$199 JVC Everio 1080i HD Video Camera Test Review Model # GZ-HM320BU

[ClarknorProductions]

are you positive that this is 1080p? as far as I'm aware the JVC Everio is 1080i

[hoohoohoblin]

@ClarknorProductions You're right. The documentation that came with the camera says 1080, but there's no letter after it. I wonder if they left the letter out on purpose. It is a 1080i camera. 

[ClarknorProductions]

@hoohoohoblin hmmm does make you wonder. I only noticed today when my girlfriend was doing her coursework. It should be more clearer, I had to do research to confirm it was interlaced...really beautiful footage though, just a pain to see frame by frame

[hoohoohoblin]

@ClarknorProductions It does a good job for the price. Most of my videos were shot with the camera.

[MakeupByVannessa]

how is the battery life on this thing?

[hoohoohoblin]

@MakeupByVannessa It's good for about an hour. I looked around on eBay but wasn't able to find a bigger replacement battery that plugs in where the original goes.

[slupine]

Awesome! The other test videos I've seen so far didn't really go through everything like this one did. I have to wonder, though, since some of the vids have better quality than others - have you notice that having it save to certain file formats records at better quality than others?

[hoohoohoblin]

@slupine Thanks! I've done most of my videos in MPEG4 format, using Pinnacle Studio to edit them, setting the quality to 1080p HD. The camera's native format, AVCHD is really big, and some video programs have trouble editing it. Some of my older videos were shot on videotape, and some of my newer ones were shot on a crappy Android cell phone. But most of what I do is on the Everio. I'm really happy with it, and you can get them for around $200 refurbished now.

[adrianTheGoodKiiD]

what program did you upload this with ? Cause i have the same camera but i have bad quality. Please reply

[hoohoohoblin]

@adrianTheGoodKiiD I shot it in one take and uploaded directly from the SD card in the camera to YouTube using YouTube's upload utility. On some videos directly uploaded to YouTube this way, the picture looks a little wiggly or there are pops in the audio which weren't there on the original file if you play it back on the camera. Most of my other new videos are edited using Pinnacle Studio HD and output in 1080P MP4 format, and they have no problems. YouTube seems to like MP4 better than AVCHD

[wutangkillabeez4life]

what format does this jvc output?

[hoohoohoblin]

@wutangkillabeez4life It creates files in AVCHD format. You can choose different levels of quality. I have it set at the highest quality, which is 1080p. You need a powerful computer and a good editing program to handle files that big. Before you buy an editing program, make sure it can handle 1080p AVCHD, and make sure your computer meets the minimum system requirements. I have a 64-bit AMD Phenom quad core computer with a big video card, and I use Pinnacle Studio HD for editing.

[Z3phlar]

@hoohoohoblin I do NOT have a good computer atm. I'm looking for a powerful desktop like that but I'm not trying to break the bank. I've googled some products but you seem to be pretty savvy so maybe you have some advice?+

[hoohoohoblin]

@Z3phlar I always buy refurbished. It's as good as new, but half the price. I have bought computers from tigerdirect and from woot. Woot only sells one item per day, so you have to wait until it's computer day. Tigerdirect has a whole bunch of computers you can choose from.

[Z3phlar]

Thanks for putting this up. Just purchased one today and needed to know if I made the wrong choice. Gj covering different areas.

[hoohoohoblin]

@Z3phlar I'm glad I could help. You'll be happy with the JVC Everio camera. It's been great for me. Make sure you read the book and play with the settings and features to get the most out of it. It has a really cool time-lapse mode you can activate to take speeded up videos of sunsets and clouds and things like that. I think it's as good as a camera that costs twice as much.