JVC GZ-MG130 Camcorder Reviewby John NeelyPublished on May 4, 2007 12:00 PM 
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Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (4.0)
The GZ-MG130 (Review, Specs, $467.95) is outfitted with automatic controls that are in line with other camcorders in its price range. The other auto controls for exposure, gain, and shutter speed work generally well in bright even lighting but falter in the situations that are challenging for any camcorder’s electronic brain.
In high- and low-contrast situations, the GZ-MG130 attempt to come up with a “best guess” for how to set the various image parameters based on the information in the frame. When the subject is backlit, it will likely appear underexposed – but BLC offers a quick fix. In other lighting scenarios, you’ll need to make use of the AE modes such as Snow, Spotlight, Sports mode, Twilight mode. Each of these modes adjusts the camcorder’s overall calibration to deal with a given lighting situation better than straight auto mode. Snow overexposes the entire frame so that a relatively dark subject is not underexposed, for example. If you are not one to make use of manual controls, these AE modes will help you to record a better looking picture when auto adjustments are not up to the task.
Overall Manual Control (4.85)
The Everio line has always been well-supplied with manual controls relative to most other consumer camcorders. All the essentials are there when the camcorder is in manual mode, including focus, shutter speed, white balance, exposure, and an auto gain shutoff options (though no manual gain level control). The controls are easy to access thanks to the on-screen joystick interface and rank as one of the highpoints of the camcorder, along with its 30GB HDD.
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The mode dial on the right side |
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The well-rounded palette of manual (and auto) controls on the MG130, morphed with an efficient menu interface is a pinnacle of this camcorder’s existence. Other characteristics such as video quality and construction are nothing to celebrate. It’s like throwing the priciest off-road tires you can find on a 1989 Geo Tracker: they’ll give you great control, but what really matters is under the hood.
Zoom (6.0)
JVC’s GZ-MG130 has a rocking lever-style zoom controller, on the top back end of the body. This is the zoom design we prefer because it offers the best combination of ergonomics and subtlety of control. For a while, Sony has been the champ in terms of refinement of rocking zoom levers because theirs are a little larger than most, and just plain feel smooth. The lever on the GZ-MG130 comes close, and you’ll find that it’s perfectly positioned under your index finger for hand-held operation – as long as you’re not endowed with gargantuan mitts. If you are, you’ll find more than the zoom lever on this pint-sized camcorder to be undersized. For the rest of us, the zoom offers good control over speed throughout its variable range.
Zoom Power Ratio (34.0)
For a time last year, JVC occupied the top spot for consumer camcorder optical zoom power before being unseated by Sony’s now 40x optical zooms on some of their entry-level models. This year’s JVC GZ-MG130 has an optical zoom at a modestly higher 34x, made possible by the small 1/6” sensor that’s standard on lower-end models. More expensive camcorders with larger sensors sport much lower optical zoom powers because the entire optical mechanism would need to be enlarged to muster the same power found on a 1/6” camcorder. Given a choice, we’ll always choose a larger imager – but 30x-plus zooms do come in handy if you’re a birding enthusiast or surveillance specialist.
There is also a digital zoom function that maxes out at 800x or can be capped at 68x (double the optical zoom power). Bear in mind that digital zooms enlarge the pixels available at the optical zoom maximum rather than the image itself, and thus result in a precipitous loss of resolution as soon as you enter digital territory. The ability to cap the digital zoom at 68x is a useful quality control mechanism that ensures that you’ll never record pixels at more than double their normal size. Better yet, forget about digital zoom, and move closer to your subject to maintain the best image quality at all times.
