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APRIL 6, 2007 JVC GR-D750 Mini DV Camcorder I first used this camcorder indoors to create an inventory of the contents for insurance purposes in case of a major hurricane. It worked well even in low light. Our daughter and her husband were visiting so we took the GD-D750 to Fort Zack State Park, filmed the fort, a cruise ship, and some beach scenes. The colors were crisp and clear. The zoom worked well until I pushed it to the 34x optical limit. At that point it became fuzzy. Moving the setting back somewhat gave me a clear crisp shot. Once home I broke out the manual and read the Troubleshooting Section. God forbid that I read the manual before having a problem. Under “The focus does not adjust automatically” I found my answer. “Clean the lens as it may be dirty or have condensation on it.” I checked and there was in ugly smear on the lens. After I cleaned the lens the zoom worked perfectly. It is a good idea to stand still and hold the camera firmly while using the zoom at it highest point or you will see shaky close-ups. If you really want steady shots a tripod/unipod is best. This is good advice for all cameras with a high zoom ratio. This one also goes as high as 800X in digital zoom mode.
I must admit I had a problem adhering to my usual plan of not using the manual. Many of the functions I needed were not easily found by accident. Once I learned how to use the Control Lever and the menu button I was able to move through the different menu screens to make the changes I needed. The LCD monitor is clear except under direct sunlight. I found I could not use the viewfinder and the LCD at the same time. Also the viewfinder could not be used unless it was extended out from its base location. This is an intentional feature and not an error. There is a light for low light situations and it work fine but not as well as Night Shot on my old Sony. You can switch back and forth between 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios depending on your needs. I recorded the video I sent home with the kids using 16:9 as they have a big widescreen TV. I can watch it on my 4:3 TV. It does cut off a little at the sides and people look thinner. Maybe that is a good thing. Anything else I record will be done in 4:3 so it looks right on my TV. The GD-D750 can easily be used out of the box if you have some experience with other video cameras. However the features packed into this product make it worth your time to study the manual to expand your capabilities. Features: The GD-D750 is one of three cameras in this group. The JVC GR-D770 adds an SD slot for recording still images, USB, and Photo Navigation Software. The GR-D770 costs $279.99 and The top MiniDV model is the JVC GR-D796, which is identical to the others but comes with two batteries instead of one. It costs $329.99 |
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JVC
Three days later we went deep sea fishing. I brought the GD-D750 along and took about 30 minutes of video. I connected the GD-D750 to the