV +0.3 and -0.3. 

You may be a tape purist but nothing on Earth beats the playlists that instantly appear when you put a HDD camcorder in playback mode. You move the joystick from box to box, highlight it and watch the results on your TV. It’s terrific. DVD camcorders offer this too and it’s a key reason for their growing popularity. Where DVD cams slaughter HDD models is quick playback in a DVD player or PC. With a hard disc camcorder you have to download it somewhere in order to turn it into a readily useable media by burning a disc. Granted you can spend another $179 for a self-contained DVD burner that automatically does this for you (the Share Station DVD Burner CU-VD10)—but you’re moving into Beverly Hills territory now. 

And the results? Better this go-round but no prize ribbon. Video had much less digital noise than previous Everios I used. In fact, it was like night and day, the results were so much better. Where this camcorder disappointed was its color rendition. Although it was reasonably accurate, there was no pop to the yellows or reds. And some things-- such as a red float in a swimming pool--were just off.

As far as this taking the place of a quality 5MP digicam with an 8x zoom like a Panasonic DMC-TZ1 with its 10x zoom ($349)—forget it. It’s not nearly as sophisticated (top shutter speed maxes out at only 1/500^th of a second) and it’s not a true 5-megapixel imaging device and uses pixel-shift technology to reach 5MP. Still you can take decent photos and the 30GB HDD saves a mere 10,000 shots! Again the results here were disappointing as well. Flowers taken on a sunshine-filled day again were off color-wise. And definitely use the manual focus when you’re in still mode to make sure you get best results. You can get some decent 4x6 prints out of it but an 8 ½ x 11 would be really pushing it.

Image Courtesy of JVC