JVC GR-D395 Camcorder Review

Audio (4.0)
The GR-D395 has a typically restricted feature set for a consumer camcorder – onboard stereo mics, in-camera dubbing, and wind cut. There is no external microphone jack, so the quality of recorded audio will be only as good as the GR-D395’s small front-mounted mic can muster. With such a dearth of options, audio recording is correspondingly simple.

The camcorder provides two audio quality settings: 16 bit and lower quality 12 bit. For most circumstances, 16 bit is preferable, but the camcorder does support in-camera dubbing when audio has been recorded in 12 bit mode. This kind of dubbing is another vestigial feature, left over from the days when many amateur video-makers edited in-camera. Today, inexpensive or free NLE’s (Non-linear Editors) like iMovie and Avid Free DV have made in-camera editing little more than a quaint left-over. That said, the dub feature could be useful, when sound quality is not vital, as a way to add voice-over notes or observations to recorded video footage, especially in the field.

Wind Cut, a feature in the menu, helps to reduce the buffeting noise of wind. When Wind Cut is on, it electronically reduces some of the low-end sound characteristic of wind noise. As a result, recorded audio with Wind Cut on will be of reduced quality, and this feature should only be used when necessary.

VCR Mode (6.5)
VCR mode is quite straightforward on the GR-D395, benefiting from a generally intuitive user-interface and the large, easy to use touchpad in the LCD cavity. Turning the mode switch to Play accesses playback mode. Switching into Play mode from video mode is slow, taking several seconds more than in most other camcorders.

The large touchpad serves as the VCR controller, and it is marked with familiar icons. Moving clockwise from the top of the touchpad, they are Play/Pause, Fast Forward, Stop, and Reverse. The GR-D395 also features a useful Blank Search button (serving as the 16:9 button in Record mode) that searches forward for the next blank section on the tape. This feature offers a quick way of finding the tape’s next blank section automatically.

The VCR menu

Ports (4.5)
The GR-D395’s ports are located on its lower back and inside the LCD cavity. The uncovered AV out port occupies the lower right hand corner. To its left, a plastic cover protects the DC port is. The port cover is relatively difficult to remove or replace, and much larger than it needs to be. Its size led us to wonder why JVC elected not to accommodate the AV port beneath the same cover, since even ill-fitting protection is better then none. Ports for USB and DV (Firewire) connections occupy the bottom right side of the LCD cavity. A card slot is located on the upper right edge of the LCD cavity, protected by a port cover that didn’t stay shut on our test unit.