Description

The Everio GZ-HD620BUS is an elegant Full HD HDD/microSD Everio with 120GB HDD for up to 50hr. of AVCHD recording featuring 3.32M back-illuminated CMOS, Advanced Image Stabilizer and "Super LoLux" for brighter shooting in low light, digital stills up to 1920x1080 and unique shooting functions.

Customer Reviews

 JVC took lessons from General Motors - Aug 20, 2010

When the first commercially available electric car came out 12 years ago in California, they leased a limited number of them to both fleet and private consumers and then promptly quit making them, claiming that the demand for the car was too low. Then, they refused to renew any of the leases or allow potential buyers to purchase the car at the end of the least. Not only did they forego the profits that could have been realized by selling the cars to their happy customers, they went through the expense of reclaiming each vehicle, only to crush them and melt them down. Strange decision? Perhaps. Unwise allocation of resources? Certainly. But, it had to be in their best interest or they wouldn't have done it.

If video editing could be effectively done in camera, this unit would get a 10 out of 10. But, camera manufacturers rely on their drivers, software developers and computer makers to take images captured through the lens and manipulate them into something useable. The way a manufacturer engineers their software determines whether it has proven effective at "playing well with other children." Their choices MUST factor into how the product is rated. Frankly, JVC needs to return to grade school.

The box of a brand new JVC Everio GZ-HD6 says that the system requirements for this camera include "Macintosh G4/G5 and Intel dual core processors with speeds of 1.66 GHz or faster" It also says "Full HD" and "1080P". That is why I bought it! Then, I quickly found out that both are blatently untrue. The camera is interpolated - or 1080i. Without question, it creates beautiful images. But I say "so what - if the images it creates are unusable".

Reviewing the camera on Amazon, what you will find is that, these days, no Macintosh system requirements are listed; only a disclaimer: "Note: Software for Macintosh is not included. The applicable software is required. The system requirements information above is not a guarantee that the provided software will work on all personal computers meeting those requirements." Here is the real truth. The developers on both sides have made the .TOD files nearly impossible to use with industry standard professional software like Final Cut Pro and Premiere. I tried editing with versions of both and I couldn't make movies without numerous additional time-wasting completely unnecessary steps in my workflow. To their credit, Sony Vegas works like a champ with the PC software JVC provides in the box, but there is no Mac version.

I have visited JVC Everio online to see if they have resolved these issues in new cameras. What I discovered is that they have nothing even close to the quality of an HD6 or HD7 in their current consumer line up. It isn't because they haven't perfected the technology.

This series of camera is the General Motors electric car of a decade ago. Big oil came along and dictated what would take place. The camera, like the car, was just too good to be true, so someone had to make it ineffective in the real world; and ultimately they had to make it go away. I'm left with a stellar camera awaiting only the recall notice.

So, JVC.... are you merely smashing them - or are you melting them down as well? Who was your "big oil"? I guess the question is rhetorical since I can easily edit my footage using Sony Vegas on a PC. My warranty expires tomorrow. I take it there is nothing you are willing to do to make this right.

 First test of the JVC GZ-HD620 - Jul 20, 2010

I did a lot of research before buying this product because I was concerned about low light performance(many HD cameras record grainy in low light.) You need to spend some time with the manuals to get full use of the features.

Pros: Small, light, easy to use, everything performs as it should.
Low light performance was exellent, this is what makes it stand out from most others, a feature called Super LoLux (Warning-cheaper JVC models don't have this feature-I bought one and returned it). Here is a YouTube URL from our first use
[...]
or just do a YouTube search for Shayla and Jake. Select the highest resolution and go full screen and judge the video quality for yourself.

Cons: Just one, It comes with no cables for connecting to an HD TV. You must purchase a 'Mini HDMI' yourself. This is the only reason I did not give it 5 Stars.

Battery life is about 45 min. I will be ordering a second one.
I hope this helps.

 happy - Jul 06, 2010

picture looks great....and believe the low light feature they talk about. i filmed my daughters birthday party inside with very low light....and even with just candles burning....and it adjusted very well, and still had a clear picture. Only downfall was that the software they give you to transfer the video to your pc seemed to not work well for me. I even tried on two different computers. The picture kept skipping while trying to view on the pc...

 Great Picture, Lot's of Wind Noise - Watch Video Test - Jun 23, 2010

On the whole I'm very happy with this camera. Excellent detail and color. One drawback is that the microphones pick up a lot of windnoise which can drown out the recording. To remedy this I bought WindCutters and placed them on the microphone holes. This solved the problem.

[...]

You can watch a video I took before I put the Windcutters on by following the link below. This is a video about an Urban Farm in the heart of San Francisco. I got some incredible close-ups of bees!

[...]

 Great Camera, Great Price - Jun 12, 2010

Having researched a bit about buying a High Def Camcorder these last two weeks, I made the decision to go for HD620, and on the whole, I certainly don't regret it.
Having said that, I've only had the camera for a few hours now, so my 'review' isn't a fully fledged full review at all, but more with first impressions.

