JVC GR-D350 Camcorder Review

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (7.0)
Letting the camcorder work in automatic mode is simple. On the upper left side, along the lens barrel, is a button labeled Auto, which toggles between auto and manual modes.

The automatic controls on the GR-D350 (Review, Specs, $214.95) are available for all exposure and focus functions. All the functions seem to work with reasonable accuracy. However, the adjustments take 2-3 seconds of lag time to find the correct settings. The exposure adjusts gradually over that lag, whereas the focus waits, then snaps into place. 

A few automatic exposure features are available on the camcorder. Backlight compensation, which boosts the exposure to compensate for subjects too strongly backlit, is activated by pushing down on the four-way touchpad when not in the menu. Pushing down a second time will initiate Spot Exposure control. This creates a target mark in the center of the screen; whatever is in the target becomes the point of metering. The target can be moved to the center left or center right with the touchpad. Pushing Set locks the target in place.

Program AE modes, sometimes called auto exposure modes, are found in the Function Menu (for a detailed explanation of the menu, see the next section). They include preset exposure settings for Sports, Snow, Spotlight, and Twilight.

Comparatively, the auto modes on most Panasonics and Sonys are just as easy to find. Panasonics tend to have an auto/manual toggle button, and Sony generally smacks a large "Easy" button on the side of their camcorders. Sony has the best auto control response: this JVC shows about the same level of performance as the Panasonic.

Overall Manual Control (6.0)
The manual control starts with the menu. To access it, first put the camcorder in manual mode by pushing the Auto button on the upper right side, then push the Menu button located in the LCD cavity. The manual control menu is split into 4 categories: Function, Setting, System, and Display. The Function menu has video effects, Program AE modes, manual shutter speed, manual exposure, white balance, and tele macro settings.

The Setting Menu has controls that you probably won’t need on the fly. They include recording speed, image stabilization on/off, and gain on/off. The System and Display menus are more administrative controls, like the menu language and clock adjustments.

Making your way through these menus is not an easy task, given the touchpad's size and orientation. When your main tool for making changes is not even visible from the back of the camcorder, that’s a problem. Also, many of the manual controls, like shutter speed and exposure compensation, are impossible to access while recording, even if you can see the touchpad.

When controls are available, they are not particularly extensive (only a handful of shutter speeds and exposure compensation rather than an independent F-stop control), but at least they exist. Sony does not have any of these features.

Zoom (6.0)
The zoom on the JVC GR-D350 is positioned on the top of the camcorder and functions as a sliding control that will navigate the breadth of the 32x optical zoom range. Zoom control was able to produce both a sloth-inspired slow zoom as well as an almost-too-fast speed. Transitioning between these two polar rates of zoom was a bit hard to pull off with: it takes some patience and a steady hand to move smoothly without a huge jarring jump. The zoom control is well placed and was definitely comfortable, even when used with larger hands, which will help to offset some of the functionality problems.

Zoom Power/Ratio (32.0)
A somewhat preposterous optical zoom level of 32x makes the JVC GR-D350 great if you’ve got the steadiest hands in the world and you need to spy on the neighbors or a cheating spouse. Those of you without steady hands will need to place the camcorder on a tripod when using higher zoom levels. Otherwise, expect shaking and discomforting video to result. In addition to the 32x optical zoom, the GR-D350 also comes with an 800x digital zoom range that can be engaged by entering the Setting Menu and selecting the zoom sub-menu. The digital zoom has a total range of 800x, as previously mentioned, but thankfully has a cap of 64x, since image quality decreases as zoom level goes up.

 A 32x optical zoom is the largest of any camcorder we've reviewed. It fails to elicit much excitement, however. Large zooms are an easy upgrade for a company to make and don't add much to a camcorder's value.

Focus (4.0)
Manual control over focus is available when shooting with the JVC GR-D350. Unlike manual controls like exposure, white balance, and shutter speed, which are buried deeply within menus, it is easy to access. To turn on manual control, a user presses the up arrow on the four-way controller in the LCD cavity. Once open, the control displays minscule symbols of a bust and a mountain. Pressing the right and left arrows will adjust the focus and cause pointing arrows to appear in the direction of the appropriate symbol.

The positioning of these controls couldn’t be worse for users, since the left hand, which will be making adjustments to the four-way control, will inevitably block most of the LCD during alteration. While some maneuvering can avoid this problem  it would be better if focal control was positioned elsewhere on the camcorder, perhaps externally on the back, so that users could make control adjustments with either the LCD or the viewfinder.

Exposure (Aperture) (4.5)
The JVC GR-D3560 does include the ability to control exposure levels manually through the Function Menu, which is accessed by pressing the menu button in the LCD cavity on the left side of the camcorder. Exposure control appears as an opaque horizontal bar overlaid on the bottom of the LCD screen. The up and down arrows of the four-way controller adjust the exposure from +/-6 in increments of 1.0. Making these adjustments involves shifting and scanning through several menu structures; the JVC controls here are the same as on last year's model, and do not provide the immediacy offered by 2006 Panasonic camcorders in the same price range. Sony, on the other hand, offers no exposure controls at all.

Shutter Speed (6.0)
When shooting with the JVC GR-D350, it is possible manual control over shutter speed via the shutter sub-menu in the Function  The shutter settings for manual control are off, 1/60, 1/100, 1/500, and 1/4000 of a second, which should provide a fairly wide range of shooting options for both bright and low light shooting. Panasonic camcorders have a much wider array of shutter options - 14 speeds in total -- while Sony, again, offers no control in this area.

White Balance (7.0)
As is the case with shutter speed and exposure, it's possible to manually control the JVC GR-D350's white balance via the function menu.  White balance options beyond full auto mode are Fine, Cloud, and full Manual settings. These controls include a live view screen underlay that provides the user with a visual monitoring device for  flipping through this somewhat truncated menu of options. This is right on par for most camcorders.

Gain (1.0)
Gain control on JVC camcorders is limited to turning the Auto Gain Control (AGC) on and off. The AGC is stronger than most auto gains, and can blow out a picture, so we give the D350 a point for including the option to turn it off. This is not  the nuanced and expansive range of manual options found on Panasonic camcorders this year, which measure gain in dB values.

Other Manual Control (0.0)
There are no other manual controls when shooting with the JVC GR-D350, which isn’t surprising considering its MSRP of $300. The number of manual controls on this camcorder should provide the budget manual control enthusiast with a wide range of options, though not the best interface.