JVC Everio GZ-HD6 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Mar 20, 2008 9:28 PM
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Still Features (7.0)
In order to access Still Photo mode on the GZ-HD6, shift the Mode Dial down once from Video mode. The GZ-HD6 captures stills in Fine or Standard quality in the following low resolution sizes: 1920 x 1080, 1440 x 1080, 1024 x 768, and 640 x 480. Canon and Sony both offer larger still sizes. Images can be captured to the 120GB HDD or MicroSD card. With a 120GB HDD, you can store up to 9,999 images, which is more than enough for the average Super Tourist.
Don’t even fiddle with MicroSD cards—you’ll lose them within seconds and they can’t match the capacity of a 120GB HDD. Of all the removable media available, JVC chose the most baffling format and then stuck it on the bottom of the GZ-HD6, just like the rest of the Everios. With all the unused space on the GZ-HD6, JVC could have at least mounted the MicroSD card slot within the LCD cavity.
The GZ-HD6 offers the same still image controls as the GZ-HD3 and GZ-HD7. ISO can be set to Auto, 100, 200, and 400. You can set Photo capture to Continuous Shooting, which snaps approximately 3 images per second. Bracketing is also an option. Bracketing functions by snapping three images in different Exposure levels—one in Auto, one an EV stop down, and one an EV stop up. In Photo mode, Exposure is measured in 1/3 EV stops: -2.0, -1.7, -1.3, -1.0, -0.7, -0.3, 0, +0.3, +0.7, +1.0, +1.3, +1.7, +2.0. Video mode is measured in increments of one, ranging from -6 to +6. A Self Timer can be set on the GZ-HD6 for 2 or 10 seconds.
The GZ-HD6 does not have a Flash or video light.
In order to access the Photo Function menu, press the Function button. The Photo Function menu contains the following options: Adjust Brightness, Shutter Speed, Aperture Priority, WB, Effect, and Tele Macro.
The Photo Function menu
Photo options in the Administrative menu
Photo Playback is accessed by pressing the Play/Record button in the LCD cavity. The Photo Playback Function menu offers the following options: Delete, Protect, Copy, Move, Effect, and DPOF.
Photo playback in action
Still Performance (8.2)
Still performance was tested by shooting a X-Rite Color Checker chart at an even, bright light, then exporting stills to Imatest imaging software for color accuracy, noise, and saturation. We shoot in several exposure variations to find the best score. At best, the JVC GZ-HD6 is able to produce a color error of 7.32, better than previous JVC HD Everios. It is also better than the Canon HF10 and Panasonic HDC-SD9. The noise measured an average of 0.9425, about the same as previous HD Everios. This was also about the same score as the Panasonic HDC-SD9, and a much lower noise percentage than the Canon HF10. The saturation measured 107 percent.
In order to get this best score, we lowered the Brightness by two increments. The EXIF data revealed this corresponded to an aperture value of f/3.5 and a shutter speed of 1/60.
In shooting out of the lab, pictures look nicely sharpened. In moderate indoor lighting, the noise is readily apparent, and overruns some of the fine detail. Even in this light, though, the colors look good.
Still Resolution (8.03)
The still resolution of the JVC GZ-HD6 was tested by shooting an Applied Image ISO 12233 resolution chart at an even, bright light. The stills were then exported to Imatest imaging software, which determined that the horizontal resolution measured 671.9 line widths per picture height (lw/ph), with a 2.47 percent black clipping and a 10.5 percent oversharpening. Clipping is high, which may have thrown off the score somewhat, but we found no way to substantially reduce the GZ-HD6’s clipping in this test. It may simply have been a result of bad sharpening in the camcorder. The vertical score measured 545.8 lw/ph, with no clipping and a 4.71 percent undersharpening.
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