JVC GR-D250 First Impressions Review

by James Murray
Published on Jan 7, 2005 6:00 PM



The JVC GR-D250 fits into JVC's low price market, with an MSRP of US$429.95 and likely to retail for around $350, a remarkably low price when many of the potential features are considered. We got a chance to look at it at the JVC booth at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This year's camcorder is 30% smaller than last years GR-D33, for US$20 less. Also, this lowest priced model has fewer port and accessory features than are available with the JVC GR-D270, a camera available for only a small price increase. Sadly though, JVC has removed the 3D Noise reduction feature which could mean worse low light performance. However, the JVC GR-D250 does come with a 25X optical, 800X digital zoom, with Night Alive, 2.5 inch LCD, and a Super High Band Processor for higher video quality.

Video Performance
At this point we can't really evaluate the video performance of the GR-D250 becuase the conditions which it was shown at at CES were not testing quality. We will have a full evaluation of the camcorder's video performance once we get a test model into our labs. We can likely expect however the same video performance in good lighting conditions as last years GR-D33 because the camorder includes the same 680K gross pixel, 380K effective pixel CCD.

The Front
The front of the JVC GR-D250 features the lens barrel at the top of the camera body. However, unlike the other models within the Compact line being introduced at the start of 2005, the JVC GR-D250 does not have an Auto Illumination light. Instead there is a label describing zoom capabilities in the place of the LEDs. Beneath this label are the light sensors for the camcorder. At the base of the camcorder bottom are the right and left sides of the in camera microphone, the only way that users may record audio onto this model by JVC.

The Right Side
The right side of the camera body is largely taken up by the dull gray square which denotes the presence of the tape cartridge contained beneath. To access the tape cartridge the user must engage the release button on the bottom of the camera, while pulling the tab at the front of the cover forward. This is a bottom loading cartridge which can become a hassle for users who wish to use a camcorder with a tripod and who want to change tape without having to remove the camera from the unit. Running across the width of the right side is the EZ Grip strap for the user's hand. This thin strap is attached with velcro, and while comfortable, doesn't seem to be nearly as sturdy or thick as other manufacturer's choices. The in camera playback speakers are located above the tape deck towards the the top of the camera body. This playback speaker is situated in front of the power switch for the JVC GR-D270, which controls whether the camera is set in Manual, Automatic, Off, or Playback mode. This switch is standard and is easily moved without confusion. Each setting is marked with a universal symbol. At the top of the camera body the user will find a series of grooves that are intended for the fingers of the right hand for added grip - a feature that seemed to work partially in helping to hold the camcorder.

The Back
The back of the JVC GR-D250 features an increasingly smaller battery pack, neatly tucked beneath the color electronic viewfinder, a feature that is a bit of a surprise in such a moderately priced camcorder. The viewfinder is extendable, and when not in use, can be easily placed back into it's recessed position lying flat with the camera body and tucked away. To the right of the battery pack is the Record On/Off button for the JVC GR-D250 within reach of the right hand thumb. Beneath the battery pack there is a port cover which when opened allows the user to access the Analog Out and Firewire, the GR-D250 does not have a USB port, which although unfortunate, is not too surprising considering the low price. The DC In plug is also located under this port cover, and when multiple ports are being used at once, this area feels a bit cramped, especially with the overhanging battery pack obscuring the user's view.

The Left Side
The left side of the camera body mainly features the 2.5 inch, 110K resolution LCD screen. This feature is accessed by pulling the tab at the back of the camera body forward, revealing the screen beneath. There is nothing beneath this LCD screen, as the JVC GR-D250 does not come with a memory card, Auto Illumination, or a need for a Tape/Card switch. Above the LCD screen the user will find the VCR controls, with double control options to the user. This change is a great improvement over 2004's layout, which had the controls hidden beneath the LCD screen, making access tedious and futile when using the viewfinder. Moving from front to back above the LCD screen, the user will find the Stop Button/Backlight button, Play/Focus button, Rewind/Return to. button, Menu/Data button is slightly beneath this, and the Fast Forward/Night Alive button. The VCR controls are accessible when the camera is in Playback mode, however, the other controls will be engaged when the camera is set to regular record mode. All of these controls are clearly labeled and are easily engaged, so even the drastic size reduction in the overall body appears to have not affected navigational ease.

