JVC GZ-HM340

For an HD camcorder that lists for under $500, the JVC GZ-HM340 is a rather impressive piece of technology. The camcorder has a tiny CMOS sensor, but it performed on par with last year’s GZ-HM200 from JVC—which won our award for best mid-range camcorder of the year (in 2009). In fact, the GZ-HM340 did better than the GZ-HM200 in all of our low light tests.

Even though its performance surprised us, the GZ-HM340 is still a fairly low-end camcorder. It features little in the way of manual controls and it has a number of weaknesses when it comes to handling. Its performance is also nowhere near as good as more expensive HD camcorders like the Samsung HMX-H106, Canon HF20, or Panasonic HDC-HS60—not to mention all of the flagship models from the major manufacturers.

If you’re looking for a cheap, simple HD camcorder the JVC GZ-HM340 is a decent option. However, there are plenty of other mid-range camcorders hitting the shelves in 2010 that have better performance and more elaborate features than the GZ-HM340. If you’re in the market for a mid-range model we think the best idea would be to shop around and look for a good deal on the Panasonic HDC-HS60 (or its sister models the HDC-SD60 and HDC-TM55) or wait for our reviews of the new mid-range models from Canon and Sony.