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The new GZ-MC500 was just released by JVC and breaks some new ground being the smallest three CCD camcorder ever, and being the first, and only, three CCD consumer camcorder to record to tapeless media, namely, a 4GB Microdrive. The nearest competition for the Everio for tapeless recording with 3 CCDs is Panasonic's P2 system costing upwards of $50,000 a camcorder. On top of this, the GZ-MC500 includes some upgrades to the manual control on the other Everios out now. While the camcorder’s low light and video performance has yet to be seen, hopefully it’s good enough to accommodate the nationally advertised value of US$1,799.99, with a street price around $1,600.

Specifications

Product Features
3CCD sensor dedicates one chip to red, green, and blue for true-to-life color rendering
Microdrive format lets you shoot up to 60 minutes of high-quality MPEG-2 video
10x optical zoom
1.8-inch LCD monitor
Create and share DVDs easily with included software

Technical Details
Imaging device: 3 CCD (3-1/4 .5-inch 1.33 megapixel CCDs)
Effecctive pixels: 5 megapixels
Digital still images: Up to 2560 x 1920 pixels for 8 x 10 or A4 prints
Video format: High-quality MPEG-2 video recording (up to 720 x 480 / 60 in ULTRA mode) with Dolby digital audio
Shooting capacity: UP to 60 minutes on the on the supplied removable 4GB microdrive card
Shooting modes: Four levels of video quality
Manual focus: Manual focus ring with push auto-focus button for precision and creativity
Lens: High resolution JVC lens
Zoom: 10x (8x for stills) optical / 200x digital zoom
35mm equivalent : 16:9 video to 37.8 to 378 mm. 4:3 video to 46.2 to 462 mm. Still picture to 43 to 334 mm
LCD: 1.8 inch LCD monitor
Exposure: (video: -6 to approximately +6, Stills: -2EV to approximately +2EV)
Shutter speeds : video: 1/2 to approximately 1/4000 seconds / still: 1/2 to approximately 1/500 seconds
Program AE : sports, snow, spotlight, twilight, portrait, shutter priority, aperture priority
White balance: auto, MWB, fine, cloud, halogen
Self-timer : 2 or 10 seconds
Macro shooting : as close as 5 centimeters with zoom set to wide
Tele-macro : shooting distance: up to 60 centimeters
Voice recording mode : Fine, Standard, ECO
Special effects : sepia, black and white
Advanced photo functions : Auto bracket (plus or minus 1/3 F stop and normal) and real-time histogram display
Data storage: Microdrive / CompactFlash card and SD dual card slots for extra data storage and transfer
Weight: 400 grams. Volume: under 480 cubic centimeters

Review

The GZ-MC500 is definitely an exciting camcorder as it fills the slot of the smallest three CCD camcorder as well as it breaks ground as the world’s first three CCD camcorder to use tapeless media. Aside from these accomplishments, the GS-MC500 also offers many upgrades from last fall Everios, namely enhanced manual controls and better still performance. The GZ-MC500’s impressive still resolution is definitely a plus and pushes the camcorder’s classification as a hybrid camcorder into a bit more of a realistic realm.
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