/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

JVC

Panasonic

Name

HD Everio GZ-HD7

HDC-DX3

European name ?

HD Everio GZ-HD7EX

HDC-DX3

US name ?

HD Everio GZ-HD7

HDC-DX3

lowest US price

2799 $

On the market since

April 2007

May 2007

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Sufficient

not yet tested

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

MPEG2-TS

AVCHD

Recording Medium

Built-in hard disk
SD Card

MiniDVD 8cm
MiniDVD-DL 8cm

video resolutions EU ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
HD 1920 x 1080i

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i

video resolutions US ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
HD 1920 x 1080i

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i

Max Bitrate ?

30 Mbit/s

13 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG2

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

60 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Fujinon

Leica

Optical Zoom ?

10 x

12 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

39,5 mm

38,5 mm

Filter diameter ?

46 mm

43 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/5 inch

1/4 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

530000 Pixel

560000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CCD

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/4000

1/8.000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/2

1/50

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Yes

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off
70%
100%

Histogram ?

Yes

adjustable sharpness ?

Adjustable color ?

Cinegamma ?

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Yes

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

Out

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

In
Out

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

665 g

680 g

Weight (with battery)

750 g

800 g

Battery type

JVC BN-VF815

Battery capacity

1460 mAh

Charger ?

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

91 mm

92 mm

Width

77 mm

91 mm

Depth

186 mm

163 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

269000 Pixel

183000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,8 Inch

3,0 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

207000 Pixel

251000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Ring

Manual Aperture ?

button

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Exp Lock ?

Gain ?

White balance ?

Push AF ?

Yes

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

MPEG-1 Layer2

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

Microphone ?

Stereo internal

Audio Control ?

auto

Audio levels ?

Still

Recording Medium ?

SD Card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

Resolutions ?

1920x1080
1440x1080
640x480
1024 x 768

1920x1080

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Misc.

Specials

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

luminance resolution

chrominance resolution

lens distortion

test small ISO image

noise / internal microphone

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode ?

Test image 12 lux optimized ?

slashCAM rating

Lowlight ?

Sufficient

Resolution ?

Sufficient

Color performance ?

Good

subj.Picture impression ?

Satisfactory

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Sufficient

Configuration / image ?

Satisfactory

Configuration / sound ?

Poor

Handling ?

Good

Portability ?

Very good

Photo function ?

Sufficient

Optics ?

Sufficient

Dynamics ?

Satisfactory

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Sufficient

not yet tested

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

252

Pros

+ HDV-compatible disk recording
+ High color resolution
+ good manual settings

Cons

- No FullHD
- Bad low light performance
- small wide angle

Conclusion

The JVC GZ-HD7 provides full 1920x1080 pixels for recording, which does not result in a visible improvement in recording quality, though.The recording mode 1440x1080 suffices for a full image performance with a good color resolution.The subjective image impression is satisfactory; when recording images with low contrast the details diminish due to the significant contour.In terms of color the GZ-HD7 is quite rich, the white balance on the other hand is often slow.With little light, the image grows quickly gloomy despite of the three CCDs, which combined with the relatively small wide-angle makes it less suitable for interior shots.Our test pattern also showed significant blurs and aberrations on the right border, which might suggest a not quite correctly built-in lens.

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