JVC GZ-HD500

JVC Everio GZ-HD500

With some of the worst video quality I've seen in an HD camcorder of late, the best I can say about JVC's entry-level HD Everio camcorder models is that they're small and cheap. Though they're $60 to $100 less than HD competitors, they're defined by a tiny, insufficient-resolution-for-HD sensor, a 20x zoom lens with no optical image stabilization (only electronic), and the lowest-resolution LCD display in their class. Perhaps JVC's goal is to upsell customers: the company offers 10 HD models for less than $800, with these four nearly identical versions that list between $400 and $550 alone. Three are flash models that differ only by built-in memory, and the fourth is an 80GB hard-disk-based model, which takes microSD cards instead of regular SDHC/SDXC cards. It bears pointing out that in JVC's confusing lineup and unlike every other manufacturer out there, the similarly named HD300 and HD320 are not sibling products to the HM300 and HM320; they have bigger, higher-resolution sensors and their flash-based sibling is the HM200. One thing the entry-level JVC models do have going for them is size: they're the lightest and smallest models in their class.