The Top
The top of the JVC GR-D250 has a few features available to the user, both of which are located towards the back of the camcorder body, and separated visually by a shift from the overall silver exterior to a darker gray finish. The first button which the user will find is the Zoom button, a toggle that is standard and allows the user to control the setting of Wide Angle and Telephoto. The second button, located behind the Zoom control, is the shutter button for still images clearly labeled, though perhaps less desirable on a model that doesn't have a memory card slot available to it's users. The zoom control also doubles as a volume control for the playback speaker when the user is reviewing previously captured footage.

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control
The Automatic control for the JVC GR-D250 will essentially freeze the menu control available to the user when the camcorder is set in Manual mode. The user can still engage the zoom feature, however, focal or white balance choices for example, are no longer available. The user seeking some sort of control will find him or herself much happier selecting manual control options from the menu, reserving the right to choose when and when not to control a setting or feature.

While the clear seperation between auto and manual control is good, the auto control of the GR-D250 is certainly not on the same leve as Sony's camcorders. The Sony competitors in this price range and really across the board still dominate when it comes to automatic control. Feautres like spot metering, spot focus and Easy Handycam just make life a lot easier if your a point and shoot user.

Overall Manual Control
The user of the JVC GR-D250 is able to control many features of the camcorder manually, including, zoom, focus, exposure, shutter speed, White Balance, and Gain. These controls are accessed through the Menu button on the left side of the camera body. JVC made a smart move by moving these buttons outside of the area hidden by the LCD screen and into an always available space. The menus are fairly straightforward in structure, and once the control set up is solved, menu movement is quick and concise. However, it is a bit slow at first.

Zoom
The zoom for the JVC GR-D250 is actually higher in rating than those in the GR-DF series of video cameras, even those these cameras are currently projected to fulfill the lower price bracket within the consumer market. The user of the GR-D250 is able to engage up to 25X optical zoom, and up to 800X of digital zoom. It should be noted that the digital zoom rating is the less important of the two ratings, due to the compromising of image quality during engagement. If it must be used the user should be aware of this setback. This zoom is a large increase from last years GR-D33, it's predecessor, which only had a zoom level of 16X.

The zoom control on the GR-D250 is located on the top of the camcorder's body. It's an interesting location but it's still useable because of the camcorder's compact size. In general the zoom controller is pretty good, however, we were able only to hold a few variables zooms with the camcorder, which is understandable considering the wide range of it's 25x optical zoom range.

Focus
The focus control on the GR-D250 camcorder is also the Play button when the camera is set in Playback mode. The focus button can be engaged, and once initiated, controlled by the Rewind and Fast Forward buttons located beside the Play button. The user can monitor the focal shift on the LCD screen through the Portrait to Landscape scale. This control moved smoothly, if a bit slowly, but was otherwise devoid of unexpected focal jumps or incongruities.

Exposure (Aperture)
With the JVC GR-D250, the user will find that there are 13 steps of manual exposure possible, allowing for the user to dictate choices based on a scale of of -6 to +6 with the inclusion of zero. The 13 settings available for exposure are based in one step increments. This control is accessed through the main menu, where the exposure setting must be turned to manual. The user must then exit the menu and engage the exposure controls shown on the left side of the LCD screen. The rewind and fast forward buttons are used to scan the scale, and are always alterable, even during shooting, without having to re-enter the menu. While 13 steps are some exposure control, is it much less than what Panasonic and Sony offer, while on par with what Canon offers.

Shutter Speed
There are seven shutter speed steps for the user of the JVC GR-D250, starting at 1/60th of a second and moving to 1/4000th of a second. There are also shutter speeds of 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, and 1/2000. The shutter speeds are accessed through the main menu, and are controllable through the sub menu contained within. There are also a number of presets situated beneath the shutter speed, allowing users to choose between a variety of generically themed events such as; Sports, Snow, Spotlight, Twilight, Sepia, Monotone, Classic Film, Strobe and Mirror. It's really great that JVC includes manual control of shutter speed control, something that Sony thinks the users don't need.

