JVC GZ-MG330 Camcorder Review

Audio

You'll find no accessory shoe, no Mic or Headphone inputs, and no level control—just an internal microphone. This isn't exactly a videographer's dream, but it's also to be expected in a camcorder of this price range. Only the Panasonic SDR-H60 and the Samsung SC-MX20 offer the same dearth of audio options. The Sony DCR-SR85 has a hot accessory shoe up top and a Zoom Mic features. The standard def series from Canon, including the Canon FS11, at least has a microphone input.

Push the Play/Rec button in the LCD cavity to enter the MG330's playback mode.

Playback (4.75)
The MG330 has a nice quick playback feature that allows you to review a clip just after you've finished recording it. In this age of digital point and shoot cameras, this is a great feature to have—most people have an almost automatic response to cluster around a camera after a great memory has been recorded.

For the more fully featured playback, you can press the Play/Rec button inside the LCD cavity to enter Playback mode. The screen that appears will be filled with individual thumbnails representing each video clip. To review still images, you'll have to switch to Photo mode, then enter the playback interface. Once you're in video playback, there are three buttons located at the bottom of the LCD: Search by Date, Search Event Files, and Delete. Thank goodness you can just delete a clip from within the thumbnail interface. We're tired of having to delete during playback or enter the menu in order to access the delete "option." JVC is saving us a lot of headaches here.

You can scroll through thumbnails using the laser touch panel and select them by pressing the OK button. Once a video clip is selected, it begins playing within the entirety of the LCD screen. The three nondescript buttons at the bottom of the LCD panel now change functions to control playback: Play/Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward, Slow Rewind, and Slow Fast Forward. On the left, the Laser Touch slider can now be tapped like individual buttons, each area on the slider representing a different function: Next Clip, Previous Clip, and Stop. In Photo playback mode, the laser touch panel buttons rotate the image 90 degrees.

The Video Playback menu can be accessed by pressing the Menu button and contains the following options: Delete, Protect/Cancel, Playback Playlist, Playback MPG File, Edited Copy, Change Event Reg., Edit Playlist, Effect, Wipe/Fader, and Basic Settings. You can also press the Title button within the LCD cavity in order to add a number of decorative title screens to each clip or event.

Video playback is represented as a series of thumnails.

Connectivity (4.0)
The GZ-MG330 is minimalistic in its port use—and could be more robust in its design. There are four ports total, three of which are housed in flimsy rubberized enclosures. The USB terminal is located in front, underneath the lens, while the DC input is situated in back, above the battery. The AV jack is located on the right side, underneath the hand strap, and the microSD/SDHC card slot is located on the bottom. The microSD slot is the only one of the ports with a moderately sturdy cover. The little hatch door will probably do better than the thin tethers on the other ports. And kudos to JVC for resisting the temptation of implementing proprietary ports, like the AV ports on Sony and Canon camcorders.

The standard AV output...	... the mini-USB connection...

...the DC power input...	...and the microSD memory card slot.