JVC GR-D33 First Impressions Camcorder Review

by Mark Bassett
Published on Feb 7, 2004 12:00 AM



Three JVC Compact Series were introduced at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV. Their set up had eight monitors and diverse lighting, that meant we could do a basic evaluation of low light and video performance when their reps weren’t looking. The low end of the GR-D Compact Series is the GR-D33US, JVC has made some minor changes and improvements to this low end camcorder.

The GR-D33US underwent a size reduction of 20 percent from last years Compact Series. The camcorder is for use in full automation, and saves stills to tape. The GR-D33US has the same 1/6th inch 680k CCD as the GRD72US and has a similar 16x zoom. Even the low end GR-D33US has a built in LED, and a 2.5 inch LCD.

The GR-D33US has a Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $449.99. The GR-D33US is an option for novice consumers on a budget looking for a MiniDV cassette camcorder with a built in LED light source, and a 16x optical zoom.

Video Performance
JVC’s GR-D33US has a 1/6 inch 680k CCD. This is the approximate size of CCD of the majority of the one CCD camcorders at CES. In the optimal lighting areas of the display, The GR-D33US displayed a crisp, clear picture on the supplied monitors. When shooting in the illuminated shadows corners of the room, the GR-D33US captured colors accurately, although a little on the drab side. These observations were made with the built in LED light source turned off. What was turned on was the digital 3-D Noise Reduction to enhance picture in low light situations.

The Front
The front of the JVC GR-D33US is topped with a 30mm lens. The JVC Video Lens has a 16x optical zoom which is the same as one model up, the GR-D72 (Review, Specs, $207.95) and higher than the GR-D93 (Review, Specs, $479). Perhaps with the CCD dedicated to video, and/or video stills, pixels are dedicated and zoom power can be upped. There is an infrared sensor for light metering below the lens. To the left of the sensor is a two-bulb LED light, and a two channel microphone that records in 12 or 16 bit sound.

The Right Side
On the right of the GR-D33US is the bottom loading MiniDV cassette mechanism. A pleather palm-strap leaves the GR-D33US loose. At the back of the camcorder is a mode-adjust dial with four settings: manual, automatic, off, and playback. In the automatic setting, there is limited access to manual controls.

The Back
The back of the GR-D33US is mostly the battery. There is a lengthwise record switch on the right side. On top of the switch is lettering which tells the users where they are on the depressible jog dial on the top of the GR-D33US, it has (+) and (–) and several (.) in between for manual control features. Next to that label is the completely stationary viewfinder.

The Left Side
The left side of GR-D33US houses the 2.5 inch LCD. Underneath the LCD are the playback switches stop, rewind, play, and fast forward. Rewind doubles as night shot. Under the playback switches is a quarter sized speaker and the video ports. These include SVideo and Firewire. Situated at the back of the camcorder, are the AV in/out input, the DC power cable, and the two-bulb LED button.

The Top
The top of the GR-D33US is boxy looking and two tone. The MiniDV cassette mechanism side is dark gray and the lens side is blue stripped silver. On the back right side is a raised zoom that controls telephoto/widescreen zoom. Behind the zoom control is the electronic shutter for taking still pictures to tape, and the depressible jog dial responsible for controlling all of the camcorders features.

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control
The GR-D33US processor works well in auto and users have a fair amount of manual controls to adjust picture.

Overall Manual Control
Manual control on the JVC GR-D30 is in the LCD menu, and controlled by a small a depressible jog dial at back of the top of the MiniDV cassette mechanism housing. This is device changes focus, exposure, shutter speed, and white balance. Shutter speed steps are 1/50th to 1/4000th. The one negative about the jog dial, is that it is tine and hard to use with big fingers. To access all the manual control you have to navigate through the camcorder menus which is quite a pain.

Zoom
The JVC GR-D33US has a strong 16x optical zoom which is only two power steps below Canon’s ZR80MC with an 18x optical zoom. Other camcorders in this price range have 10x optical zooms. The zoom toggle is well designed for three variable speed zooms. While the GR-D33US is capable of 700x of digital zoom, it produces grainy video and I would never recommend using the digital zoom.

Focus
Focusing is controlled through the depressible jog dial on the GR-D33US. The dial is small; of course a manual focus ring would be an improvement. Of course with a 30mm lens it’ll be a small ring, but that’s ok with the staff at Caminfo.

Exposure (Aperture)
You can adjust manual exposure on the GR-D33 through the LCD menu and depressible dial, however it’s a pain to have to navigate through the menu system.

Shutter Speed
On the GR-D72US shutter speed is control is also buried away in the LCD menu. Speed steps start at 1/50th and go up to 1,000th of a second.

