Photography

For many family chroniclers, the two golden rules of a good camcorder are portability and usability. If these two criteria are at the top of your list, the JVC Everio GZ-MG330 is an excellent choice.

The MG330 is small—really small—weighing in at just under 13 oz (including battery). Measuring just 4 1/2 inches on its longest size, this camcorder is easily carried and can be held comfortably for long periods of time. Paired with a small case, the MG330 can be slipped into a backpack or purse for easy portability, or can even be carried on your belt.

In function, the MG330 has a slick interface and a 30MB hard-drive that compares to those mini-DV camcorders like a DVD player compares to a VCR. Instead of rewinding, fast-forwarding and constantly guessing where one clip ends and another begins, you can simply scroll through a visual list of clips and select one for viewing. The camera's unique user interface includes a "laser-touch" control bar—a cool touch-sensitive blue strip on the left side of the screen that replaces a scrolling wheel. The well-designed menu options make it easy to configure and use the camera and to play back video.

The MG330's LCD screen is 2.7 inches, but there is no corresponding viewfinder, which means that in certain light situations your subject may be difficult to follow. It also features an impressive 35x zoom, although even the image stabilization feature may not be enough to make video shot at maximum zoom watchable.

There are some cool bells and whistles, too, such as the ability to add an "event" icon to your video, which will help when you want to organize your video later on. An added bonus is the availability of the MG330's DVD burning counterpart (the ShareStation), which can be purchased as an add-on for less than $200. The ShareStation doesn't require a PC—simply dock your camcorder and the unit automatically burns your video onto DVD.

The MG330's 30MB hard-drive is enough to capture 7 hours of video at ultra-fine resolution, but here's where this camcorder falls short. The MG330 records using MPEG-2 format, and when playing video back on even a reasonably large television screen you are likely to notice compression artifacts (blocky areas similar to what you might see on a low-quality JPG image). This problem gets worse, obviously, as bit rate is decreased, and the lower bit rates are barely even worth considering if your goal is to take quality video. Also patently useless is the MG330's still image feature—even at the highest resolution these images look bad, and are too poor quality to print. If you plan to use your MG330 to document a family outing or vacation, you will need to have a still camera on hand as well, as the MG330 does not function as a replacement.

I still give this camcorder pretty high marks, though, especially for parents who already have a lot of stuff to carry around on family outings, or for active people who don't want to weigh themselves down with equipment when outdoors. The MG330 is practical and records acceptable video without the need for removable storage media, which in itself is worth the price of this camera.

The JVC Everio GZ-MG330 retails for between $350 and $450.