JVC GZ-MG255 Camcorder Reviewby Michael PerlmanPublished on Aug 16, 2007 4:00 PM
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Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (3.0)
The automatic controls on the JVC GZ-MG255 are adequate for only the most basic point-and-shooting. The auto exposure is best, and seems equipped to handle most indoor and outdoor shooting, even in difficult contrasts of light and shadow. There are a number of manual adjustments for exposure, including Spot Metering, which should help in those situations.
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| The mode dial powers the GZ-MG255 on and off and shifts it between video and still modes | |
The white balance, however, is surely the worst of the auto controls. Outdoor shooting was not too much of a problem, but indoor shooting is very frustrating. Incandescent lighting generally created an image that was too warm. Mixed lighting, as in incandescent and fluorescent, was impossible, and required a manual adjustment. Transitions from indoor to outdoor were also very poor. It could take up to 30 seconds for the camcorder to determine the correct color. Once it did, the adjustment snapped into place in about two to three seconds, creating a jarring look.
Thankfully, there are a number of manual controls on board the GZ-MG255 which soften the defects of the auto controls. Most are covered in the sections immediately below. Before we move on, there are a few one-touch features we’d like to mention that even the greenest of point-and-shooters can try. Pushing the joystick to the right will engage the AE mode menu. It appears as a “virtual mode dial” on the side of the screen, and you can scroll through the different settings: Portrait, Sports, Snow, Spotlight, and Twilight. These can be useful for very specific shooting environments where exposure and color balance can be difficult.
The Program AE menu
Pushing up on the joystick engages the backlight compensation. This feature can be used when shooting a subject against a strong backlight. It raises the overall exposure to bring out detail in your subject.
Push up on the joystick again to engage Spot Metering, which creates a target in the center of the frame. Whatever is in that target area, which can be moved from the center to one spot on the right and one spot on the left, becomes the reference point for exposure.
Finally, push left on the joystick for the NightAlive low light setting. This gives leave for the camcorder to drop the normal minimum shutter speed from 1/60 all the way down to 1/2 a second (and all points in between) for exposure in low light.
Overall Manual Control (6.5)
The manual control suite on the JVC GZ-MG255 is quite good compared to camcorders in its price range: a decent zoom toggle, Aperture Priority, exposure compensation, Spot Metering, Shutter Priority, focus, white balance, the ability to turn auto gain off, and a smattering of one-touch features for image improvement. This suite of controls matches about evenly with upper-end Canons, falling slightly behind Panasonic, and easily trumping Sony.
Actually Engaging the manual controls is not perfect, but it works. The LCD-mounted joystick is the smartest element. It’s conveniently placed and large enough for most fingers to grip. The problems are in the details. First of all, placing all the other controls in the LCD cavity is annoying. There’s no way to see them unless you crane your head or tilt the camcorder toward you. Either way, you’re losing the shot. Secondly, the Function menu, which contains most of the manual controls, takes up a huge portion of the screen when activated. This very nearly defeats the purpose. How can an exposure decision be made if the menu is obscuring the subject?
Micro-level interface challenges like this keep Panasonic, Sony, and Canon ahead of the game in terms of user-friendliness. JVC has improved over time with the adoption of the joystick. Now it’s time to work on their short game.
Zoom (6.0)
The JVC GZ-MG255 features a raised zoom toggle for the forefinger on top. Large hands may have some difficulty. The control is slender, but they did include a little grip area to help you. When zooming, a small progress bar appears onscreen, along with a numerical indicator to tell you exactly what the zoom power is. Depending on finger pressure, about three zoom speeds are possible. A very small portion of the zoom progress bar, perhaps the last tenth, is partitioned for controlling the digital zoom. The digital zoom can be turned off, set to 40x, or set to 300x. Strangely, that little portion of the progress bar never expands out any further to help you get more control over the exact zoom ratio.
Zoom Power Ratio (10.0)
The GZ-MG255 has a 10x optical zoom, the standard for a most compact camcorders with imagers larger than 1/6-inch. Don’t be fooled by high zooms. They are generally inflated to increase the apparent value of a camcorder with a small imager and poor image quality. All you should need is 10x, or you risk severe shakiness. If you need a closer shot, get up and walk.
The digital zoom can be activated in the menu. It can be capped at 40x, or extended all the way out to 300x. If digital zoom is to be used at all, please cap it at 40x. That means the 10x optical zoom has already been maxed out and the actual pixels are being exploded to 4x their normal size, severely reducing image quality. At 300x digital zoom… no, it’s too much to talk about.
Focus (4.0)
The focus control on the JVC GZ-MG255 is lacking, so owners should hope the auto focus never fails. To engage focus, enter the Function menu. Focus is the first option. When engaged, a small couplet of icons appears at the bottom, the old, familiar man and the mountain. For focusing on closer objects, push the joystick toward the man. For farther objects, push toward the mountain.
Sure, it’s easy. The problem is the small, low resolution LCD is the only instrument to actually gauge focus. At best, you can use the LCD to approximate the correct area. Better camcorders offer higher resolution screens, instant zoom, focal length measurements, or peaking, which shades the in-focus areas in a bright color.
Exposure & Aperture (8.09)
Unlike focus, the exposure adjustments are pretty good. Two controls are located in the function menu, Aperture Priority and “Adjust Brightness,” which is an exposure compensation tool. Kudos to JVC for making a simple control even simpler by renaming it “Adjust Brightness.” While we heartily recommend people learn the ins and outs of aperture and shutter, there are a lot of apprehensive beginners out there. The Adjust Brightness control has a range of +/-6, and does just what it says – the image gets darker or brighter. Power users may be frustrated that the actual EV values for each increment are not stated. Our only real complaint with this control is that the menu graphics obscure too much of the screen, making it difficult to see what you’re actually trying to meter.
The second option, Aperture Priority, allows you direct control over the f-stop. In this mode, shutter speed is automatically adjusted to correct exposure. Aperture values include: f/1.2, f/1.4, f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4.0, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, and f/16.
The GZ-MG255 also provides some control over auto exposure with Spot Metering. This feature, activated by pushing up twice on the joystick, creates a small red frame in the middle of the screen. Whatever is in the target will become the reference point for exposure. The frame can be moved left or right one increment, but only along a horizontal axis in the center.
Shutter Speed (6.8)
Shutter speed is adjustable when in the Shutter Priority mode, accessed via the Function menu. In this mode, the aperture is automatically adjusted to accommodate for exposure correction. Shutter speed options include: 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000, and 1/4000 of a second.
The inclusion of aperture control is a definite plus for this camcorder, though we have the same complaint we did with exposure controls: the menu graphic takes up too much of the screen. If your shot is already set up and the subject happens to be in the left side of the frame, good luck trying to see them.
White Balance (5.5)
White balance options on the JVC GZ-MG255 are located in the Function menu. Settings include: Auto, Manual, Fine, Cloud, and Halogen. None of these settings worked particularly well with indoor incandescent lighting, which is a problem, as most indoor house lighting is, in fact, incandescent. We recommend you familiarize yourself quickly with the manual white balance process in order to compensate.
Gain (1.0)
There is no manual gain control in the JVC GZ-MG255. However, all JVC camcorders offer the option to turn automatic gain (AGC) off. This control is located in the main menu. It is generally not recommended to turn AGC off, as the image quality tends to suffer greatly in low light.
Other Manual Controls (0.0)
The JVC GZ-MG255 offers backlight compensation has no other manual controls.
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