JVC GZMG555

Pros: HDD, 5MP still shots, good picture quality, accessory shoe

Cons: included software sub par

The Bottom Line: I would recommend the camera for keeping family memories and for people who are looking for better picture quality but don't want to buy a HD camcorder.

Review: As Christmas came closer, I was looking for a good present for my wife. She has always wanted a camcorder to finally start recording family memories to keep. Since I was a total beginner when it comes to camcorders, I spent a lot of time researching the ...

Pros: Good quality stills, and video. Good size and accessible controls. Dock included.

Cons: Gain turned up on initial setup. Smallest battery included.

The Bottom Line: This camera is ready to use and can be used out of the box. After about 20 minutes of fine-tuning with the manual, it can be customized for personal use.

Review: I have owned this camera now for about 6 months, and it has served me well. The video quality is very good, though not HD, and the still photos are excellent, if you have the camera set up properly. I quickly realized that the "gain" setting on the ...

Pros: -uses a harddrive, not tape or a disc, so you can have long recording sessions

Cons: -image quality is just par -poor image stabilization -expensive -poor bundled software

The Bottom Line: a good camera with nice HDD technology, but just doesn't match up to competitors in other areas with other features.

Review: when I first heard about this camcorder, I was really excited to see what it could do. The Harddrive medium is an amazing idea, something never before done (to my knowledge), and is an excellent choice. When using the camera I noticed two major pluses ...

Pros: it's compact, light weight, and the camera itself is easy to function

Cons: software program is horrible, is not user friendly at all. doesn't take good still pictures.

The Bottom Line: i like the camera, but don't recommend if you don't have a lot of patience to figure out the program, it's extremely difficult

Review: The camera is a nice camera and works like any other camcorder pretty much. We thought a nice feature would be that it's put on a hard drive and not a tape and we could put it all on dvd and send them to family and it would be wonderful. However, even ...

Pros: Small, light, compact. Easy navigation through the menus.

Cons: Mediocre image quality. Horrible(!) proprietary software. Unable to use own software.

The Bottom Line: Until JVC allows you to use your own editing and burning software - AVOID!!! The bundled software is SO awful, that any possible benefit of convenience is eliminated.

Review: There were just too many frustrations to have to tolerate. I felt relieved, disburdened, when I decided to return it. The camera had heavy saturation on the greens – greens come out mildly fluorescent. The camera cannot handle mid-level light ...