JVC GZ-MG555 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Jun 11, 2007 9:00 AM
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Still Features (10.25)
The large imager and impressive manual control set of the GZ-MG555 (Review, Specs, $626) make it a formidable still camera performer. Still resolutions in a 4:3 aspect ratio include 2592 x 1944 (5MP), 2304 x 1728 (4MP), 1600 x 1200 (1.9MP), and 640 x 480 (0.3MP). In a 16:9 aspect ratio, sizes include 2592 x 1456 (3.7MP), 1920 x 1080 (2.07MP), and 1280 x 720 (0.9MP). Each size can be set to either Fine or Standard quality. Up to 9999 images in any resolution will fit on the 30GB HDD. Stills can also be saved to SD/SDHC cards, which load on the underside of the body.
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The flash is located to the right of the lens. |
The SD card slot is located underneath the |
Most of the manual controls found in video mode also work here. The function menu houses the same white balance settings and special effects. The brightness control, which appeared in whole number increments in video mode, appear as actual 1/3 EV stops in still mode: +2.0, +1.7, +1.3, +1.0, +0.7, +0.3, 0, and then the same increments in negative. The neutral density filter button, located in the center of the mode dial, activates the timer, which can be set to 2 or 10 seconds.
The joystick works the same way; push down to adjust focus, push left to activate NightAlive, push up to activate backlight compensation and spot exposure. All of the scene modes on the mode dial are also available. Both the aperture and shutter ranges differ from video mode. In shutter priority, the settings include 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, and 1/250. The aperture range includes f/3.5, f/4.0, f/5.6, and f/8.0 (video mode goes up to f/16).
In the main menu, the gain setting can be used to adjust ISO, with settings for auto, 50, 100, 200, and 400. The GZ-MG555 (Review, Specs, $626) also offers continuous shooting and bracketing. Continuous shooting can be used in any resolution, but the larger the size, the slower the speed. Also, the longer the shutter button is held down, the slower the capture speed. We found that in the highest quality, there was about a 1 second interval. However, the camcorder was unable to shift auto exposure while continuously shooting, nor did it do a great job with focusing. In bracketing mode, the camcorder takes 3 images, one at the preset exposure level, one at -0.3EV, and one at +0.3EV.
The still photo options in the main menu
The electronic image stabilization does not work in still mode.
As with most HDD camcorders, playback mode for still photos looks similar to playback in video mode. Images appear as thumbnails, nine to a page. Push in on the joystick to make the image fill the screen. Pushing the Info button in the LCD cavity will bring up a several bits of information. Push once for basic EXIF data (filename, date & time, size, and quality), then push a second time for shutter, aperture, ISO info, and a histogram. The histogram is small, but effective for general purpose exposure review. The histogram is not available during live shooting, and is not available anywhere in video mode.
Still Performance (8.5)
The large size of the GZ-MG555 (Review, Specs, $626)’s stills were more or less matched by satisfactory quality. The colors were did not appear as oversaturated as they did in the video image. In comparison to the Canon DC50 (Review, Specs, $649.99), a comparably priced DVD camcorder, the stills had more accurate color, but almost 50% more noise. JVC’s GZ-HD7 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1529), the HD Everio that goes for considerably more money, produced a color accuracy in the same range, but also had a lot less noise.
We tested still performance by shooting a Gretag McBeth Color Checker chart at 3000 lux and running those stills through Imatest imaging software. At best, the GZ-MG555 (Review, Specs, $626) produced a color error of 7.03, with a noise value of 1.355% and a saturation of 108.6%. In order to get this score, we had to lower the “brightness” (known as exposure compensation to most photographers) to -0.7, or -2/3 EV. When shooting in auto mode, the image was oversaturating considerably more.
Still Resolution (42.5)
To assess still resolution of the JVC GZ-MG555 (Review, Specs, $626), we shot an Applied Image ISO 12233 resolution chart and ran those stills through Imatest imaging software. At best, the JVC GZ-MG555 produced a horizontal resolution of 1785 line widths per picture (lw/ph) – with a 1.84% clipping and a 5.26% oversharpening – and a vertical resolution of 1671 – with a 1.08% clipping and an 11.5% oversharpening.
This was one of the highest resolution scores this year, which should not be surprising give that this is also one of the largest imagers. The GZ-MG555 produced a far higher resolution than the JVC GZ-HD7, which has three smaller CCDs. The MG555 also performed better than the Canon DC50 (Review, Specs, $649.99), which had a similarly sized imager.
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