JVC Picsio GC-FM1 Camcorder Review

by Kaitlyn Chantry and Jeremy Stamas
Published on Oct 27, 2009 10:01 PM

 
Intro
 Product Tour
Colour & Noise Performance Motion & Sharpness Performance
Low Light Performance Compression & Media
Manual Controls Still Features
Handling & Use Playback & Connectivity
Audio & Other Features Flip UltraHD Comparison
Sony MHS-PM1 Comparison Kodak Zx1 Comparison
Conclusion Photo Gallery
Specs and Ratings


Introduction
The JVC GC-FM1 At first sight the Picsio GC-FM1, JVC's new ultra-compact camcorder, seems to be just another Flip competition. Beneath the metallic lustre, however,  the Picsio impressed us with an outstanding video performance, above all with very good colour accuracy and sharpness. Sadly, the Picsio has one big fault: it's build quality, a lot of controls and buttons feel cheap and unstable.
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Section The Good The Bad
Product Tour Smaller than many competing models A cheaply constructed macro switch sometimes makes good focus impossible
Colour & Noise Performance Good colour accuracy High noise levels
Motion & Sharpness Performance Some of the best sharpness we've seen in a budget camcorder 720p motion looks horrible
Low Light Performance Clear, bright image in low light Nothing in particular
Compression & Media SD/SDHC memory cards are convenient... ...but easy to lose, compared to internal flash memory.
Manual Controls Automatic white balance is quite good. Like most ultra-compacts, it lacks any kind of manual control.
Still Features The high resolution sensor results in good quality still photos. It's strangely difficult to tell when you've actually taken a photo.
Handling & Use It's easy to use and comfortable to hold. The menu and record qualities are hard to access.
Playback & Connectivity Standard playback thumbnail navigation is intuitive. Fast-forward and rewind controls are unresponsive.
Audio & Other Features Stereo audio recording is a slight advantage. Audio quality isn't great—as is the case on all ultra-compacts.

 

JVC GC-FM1 Comparisons
the Flip UltraHD the Sony MHS-PM1 the Kodak Zx1
Flip UltraHD Sony MHS-PM1 Kodak Zx1



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