Camcorder News

December 3, 2009 – Yesterday, JVC-Victor Japan released three new standard definition camcorders for the company's Everio lineup: the GZ-MG980, GZ-MS230, and GZ-MS210. All three models are smaller and lighter than their predecessors, offer a bit more zoom power, and utilize JVC's brand new 'Active Mode' stabilization. These camcorders are currently available only in Japan, but they might be indicators of what we can expect when the company announces its 2010 American lineup.

The GZ-MG980, currently selling for about $690 in Japan, represents JVC's new top-of-the-line standard definition camcorder. In most respects, the MG980 is an upgrade to the GZ-MG880 released in Japan last year. The 32x optical zoom has been replaced with a 39x optical zoom (53x advanced zoom) and the digital image stabilization has an additional 'Active Mode.' So far, this second level of stabilization is only available on these new standard definition camcorders, but we anticipate that JVC will add the new technology to their high definition lineup in 2010. The other significant change for the MG980 is a new body design, which is smaller and approximately 60g lighter than last year's MG880 and MG840.

The rest of the camcorder's features are being carried over from the MG880: the same 1/6-inch 1.07-megapixel CCD sensor, Laser Touch controls, 2.7-inch LCD, microSD/SDHC card slot, and HD upconversion. The MG980 comes with just an 80GB hard drive, suggesting that it may be replacing both the 120GB MG880 and the 60GB MG840—or that JVC plans to release a larger capacity model later. The color choices are still silver, blue, and red, but it looks like JVC might be making a shift in color tone; the blue and red are both lighter and more vivid than the 'sapphire' and 'ruby' versions of last year's models.

The blue and silver versions of the new JVC GZ-MG980.		For more photos of all three models, visit our Photo Gallery.

 
The other two Everio camcorders that were released yesterday are flash memory versions of the GZ-MG980. They include the same upgrades in zoom power, stabilization, and form factor. In fact, shedding the bulky hard drive means the GZ-MS230 and GZ-MS210 weigh just 230g—that's 60g lighter than the new MG980 and 60g lighter than last year's MS130 and MS120. The 39x optical zoom will likely be a welcome addition, as will the new active mode for image stabilization.

As for recording media, these flash memory camcorders record to regular SD/SDHC memory cards (as opposed to the microSD cards utilized by JVC's hard drive models). The MS210 seems a spiritual successor to last year's MS120, which introduced the dual slot format to the Everio line. Users can record to one SD card, then automatically switch to a card in the second slot. The MS230 is an update to the MS130, with the SD card slot option and just 8GB of internal flash memory. All three of JVC's new camcorders will continue to use MPEG-2 compression to capture 720x480 standard definition video.

We anticipate that these new products are a herald of things to come; JVC will likely announce some new camcorders stateside at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. We would estimate that JVC will incorporate Active Mode stabilization into several of its 2010 camcorders, as well as the minor improvements in zoom power, a smaller form factor, and some new shades of blue and red.

For now, we'll focus on the present. The GZ-MG980 is available in Japan for around $690 in silver, blue, and red. The GZ-MS210 and GZ-MS230 are available in silver, for $460 and $515, respectively. No word yet on an international release.

Click here to see more photos in our full photo gallery.