JVC GZ-MG505 Camcorder Review

Compression (5.5)
The JVC GZ-MG505 (Review, Specs, $829.95) records video using MPEG-2 compression, like DVD camcorders, and Dolby Digital 2-channel digital audio. At 720 x 480 resolution, there are three video quality settings which determine your available recording time. The highest quality setting is Ultra Fine at a VBR (Variable Bit Rate) of 8.5Mbps, which is equivalent to the max rate for DVD camcorders. In Ultra Fine mode, the HDD can hold 430 minutes of video.

The lower quality settings are: Fine at 5.5Mbps or 640 minutes of video, Normal at 4.2Mbps or 840 minutes of video, and Economy at 1.5Mbps or 2250 minutes of video. The Economy setting records at a resolution of only 352x240. All of these recording modes are at a variable bit rate, meaning the actual bit rate is adjusted on the fly based on the amount of information contained in the image. MiniDV camcorders generally achieve higher video performance scores because they record video at a higher fixed data rate of 25 Mbps, although their encoding efficiency is lower.

Video footage recorded with this camcorder appears with an .MOD file extension. You can change the .MOD file extension to .MPG manually to play your footage back on many media players, but you may lose the audio component of your clips. If you want maximum flexibility with Everio footage, we advise you to get to know a file conversion program like QuickTime Pro from Apple (available for both PC and Mac).

Media (4.0)
The GZ-MG505 uses an onboard 30GB HDD (hard disk drive) as its primary capture device for both video and stills, and is also capable of recording to SD memory cards. HDD-based camcorders do away with the need to purchase and carry DVD’s or tapes, resulting in streamlined shooting: no DVD’s to change when you’ve filled it with footage, and no tapes to misplace.

If you want to work with your footage after the shoot, you’ll find that your workflow is very different than with removable media. Moving footage to a PC is done via a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connection, and the Everio’s HDD can be mounted as an external hard drive that appears on your desktop. Unfortunately, dumping the footage to your PC is where the convenience ends, and the section on editing below explains why MPEG-2 video is a bear to work with.

The other thing to consider with an HDD camcorder is durability vs. other recording formats. JVC has equipped its Everios with two protective measures designed to safeguard the drive: a floating suspension system and a drop detection system. The floating suspension system buffers the HDD against impacts, while drop detection powers off the camcorder if it perceives a falling motion. We were not able to test these systems for obvious reasons, but let us know if you have!

Editing (4.0)
MPEG-2 is a video encoding format that is at best frustrating to edit with, and the GZ-MG505 suffers from the workflow issues that plague DVD camcorders. On the plus side, MPEG-2 video is highly compressed, which is one of the factors that makes it possible to fit hours of video onto a 30GB HDD. On the minus side, highly compressed video is processor-intensive and by definition of lower quality than formats like MiniDV that have higher bitrates. As a result, there are no high-end NLE (non-linear editing) applications that can work easily with MPEG-2 footage.

This means that if you do want to edit footage shot with this camcorder, you’ll need to convert your footage into a format that is more NLE-friendly. Some NLE’s can do this on their own, but others will require that you compress the footage with the help of a video conversion tool. Apple’s Quicktime Pro is a video player available for Macs and PC’s that can be used to convert MPEG-2 footage into formats that NLE’s can read, and many others are available. Conversion is not difficult, but it is time-consuming and processor-intensive so if you want to edit your GZ-MG505 video, be sure to build in ample time for file conversion before your edit.

If you only need to archive your footage, JVC’s optional CU-VD10 Share Station DVD burner makes the process easy by enabling you to dub to DVD directly from the camcorder. But this is a level of convenience you’ll pay for to the tune of about $200.