White Balance
White balance settings are standard the GR-D33US: Indoor, Outdoor, Manual, and Automatic.

Gain
The JVC GR-D33US offers no manual gain control.

Still Performance
The GR-D33US shoots stills to tape at 640x480 pixel resolution.

VCR Mode
Rewind, fast forward, play, and stop on the GR-D33 is controlled by switches located beneath the LCD menu. Not only are they small, the LCD must be opened for playback meaning you can’t watch the videos on your viewfinder.

Low Light Performance
It's very difficult to make conclusions about video quality at a show, the lighting conditions are not designed for objective evaluation, however the room where the JVC camcorders was somewhat dark so we able to at least draw some preliminary conclusions - however, we can't make any hard decisions about the low light performance of any of the camcorders we saw at CES until we have production models in our hands for testing.

On the monitor, the GR-D33US produced a clear image in low light of a Fuji MiniDV cassette with a bright green and blue wrapper with the lettering and images on the exterior of the MiniDV cassette in focus and readable, but there was practically no color. The image looked black and white. The clarity of image can likely be attributed JVCs 3-D Noise reduction feature for enhanced picture clarity, and edge noise reduction. The test was done in automatic without the two-bulb built in LED. The GR-D33US has a 1/6th inch 680k CCD.

LCD/ Viewfinder
The GR-D33 has a 2.5 in color LCD screen, but menu fonts are large and crowd the display and it’s worse on the viewfinder. The LCD angles, but the color viewfinder is completely stationary—it may be the only brand without a movable viewfinder.

Audio
The JVC Hi-Definition televisions and accessories exhibitions, made sound evaluation impossible, however, built in microphones don’t provide great sound, and there is no microphone accessory, or microphone in jack.

Handling
JVC’s GR-D33US is somewhat uncomfortable to hold, because the palm-strap isn’t designed well. The camcorder slides around when in hand, and doesn’t feel substantial. Perhaps the palm-strap should be altered now that the camcorder is 20 percent smaller. Although we didn't try this on the show floor, tightening the handstrap could have possibly solved the problems. Improvement on the design of the depressible jog dial, like an increase in size or a second dial for manual controls at the front of the camcorder where the user’s left thumb will rest if steadying the camcorder with two hands while shooting. The LED light has multiple bulbs and is super bright, and the control switch is large and on the exterior of the camcorder making it easy to use.

Ports
The GR-D33US has a Mini AV in / out jack, which is also the headphone jack, an SVideo In/Out, and a Firewire port.

Other Features

The GR-D33US’s main other feature is the top-notch, two-bulb LED.
16:9 widescreen mode
The GR-D33US has digitally stretched wide screen.
Webcam
There is a Firewire but no included software.
MPEG
NA
Analog to Digital Pass Through
The GR-D33US has analog digital pass through capabilities.


Comparisons

The low end of the new GR-D line is the GR-D33US. It has a 1/6 inch 680k CCD, with a good 16x optical zoom and a built in two-bulb LED. Canon’s low end model, the ZR80MC, has the same CCD and a comparable optical zoom for about $50 more. However, Canon’s camcorder is larger, and is better to hold in hand than the JVC with playback button on the exterior and the premier Canon lens. The Sharp VL-Z300U is also a comparable camcorder. The Sharp has a minimal 10x optical zoom no LED. The Sharp like the Canon has a 1/6th inch 680k CCD, and shoot stills at 640x480. Sharp’s VL-Z300U is about the same size as the JVC GR-D72US, but because of the palm-strap and rounded design is handles significantly better.


Who's it For
Point and Shooter's
The GR-D33US is a good choice for a point and shoot camcorder with a 1/6 inch 680k CCD, a 16x optical zoom, and the built in LED help in low-light situations.
Budget Consumers
The GR-D33US is for budget minded consumer around $50 less than the competition you get a 1/6th inch 680k CCD, 16x optical zoom and a two-bulb LED. The shortfalls are the lack of accessory-shoe and the hand palm-strap.
Still Photo / Video Camera Hybrid
NA
Gadget Freaks
The only feature on the GR-D33 which we would clasify as a gadget is the built in light, however we did find that the light did provide some minimal value in filling in their face with light when shooting subjects very close up (no more than 3 feet away).
Manual Control Freaks Manual controls on the GR-D33US are tough to use because the depressible jog dial is too small.
Pro's/ Serious Hobbyists
It could work if you’re looking for a moderately priced, fully automatic, small CCD cam with some zoom juice.
Conclusion
The low end of the GR-D line, the GR-D33US is a point and shoot camcorder with a large optical zoom and a two-bulb built in LED. Unfortunately there are no external microphone capabilities and the strap is a little on the loose side.