White Balance
Manual White Balance is possible on the JVC GR-D250, and allows the user to choose between Automatic, Manual White Balance, Fine, Cloud, and Halogen. These are also accessed through the LCD menu, and are controlled through the sub menu contained within, or through the short cut on the left side of the LCD screen.

Gain
Gain is also manually controllable for the user of the JVC GR-D250, and allows the user to control gain in by basically turning Automatic Gain Control on or off, setting it to auto or turn gain off. While three options are better than nothing, it isn't a substitute for full gain control with dB ratings.

Still Performance
The Still Performance on the JVC GR-D250 is under established on this camera, forcing the user to only be able to capture stills to tape, with no SD memory card slot option available to the user. Of coruse, there really aren't camcorders in this price bracket which include Memory Stick slots besides Sony's higher level Digital8 camcorder. The other two models within this series at least offer the hybrid user the opportunity to engage SD Memory Cards at a maximum resolution of 1024x768.

VCR Mode
The VCR mode on GR-D250 is entered when the user slides the Power switch all the way forward until it rests on the Playback mode option. Once engaged, the user can control video playback through the controls located above the LCD screen. Also, VCR Mode has its own separate menu, apart from the regular manual mode, and is simple and easy to navigate without confusion, and with clear full text menu labels. The user switching tapes quickly in and out of this camcorder may wish to remove the EZ Grip wrist strap, as it tended to impede the opening of the cassette cartridge.

Low Light Performance
The low light on the JVC GR-D250 uses the Super High-Band Processor, which supposedly increases the resolution quality of the image, inherently reducing noise in low light situations theoretically. However, one of the JVC's most touted features on last year's models was the presence of the 3-D Noise Reduction a feature that is no longer available to this camcorder series. Hopefully the camcorder will be able to compensate for some of the image quality that may be lost with the removal of the 3-D Noise Reduction, however higher noise levels may possibly be experienced by the user of these new models when compared to those of 2004.

LCD/ Viewfinder
The LCD featured on the JVC GR-D250 is 2.5 inches and has a resolution of 110K pixel count. None of the JVC models being released this year have touch screen menus, something to be thankful about, and with the controls being removed from the recessed LCD screen area, faster and easier control is available with or without the LCD screen being engaged. The viewfinder on the GR-D250 is color and electronic. Glare reduction is also engaged with this model by JVC allowing for better viewing during recording and playback, with higher quality and more clarity available to the images being viewed.

Audio
The audio features on the JVC GR-D250 are limited, with the user being forced to rely on the in-camera audio system due to the lack of an external microphone port. Also, there is no headphone output available to the user either for monitoring of audio during capture. There is also no accessory shoe on the body of this camera, or any within the series. It's a pretty lame situation when it comes to audio, but it seems that every manufacturer thinks users are too stupid to use an external mic because we're seeing this dumbing down of audio options across the board.

Handling
The GR-D250 by JVC, is identical to the JVC GR-D270 and the JVC GR-D295 in design structure and style. These cameras have experienced a drastic cut in body size, allowing them to become even more portable and controllable without undo strain to the user. The controls are still large enough to be easily operable, and the access to them has been greatly improved from last year. The only major qualm is that the bottom loading cartridge may become frustrating if used with a tripod. Also, the compact nature of the camera has dictated that the Firewire, Analog Out, and the DC In port all be situated underneath a port cover partially blocked by the battery pack. If multiple wires were to be used, especially on the higher end JVC GR-D295, the possibility of accidental unplugging seems highly possible. In general, the GR-D250 is easy to hold and shoot with. The camcorder has a much more boxy feel that the GR-D33 did, likely because it's height has been reduced. We generally like the handling of the GR-D250 more than

Ports
The ports on the JVC GR-D250 are more limited than those on the GR-DF series, and considering the amount of added access a slight increase in price allows the consumer, this accessibility should be considered prior to purchase or perusal. The GR-D250 has a Composite Out, and a Firewire port. With this lack of S-Video or Analog In, this camera is unable to provide the user with digital to analog pass through.

