JVC Everio Camcorder

We’ve all heard of JVC right? I bet even if you ask your folks at home they’ll tell you they’ve seen the name somewhere. All you guys who grew up in the Dubai/Bahrain or any other country in the Middle East (where most Indians go) will have heard of JVC. The point here is that this company has been around for at least 2 decades (that we know of), so you’d think they’d have enough time to properly develop they’re technology right? I don’t think so!

JVC’s GZ-MG21E, Everio camera is exactly the kind of product I’m referring to. Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of great things about the camera, like its 20GB HDD for storage instead of the old fashioned tapes, but may be it could have been better.

Design / Interface
Pretty much all camcorders have a similar design. I mean how different could they be right? Lens, Night Light, Mic, Strap, Pull out (swivel) screen, battery pack and zoom lever, all tossed in to a cylindrical mold. Even though the JVCs Everio has, typically your average design, I have to admit, it is quite compact and light weight as camcorders go. It fits right in the palm of your hand.

It seems that they’ve found just the right areas to place the right buttons. And unlike a few other models out there, there are fewer buttons to scramble your brain with. The entire user interface is simplified so much so that your average camera user who doesn’t know a lens cap from a lie detector, could figure out the basics quite easily enough.

The clear 2-inch LCD swivel screen is accompanied by a tiny joystick to scroll through the menus or the files. I do think they could have made the option (Power, Play Mode, Camera Mode) switch a little smother though. The transition between the three tends to be a bit of a pain in the… (If you’ll excuse the French) thumb.