Canon FS200

The JVC GZ-MG670 is a more expensive camcorder than the Canon FS200, but you’re mainly paying for the 80GB internal hard drive located inside the MG670. If you think about it, buying three 32GB SDHC cards will probably cost you close to $200, so the JVC’s price difference isn’t as extreme when you take media costs into account. In addition to having an 80GB internal hard drive, the JVC GZ-MG670 can also record to MicroSD memory cards.

The price difference aside, there’s a lot we like about the GZ-MG670 over the Canon FS200. The JVC outperformed the Canon in nearly every one of our tests, it produced a sharper image, had better motion rendering, and its digital image stabilization worked more effectively. The MG670 also has another fascinating trick up it’s sleeve—1080p HD upconversion via an HDMI output. Now, the GZ-MG670 is a standard definition camcorder by all means, but when you connect the camcorder to an HDTV via its HDMI output the video gets upconverted to 1080p. This may be one of the reasons the GZ-MG670’s footage looked so much better in our motion test. Instead of sending the video signal out to a television via low-quality AV cables, the signal was carried on HDMI.

We definitely think the GZ-MG670 is the better product over the FS200, although you could get a low-end HD camcorder for roughly the same cost as the JVC. While the GZ-MG670 did impress us with its video performance, the camcorder was lackluster when it came to handling and design. It felt cheap, the hand strap was flimsy, and the Laser Touch Strip can be a pain to work with—then again, none of these standard definition camcorders offer lens rings or dials, so they are all pretty much in the same boat when it comes to precise control. For a cheaper option, JVC makes the GZ-MS120, which records solely to memory cards (it has two SD/SDHC card slots) and costs the same as the Canon FS200. Unfortunately, however, the GZ-MS120 does not have the HD upconversion feature.