JVC GZ-HM340

Handling (4.15)

The JVC GZ-HM340 has a very similar design to last year’s GZ-HM200 from JVC. The camcorder’s compact design feels fairly comfortable in your hand, but the flimsy hand strap doesn’t provide much support—which has been the case on most mid-range and entry-level models from JVC over the past couple of years.This year, however, JVC added a little release button to the HM340 that turns the hand strap into a wrist strap (see image below). This release button is a good move by JVC, but it still doesn’t help with the fact that the strap is awful when it is used as a traditional hand support.

If you’ve ever used a JVC camcorder from the past two years, you’ve had experience with the Laser Touch system. The Laser Touch is similar to using a touchscreen interface, but it has its own set of quirks and performance issues. We found the Laser Touch to be a very frustrating navigation tool when trying to select a specific menu option, but the system works well for quickly scrolling through options (you can slide your finder along the strip to scroll).

The GZ-HM340 feels rather cheap, but it isn’t much different than most entry-level consumer camcorders. Its body is prone to scratching, many of its ports are unprotected (inside the LCD cavity), it doesn’t have a built-in lens cover, and its LCD has a lackluster 123,000-pixel resolution. There isn’t anything really special about the camcorder’s design: it’s small and feels cheap.

Portability (10.93)

For a traditional camcorder with a horizontal design the JVC GZ-HM340 is a very compact product. It weighs only 255g fully loaded, which is lighter than all of the models we used as comparisons. We’re not saying the HM340 is a small as an ultracompact model like a Flip camcorder, but it shouldn’t be much of a hassle to bring it along on a day trip or vacation. You could probably even stuff the GZ-HM340 into your pocket as long as it was a fairly loose pocket, but the camcorder would be better suited in a small bag or purse.

One thing we don’t like is the fact that the GZ-HM340 does not have a built-in lens cover, which can expose its precious lens to dirt or scratches if you toss it into a bag. The camcorder does come with a removable lens cover, however, and the cover fits better than most. Still, even well-fitting lens covers are prone to popping off if you’re not careful.

Battery Life (6.35)

The JVC GZ-HM340 did a fairly good job in our battery life test. The camcorder lasted for 2 hours, 7 minutes, and 47 seconds in our testing (127 minutes), which is a good 15 minutes longer than the JVC GZ-HM200 lasted. Another benefit of the GZ-HM340 is the fact that it has an open-ended battery compartment. So, if you want longer battery life you can just buy a larger battery pack that’s compatible with the camcorder. More on how we test battery life.

LCD (7.17)

The GZ-HM340’s LCD isn’t anything special. It has the same 2.7-inch screen and 123,000-pixel resolution as last year’s GZ-HM200. These specs aren’t fantastic when you consider most other manufacturers offer LCDs with much higher resolution, although the 2.7-inch size is standard for a mid-range camcorder. The GZ-HM340, like most mid-range models, does not include a viewfinder.

You can adjust the LCD by setting the backlight to auto, standard, or brighter. You can also select one of eleven specific LCD brightness levels. Adjusting these settings can help you conserve battery life, but they can also make it difficult to know whether your videos have proper exposure levels.

Feature	JVC GZ-HM340	JVC GZ-HM200	Panasonic HDC-TM10	Samsung HMX-H106
Display Size	2.7 in.	2.7 in.	2.7 in.	2.7 in.
Display Resolution	123000 pixels	123000 pixels	230400 pixels	230000 pixels
Touch Screen	✗	✗	✓	✓
Viewfinder	✗	✗	✗	✗

Stabilization (3.22)

JVC outfitted the GZ-HM340 with a new stabilization system this year, but unfortunately it didn’t do very well in our test. The camcorder still uses a digital stabilization system, but the GZ-HM340 has two settings instead of just one (like the JVC GZ-HM200 had). Interestingly, however, we noticed no difference between the two settings in our testing. In our low shake test, the GZ-HM340 reduced 23% of the shake with its stabilization turned on. With the high shake test the camcorder reduced slightly less shake: 16%. More on how we test stabilization.

JVC claims the image stabilization 2 setting is meant for wide angle shots or shots with limited zoom. This helps explain why we saw very little difference between the two stabilization modes in our testing (all of our stabilization testing is done at full optical zoom). The video below shows the GZ-HM340’s stabilization system in action. You can see that the stabilization does do an adequate job at times, but it simply wasn’t as good as on last year’s JVC GZ-HM200 or the Panasonic HDC-TM10.