JVC Everio GZ-MG730 – poor quality camcorder

Thumbs Up:

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 delivers good photo quality and solid standard-def video quality. It has a small and comfortable design. The GZ-MG730 comes with a docking station and a remote control.

Thumbs Down:

The menu navigation is tricky with polarized interface. There is no slot for external mic and headphone. The camcorder is over-priced.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 is 7.38-megapixels camera that has CCD optical sensor of 1/2.5” size. The camcorder has built-in 30GB hard disk drive. The enclosure color is Onyx black and the GZ-MG730 has 300x digital zoom. The maximum shutter speed is 1/4000 second and minimum is 1/2 second. The Everio camcorder has Electronic Image Stabilizer and digital photo mode for shooting. The shooting programs are Twilight mode, Portrait Mode, Sports Mode, Spotlight and Snow.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 has 2.7-inch rotating LCD display based on TFT active matrix. This display works as viewfinder of 1,12,000 pixels resolution. The camcorder has three steps auto exposure bracketing. The exposure modes are Automatic, Shutter-priority and Program. The white balance is of three types: Automatic, Presets and Custom. Its presets include Halogen, Cloudy and Fine. The camcorder has inbuilt flash with Auto flash mode.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 has zoom lens of focal length 6.3mm-66mm with an aperture of F/3.5. The lens provides 10x optical zoom and the zoom adjustment is motorized drive. The auto focus is TTL contrast detection and focus adjustment modes are manual and automatic. The lens has a filter size of 43mm. The GZ-MG730 has widescreen video capture and inbuilt stereo microphone with feature of wind noise reduction. The self-timer delay is available with the timings of 2 seconds and 10 seconds.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 captures images in JPEG format and stores videos in MPEG2 format. The image-storage resolution options are JPEG 640×480, JPEG 1280×720, JPEG 1600×1200, JPEG 1920×1080, JPEG 2592×1456, JPEG 2592×1944, JPEG 3072×1728 and JPEG 3072×2304.

The special effects of JVC Everio GZ-MG730 are Black & White, Classic Film, Storbe and Sepia. The digital scene transition options includes Shutter wipe, Window wipe, Black & White, White fader, Scroll wipe, Corner wipe, Black fader, Slide wipe and Door wipe.

The additional features of JVC Everio GZ-MG730 are Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording, Digital noise reduction, Digital image rotation, Backlight compensation, USB 2.0 compatibility, PictBridge Support, Histogram display, inbuilt lens shield, Date/Time Stamp, Auto power save, Direct print and DPOF support. The GZ-MG730 also has an infrared remote control.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 has five interfaces: 1× IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.LINK), 1×Docking station, 1×DC power input , 1×Composite video/audio output, and 1×USB. It also has an expansion slot for microSD card.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 has JVC BN-VF808 lithium ion 1460mAH battery. The accessories supplied with the GZ-MG730 includes camcorder shoulder strap, docking station, remote control, drivers & software discs, battery, USB cable, A/V cable and power adapter. The software set supplied with the camcorder includes JVC Digital Photo Navigator, Cyberlink PowerProducer, Cyberlink PowerDirector, Cyberlink PowerCinema and drivers & utilities.

Razzle Dazzle:

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 is 4.7 inches deep, 2.8 inches wide and 2.7 inches tall and weighs around 12.8 ounces with battery. Its size is a bit larger than JVC Everio GZ-MS100 (microSD card) camcorder.

Inside Dope:

Unlike other camcorder manufacturers, JVC has a standard to include high-resolution image sensor in its product range. The new JVC Everio GZ-MG730 has 7-megapixels sensor instead of normal 680,000 pixels or 1-megapixel sensor. JVC had manufactured GZ-MG730 with a goal to provide a single-body device for both still camera and camcorder. The new JVC suffers with some issues like its competitor – Sony Handycam DCR-SR85 and Canon HG10. The Everio GZ-MG730 has both 30GB inbuilt hard drive and microSD card slot. However, it does not have a slot for headphone or external microphone.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 has 2.7-inch flip-type LCD display and well-placed controls. A dial surrounding the record button sits on the back, which is thumb-reachable. You can use this dial to change various modes for both still capture and video recording such as Aperture Priority, Shutter, Manual (Program AE), Auto and six scene options. The battery is also located on the back and takes up a lot of space. A switch button sits above the battery that can change shooting mode from still capture to video. However, you cannot capture still photographs while shooting video. Snapshot button and zoom rocker are located on the top.

You can flip-open the display to access a panel of buttons that includes button to turn-on inbuilt neutral density filter, button to jump from record to playback, Direct Back Up, Direct DVD and power button. The neutral density filter decreases the light transmission for slow shutter speed in bright light. You can set the camcorder to power on with opening of LCD display. It might be difficult for new users to access these buttons, but there will be no problem after some practice.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 has a touch-sensitive strip containing Laser Touch controls located down at LCD’s left side. This strip is quick responsive and works like directional pad or joystick. This strip has five directions to select the options for adjusting shutter speed, exposure and focus. It highlights blue color when in use.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 captures still images in JPEG format and records video in MPEG2 format. The Ultra Fine Video setting works at 8.54Mbps and provides recording time of 7 hours. There are three more options to record the videos. One of them is Eco at 1.5Mbps for 37 hours 30 minutes recording time. Obviously, you will go for the Ultra Fine Video setting for better results. The GZ-MG730 captures still images at 7-megapixels.

The video quality of JVC Everio GZ-MG730 is good for its class. We recorded some small videos and captured few still photos using it. The colors were fine with passable white balance in daylight. The auto white-balance was warm in indoor shoots and the Everio GZ-MG730 did not apply fluorescent or incandescent presets like other camcorders of this range. In low light, the camcorder was slow to focus but delivered better quality than we expected. We recommend you to set manual white-balance for good results.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 does not have optical image stabilization. Therefore, extending the lens up to 10x zoom without a tripod mount will result in shaky video or photos. The zoom rocker is very touch-sensitive, so you need some practice to handle it. The Everio GZ-MG730 comes with a docking station and remote control that makes easy to watch recorded video on the computer or TV.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 is only good in well-light conditions. The photos have few artifacts, looks little sharpened and colors are off. However, the exposures are good with high-resolution. In indoor and cloudy sky environment, the quality degrades with an increase in loosing detail and noise.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 has an inbuilt 1460mAH lithium ion battery that has a life of 2.5 hours of recording. We recorded a 2 hours continuous video with the camcorder.

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 has a cost of high-quality HD camcorders like Canon HG10. The Everio model does not perform well as per its high price range, but its quality is better than standard definition camcorders such as Sony Handycam DCR-SR85.

Nitty Gritty:

JVC Everio GZ-MG730 produces good photos and passable standard-definition video in bright light. However, it is expensive and will make a hole in your pocket.