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I was attracted to the JVC as it featured much more than similar cameras in the price range. Things like rechargeable battery, USB link (more of this later!), TV out, motion video capture, large LCD viewer, macro, 3x optical zoom and a menu bigger than a Happy Eater. You can either use ... Read review
Advantages: Excellent range of features Disadvantages: Windows Me incompatibility
...I was attracted to the JVC as it featured much more than similar cameras in the price range. Things like rechargeable battery, USB link (more of this later!), TV out, motion video capture, large LCD viewer, macro, 3x optical zoom and a menu bigger than a Happy Eater. You can either use the camera as an automatic or manual, manual allowing you to adjust practically everything from shutter speed to the iris setting.
Images can be captured ... ...quality modes: standard, fine and no compression. Be warned though that for no compression you're going to need to invest in a minimum 32mb Smartmedia card. The camera ships with an 8mb card, and has no internal memory.
It's more complicated than your usual digital camera, but for those who truly understand photography (and that excludes me!) it's a great little machine. It comes in a brushed aluminium casing, which makes a nice change ... more
I purchased my GC-X1 a couple of months ago and have been using it constantly ever since. Not so much for snapping arty photographs, more so to try and understand how it works! It's just a little bit complicated, which is great as it's complicated because it's loaded with features you would normally find on an SLR camera.
I was attracted to the JVC as it featured much more than similar cameras in the price range. Things like rechargeable battery, USB link (more of this later!), TV out, motion video capture, large LCD viewer, macro, 3x optical zoom and a menu bigger than a Happy Eater. You can either use the camera as an automatic or manual, manual allowing you to adjust practically everything from shutter speed to the iris setting.
Images can be captured in three sizes up to 2032 x 1536 with three quality modes: standard, fine and no compression. Be warned though that for no compression you're going to need to invest in a minimum 32mb Smartmedia card. The camera ships with an 8mb card, and has no internal memory.
It's more complicated than your usual digital camera, but for those who truly understand photography (and that excludes me!) it's a great little machine. It comes in a brushed aluminium casing, which makes a nice change from the black plastic casing that many camera's adorn. It can also be used with a tripod and has a self-time, which I haven't seen on many digitals to date.
It's not all good though. The biggest problem I've encountered is the USB driver software that ships with the camera isn't compatible with Windows Me. I e-mailed JVC's technical people and they advised it should work with Windows 98, but rather than downgrade I would suggest a USB Smartmedia reader from Jessops at only £29.99.
The motion video capture isn't up to much either, recording in JVC's own format which seems to be incompatible with everything I've tried and doesn't feature sound recording. So if you're after short video capture this probably isn't the camera for you.
All in all though a great 3.3 megapix camera at a good price. Ships with a slightly confused manual so I'd advise you to invest in a good digital photography book to help you get the most out of it.
The compact GC-X1 digital still camera is perfect for capturing digital still images for multimedia use. It combines easy operation with advanced features to deliver high-quality still images. Built with the same advanced technological expertise that has made JVC a leader in digital video, it incorporates a 3.3 MEGAPIXEL CCD with RGB Primary Color Filter. This 1/1.8" CCD is able to capture 2032 x 1536 pixel images, which make especially beautiful prints. Its RGB primary color filter minimizes aliasing effects to reproduce vivid colors with all their true-to-life brilliance. JVC's pixel shift technology uses precision optics and electronics to double-expose the image while shifting it up one pixel. By this method, 100% of the Green pixel image data, which has the highest impact on image clarity, is actually acquired and not interpolated. Red and Blue data is also doubled, providing overall color reproduction equivalent to over 6 megapixels. DR Pro-Still allows digital photography with a dynamic range or "latitude" that approaches film quality. By stacking the data captured by two exposure levels - one bright and one dark - it is able to accurately reproduce all areas of the picture, from bright to dark, with the same effect as having tripled the dynamic range. You can count on high quality close-ups without having to move a step yourself. The 2.3x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 37-86mm on SLR camera), including 2 aspherical-surface glass lenses, delivers crisp and clear high-contrast images. The GC-X1 is a digital still camera that shoots moving video too. The entirely digital video format, developed by JVC, ensures an e-mail-friendly small file size (100-200KB for 20 sec.), enabling speedy uploading/downloading as attachments or posted to a Web page. The "Video Player" application that plays back these video clips is provided, and can also be downloaded from JVC's website. With the GC-X1, you can easily shoot stills and videos for the whole world to see. Collage Function with multiple layering lets you add new images onto the original, layer upon layer, by the process of luminance key. Just shoot additional images against a white background, and they will be added-in, at the touch of a button. 200, 000-Pixel 2" TFT Polycrystalline Silicon Color LCD samples and displays an image every 1/25 of a second, you can follow moving subjects in real-time. The high contrast screen makes for easy viewing in the field. Built-in Auto Flash with red-eye reduction automatically lights up when existing light levels are insufficient. It can also be fired manually for fill-in flash. The AF (autofocus) system offers the AF-S mode to lock-in a single focal point and AF-C mode for continuous adjustment while shooting moving subjects. Manual focusing is also possible; with a choice of full manual adjust, fixed 2.4m, and infinity settings. With Aperture-Priority AE, you set the F-stop to increase/decrease the depth of field or pan-focus an image. Program AE automatically adjusts to the optimal shutter speed and aperture for normal shooting. And a choice of multi- and spot-metering assures high quality results with either AE mode.