Focus (4.0)
It’s unusual to find a good manual focus control on a consumer camcorder – especially an entry-level one like the GZ-MG130. However, in all fairness, the joystick-based focus interface on this camcorder is good in comparison to what you’ll find on other low-end camcorders. Sony’s touch screen manual focus interface is the poorest of all, requiring you to tap buttons on the screen to make your adjustments. Needless to say, those buttons obscure the very image you’re trying to bring into focus. The left-facing touchpad on the Hitachi DZ-HS300A (Review, Specs, $0) is another example of a poorly designed manual focus control, lacking the convenient location of the JVC’s joystick. That places JVC’s joystick focus controllers at the top of the bottom of the heap, (along with Canons and Panasonics that also use joysticks).
Here’s how the JVC’s manual focus works. After pressing the Function button on the LCD frame, a menu appears with Focus as the first option. After selecting this option, focus indicators appear on-screen in the form of a mountain icon at left, and a person icon at right. Pressing the joystick left, towards the mountain moves the focal plane further away, while pressing right towards the person icon moves the focal plane closer. After you’ve locked in focus manually, pressing the center of the joystick returns you to recording mode. Engaging manual focus control is fast, which is a plus during a shoot. The joystick itself works, but it does not allow you to moderate the speed of the adjustment, as with a dial or ring controller. You’re either moving through the focal range or you’re not, so we’ve found the best way to make fine adjustments with a joystick is by using small taps as you approach the focal plane.
Exposure & Aperture (6.0)
The JVC GZ-MG130 offers exposure adjustment in the form of exposure compensation in unspecified EV steps on a -6 to +6 range. While there is no independent iris adjustment, it is possible to make changes only to the lens aperture by disabling gain and setting shutter speed manually. To adjust exposure, select the Adjust Brightness option from the Function menu. When the exposure adjustment is engaged, a display appears on-screen showing your current manual exposure setting. Pressing the joystick left lowers the exposure, and pressing right raises the exposure.
While Panasonics do allow you to control iris in actual f-stops, the JVC approximates independent aperture control by allowing you to disable gain, set shutter speed, and then adjust brightness.
Shutter Speed (6.8)
As with other image controls, manual shutter speed adjustments are accessed via the JVC GZ-MG130’s Function menu where the Shutter Speed option is third from the top, below the Focus and Adjust Brightness options. After selecting Shutter Speed, an indicator appears on screen representing the current shutter speed setting. Pressing left lowers the shutter speed, and pressing right raises the shutter speed on a range of 1/2 second to 1/4000 of a second. The option to drop below 1/60 via manual adjustment is relatively rare, and Canon is the only other manufacturer to implement sub-1/60 settings even on entry-level camcorders. Even Panasonic – king of the manual control hill – only offers automatic sub-1/60 shutter speeds in low-light AE modes. The ability to set shutter speed manually below 1/60 is one of the attributes that differentiates the GZ-MG130 from most of the competition.
White Balance (5.75)
The GZ-MG130 offers a limited number of white balance presets: Auto, Halogen, Cloud, and Fine (for shooting outdoors under fair skies), and Manual. The white balance presets are the fourth option in the Function menu, below the Shutter Speed option. Setting a manual white balance is a straightforward operation. The manual white balance setting is activated by pressing the center of the joystick until the standard icon begins to flash. When the white balance icon stops blinking, the setting is locked in and you can either make further adjustments or resume shooting.
During manual setting, the white balance display occupies only a small portion of the screen, making it possible to see the results live. We found that we almost always preferred the manual white balance color to the presets, in part due to the oversaturation JVC has built into this camcorder.
Gain (1.0)
The JVC GZ-MG130 does not include independent manual control over gain, and Panasonic is the only manufacturer to offer this as a standard feature on its consumer camcorder line. However, JVC does allow you disable automatic gain as a means of controlling video quality. To disable/enable automatic gain, press the Menu button and navigate to the Image submenu. The image gain option is called Gain Up, and the only options available are on and off. If you want to ensure that you are always capturing the best quality video in low light, including most indoor shooting, you should consider leaving Gain Up disabled. In those cases where you absolutely cannot achieve an acceptable exposure without gain, you can always turn it on.
Other Manual Controls (0.0)
There are no other manual controls on the JVC GZ-MG130.