Other Features
Super High Band Processor The Super High Band Processor is a great added feature to the JVC camcorders, allowing the user to shoot while emphasizing the high band luminance, which attains greater clarity and sharpness in footage captured, for an overall more precise image quality.

Model Design/ Overall Size
This camera, the JVC GR-D250 is thirty percent smaller than last years model, and allows the user more portability options, while still considering the comfort of the user during use. This camera only weighs .9 pounds, and measures 4.4 inches long, 2.2 inches wide, and 3.7 inches in height, a drastic decrease in size when considering the large increase of zoom from 16X to 25X.

Data Battery
The addition of the data battery system allows JVC to finally offer the same feature available previously in other manufacturers camcorders. This feature allows the user to view via the LCD screen the amount of battery time left on the battery when either in or out of recording mode individually. This allows for greater clarity in regards to possible remaining recording time.

Navigation Function:
The overall Navigation for the JVC GR-D250 is simple and straightforward with few controls available beyond manual settings, there isn't nearly the chance for confusion or misdirection when entered into the menu. Some of the controls themselves take some time to get used to though, with the sub menu to sub menu movement at times awkward and confounding. However, as time progressed accidental choices became less and less common. However, the VCR menu is straight forward and without an excessive number of unneeded control options, allowing the user quick and concise menu choices.

Widescreen Mode
The Wide screen mode that is available to the user of the JVC GR-D250 is not actually truly widescreen, but rather merely the application of a black bar to the bottom and top of the image in an attempt to create the illusion of widescreen.

MPEG
There is no MPEG recording available on the JVC GR-D250, unlike the models released in the GR-DF line.

Analog to Digital Pass Through
Since the Analog port is only an Out port, the JVC-GRD250 is unable to engage in analog to digital pass through. However, the Ultra Compact camcorders being released by JVC have Analog In and Out, as well as S-Video ports, allowing users the option for a reasonably small price increase.

Comparisons
JVC GR-D270
This model from JVC is one step up in the price brackets from the JVC GR-D250, and costs a little more, retailing at US$449.95. This camera has the same body as the 250, and the same lay-out, the major alterations are between lat years and this years models, respectively. However, there are some slight differences, first there is the addition of an Auto Illumination light, for low light situations, as well as Live Slow, software, SD memory Card Slot, still photos at 1024x768 and 640x480, and interval snapshot.

JVC GR-D295 This camera by JVC as well, has the same body design, same CCD size, same zoom lens, and manual control options as both the GR-D270 and the GR-D250. However there are two slight additions to this camera, an extra battery, and remote control. However, neither the GR-D295 or GR-D270 comes with a memory card for the SD memory card slot, so one must be purchased separately.

JVC GR-D33 This was 2004's model by JVC and is 30% larger than this years release. It has a 15X optical zoom, making it lower than those in this years series, which offer 25X optical zoom. Also this camera is equipped with the 3-D Noise Reduction technology, which garnered the positive ratings in low light situations making this camcorder perhaps more desirable for those users seeking a camcorder that is already assured of having successful low light shooting.

Conclusion
The JVC GR-D250 is the lowest price MiniDV camera being released by JVC at CES, with an intended price being US$429.95 and is likely to be available in stores for around $350. This camera comes with a somewhat standard 1/6 inch 680K CCD, 2.5 inch LCD, Night Alive, Battery Data, Manual and Automatic control, Super High Band Processor, and several port options. There is no memory card slot, which the other two cameras with this series are equipped with standard, although it is possible to save still images to tape. There is no 3D Noise Reduction so low light shooting quality results may vary greatly from last years models. Menu activation is placed outside the LCD screen, a great change for JVC, and the camcorder body is 30% smaller than last years however, there are some problematic design features. The first is the placement of all of the ports underneath one cover causing a somewhat entangled and constricted area, the second being the menu navigation structure, which although convoluted at first, became easier over time. The camera feels good in the hand, small enough tho fit in one hand alone, even if the hand strap is undersized and blocks the tape cartridge when opening. The menu shortcut feature is great for fast manual alterations and overall, for the budget price, and the number of features that still exist this camera is a strong candidate for the point and shoot market. Overall, the GR-D250 seems to be a good entry level camcorder, and if the low light performance can match up to last years, it will certainly do well.