One thing I would like to share before I list any negatives, is this..
I set up the camcorder on a tripod and zoomed in to some plants down at ground level far below my 6th floor apartment, then set it to record (on UXP mode). After a minute or so of recording I plugged it into my HDTV, and I was totally blown away at the level of details on this HD picture, I could see ants walking up the plants and flies near by, and this must be close to 80-100 metres away.. WOW!!! On this basis alone, I felt justified in my purchase.

I've yet to test it properly, but first impressions are looking very favorable.. So why only the 4 stars..
The Negatives..
- For me (others may not have issues) I find the scroll bar and the button presses a little fiddly, it may take some getting used to, but I find myself scrolling right past the menu item I want very easily.
-Lack of separate charger.. You charge the battery by having the battery on the camcorder and then the power cord plugs into the camcorder. I would prefer having a separate battery charger - they are an optional extra, but it would be good if they were included as standard.
-Software doesn't work on a Mac. I pushed in the JVC disc, but noticed all the files were for windows. Not too fussed as I would be using Adobe Premiere anyway. But still, I wanted to check out the software.

Ok, 3 negatives, but honestly, they are only small things. Overall, for the price, I don't think you can go too far wrong purchasing this camcorder.

 I love it! - Jun 09, 2010

I bought this camera after my 4 year JVC 30 GB HDD camera started pixelating my videos. Not the look I'm going for on YouTube! I wanted to finally upgrade to a high definition camera but wanted to be economical. I went to the store with the big yellow tag to preview cameras. I tested lots of brands but I'm most familiar with JVC. According to the salesman, most cameras today do not come with a remote. ??? Being a solo videographer, a remote is paramount and the JVC does come with a remote. Being a comparison shopper, I checked the prices on Amazon and it was priced better and had 2 day shipping with Amazon prime. The camera is wonderful. The videos are rich and true HD. The still shots are not the best for me, but I have a digital still camera for that purpose so not a deal breaker for me.

The Bad:
The buttons are a little awkward and small but not a deal breaker for me. If you want a viewfinder, there is not one. It took me a minute to realize there's no "power" button. The camera comes on and turns off when you open or close the flip out screen. There is no separate battery charger other than the AC one that plugs into the camera. There IS a separate battery charger available for purchase. I ended up buying one and an extended battery too because the power was quickly exhausted in the one that came with the camera.

I'm still fumbling with the best way to review footage. The "laser touch" is a little quirky but I am getting the hang of it.
The major drawback of this camera is that when I dropped the AVCHD (raw video footage) into my slide show program, the video played in "double time" meaning the audio did not match the video. I emailed my slide show company and they explained that the AVCHD files were "raw files" and would not drop and drag in some programs. They had to be converted. I found a program that converts but of course, for a fee. You can drop and drag the raw file footage in Adobe Premiere Elements without a problem but I like the features of my other program.

The Good: The remotes that I own from my previous JVC camcorder works with this one too so if I lose one and I've been known to do so, I have backups. The camera is small and sleek. It is priced right too. The video quality is great. The audio is great too. I recorded my cousins commencement speech and could hear it perfectly, along with the crying baby behind me. LOL. The internal 120GB storage is a treat to have.


Are there better HD camcorders to buy? Sure. But for the price, the brand and quality of this JVC, this is a great camera. I high recommend it for someone who wants to upgrade to a true HD camcorder with a remote!

 Great camcorder! - May 31, 2010

I recently purchased this camcorder and just used it this past weekend to record my nephew's graduation and open house. I couldn't be happier. It was easy to use right out of the box and the quality of the picture is amazing. I was even able to take some snapshots from the video of the ceremony, and once I reduced the size, the quality was similar to a picture I would take with my camera. This isn't going to replace your camera, but is far, far better than the snapshots I got with my old Sony Handycam. Some of the video was in a brightly lit gymnasium, some outside in bright sunlight, and some inside a moderately lit house, but all of the video came out great.

I use my own video editing software (Cyberlink PowerDirector) so I can't speak to the quality of the software that comes with the camera. I just upload the the .mts file to my computer and edit it with PD.

 Fantastic Camcorder That Can't Be Beat For The $$! - Mar 18, 2010

I needed a good quality high definition camcorder for a small business on a tight budget. This new JVC GZ-HD620 is a great little camcorder for the money. It is a BIG Technological Upgrade from last years JVC HD Model i had bought from Sam's club and returned soon afterword. It focuses very well on far away moving objects, and the color and clarity can't be beat even in indoor low light situations. The zoom is very smooth too.

I have not installed it's software because i use another production program. I just copy it's .MTS video files to my computer hard drive and then produce them into flash media files that i can self stream to my client's websites and on eBay and Craigs list ads. I am posting a review later today with actual HD video taken with this camcorder at [...]

Overall I am very impressed with this camcorder and give it a big thumbs up and 5 Stars! And also a big thumbs up to Amazon.com for the easy order process and fast shipping! Thank You from the Website Doctor.. :)