I bought this camcorder 7 months ago and have now got several tapes full of memories.
Lightweight and designed to sit comfortably in your hand, this camcorder seems to be well built and is perfect for carrying with you on holidays and family days out. Mine has sustained a few knocks and ... Read review
Advantages: Small build, comfortable to hold, great picture quality in normal daylight. Disadvantages: Bad picture quality in low lighting situations, tape-loading can be tricky if using a tripod.
I bought this camcorder 7 months ago and have now got several tapes full of memories.
Lightweight and designed to sit comfortably in your hand, this camcorder seems to be well built and is perfect for carrying with you on holidays and family days out. Mine has sustained a few knocks and bumps as all do - but I was surprised to find that the silver-grey paintwork did not scratch or chip.
Even so, I would still recommend using ... ...- if nothing else it saves on the worrying if you do drop it or knock it about.
I especially like the Velcro grips on this camcorder - easily adjustable they help to provide a good grip and make it easier to use.
The controls are clearly labelled and easy to use, and are accessed from the side panel.
Unlike a lot of the Sony models that are touch screen, this camcorder has a single button to open the menu and then a number ... more
I bought this camcorder 7 months ago and have now got several tapes full of memories.
Lightweight and designed to sit comfortably in your hand, this camcorder seems to be well built and is perfect for carrying with you on holidays and family days out. Mine has sustained a few knocks and bumps as all do - but I was surprised to find that the silver-grey paintwork did not scratch or chip. Even so, I would still recommend using a padded case when taking this camcorder out and about - if nothing else it saves on the worrying if you do drop it or knock it about. I especially like the Velcro grips on this camcorder - easily adjustable they help to provide a good grip and make it easier to use.
The controls are clearly labelled and easy to use, and are accessed from the side panel. Unlike a lot of the Sony models that are touch screen, this camcorder has a single button to open the menu and then a number of fixed controls to operate it. I found this much easier to use. The zoom controls are to the left and the right rather than the normal forwards and backwards ones, but I found that once I had used the camcorder a couple of times it was easy to remember.
The 25x optical zoom is very good, giving a great clear picture, however I found the 800x digital zoom somewhat lacking - giving a very grainy appearance.
Daylight picture quality is bright and clear - the only problems I found where in very strong sunlight when I found I seemed to get a rather washout look on the screen. I particularly liked the different effects that can be used for creating the picture (ie. Black-and white, sepia, classic film, strobe, spotlight and cinema). Very low light conditions produce a rather blurry slow-motion effect.
Mini-DV tapes are loaded at the bottom of this camcorder - making tape loading rather awkward when using a tripod.
The battery clip is situated at the rear of the model - and battery life seems to be exceedingly long - I have managed over 4 hours using standard batteries.
The firewire port is very useful - designed to allow easy transfer of video footage from the camcorder to the pc, I have found this works very quickly and is again easy to use.
Very quick to use, you can start filming 15 seconds after the camcorder has been turned on - whereas my previous camcorder used to take 2-3 minutes.
Prices for this camcorder seem to range from £200 up to £400 plus. I would recommend trying either Amazon.co.uk (prices from £201) or Comet. Currys and Tesco also sell this product, but the prices seem higher with these two merchants.
Advantages: Cheap, Good Quality, Easy to use Disadvantages: Short Battery Life
...consumed. With new batteries from JVC starting at £50 for the exact same on found in the box. I'm determined not to require one.
It's no use buying a cheap one off Ebay or somewhere. They are NOT PAL resolution and most likely your phone could capture better video. This is the real deal like all the high-end videos but comes with minimal extras and is ideal for the average user.
The controls are straight forward as always with zoom on top, on off ... ...trying to select off in the middle between record and playback modes. The other buttons, which control selection of options on the screen, are large and straightforward to use, similar to a DVD controller.
This camera hooks up to the computer Firewire, works fine and I add in all the effects afterwards. It's a fantastic piece of kit. I couldn't find better elsewhere.
Only other downside was Comet. They may have offered the cheapest price around ...
CrisisWolf 02.01.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of JVC GR D240
Advantages: light, easy to use and cheap Disadvantages: the little blue saftey button and the flimsey cover
Now we had been looking for a light and easy to use camera that we would be able to take with us on holidays we looked on here to find reviews and saw the GR-D240 but could only find the GR-D247 which seems to be the same as the GR-D240.
The advantages that I can see are:
•It's a lot smaller than anticipated which is great its about the size of your palm (6.4 x 8.4 x 14.6 cm), •Its very light (half a kilo all in), for something so small ... ...•Great sound the microphone seems to pick up all the sounds around.
•You can either have the camera on manual or on auto this is great •The zoom is great to and very easy to use The disadvantages that I have been able to see are:
•The motor comes up very loud when you play back the footage on the camera however it's easy to clear up when you transfer them to the computer.
•The battery power is a small problem but this ...
panther_hafsa 24.04.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of JVC GR D240
Advantages: Rock bottom price, but packed with well proven technology. Disadvantages: May be overtaken by new technology - i.e. direct DVD recording, HD recording
...1 hour. Instead of the JVC 5 hour battery (£95) I bought a generic on ebay for £21 and it gave me at least 5 hours - although it remains to be seen how many recharges it will take.
As most of my footage was shot in conditions of around -10C, I needed to keep the battery warm. I found a good solution in one use hand warmers, designed for fishermen, at a cost of around £1 for 8 hours heat (again on ebay).
The documentation that comes with the camera ... ...don't order it from the JVC website - if you need it, even PC World will sell you one for 1/3 the price.
And just a small addendum - I noticed that in the December issue of "Good Housekeeping", this was rated as best value "Uultimate Gift" digital camcorder, with a rating of 89/100, with the Hitachi DZ-MV750E, at twice the price (although recording direct to mini DVD instead of tape), rated at 85/100. Reviews of 6 other camcorders tested at the ...
nemo183 20.11.2005 (04.01.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of JVC GR D240
Ease of use
Recording quality
Picture quality
Sound quality
Value for money
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Advantages: I can't think of any...... Disadvantages: Very, very, expensive.
If you are buying a JVC entry level camcorder - eg GR-D240/245/247/270/290, or GR-DF series, don't be fooled into handing over good money for this starter kit. The normal retail price is around £80.00, and you get just 3 things:
1 - A battery - of the same capacity (around 1 hour) that comes with the camcorder.
2 - A single tape
3 - A carrying case
You'll probably be better off with a longer life battery - a generic copy on ebay will cost around £15. A carrying case should be around £10. A tape, say, £3. So, you get around £30 quids worth of stuff.
So very hard to see why this is sold at £80.00, and it's only worth having if it's thrown in as a freebie...............
By the way, I think that anywhere that stocks both of these products will also sell batteries, tapes and cases individually. So if you're in a hurry, buy ...
The GR-D240 compact MiniDV video camera offers innovative features, covering everyone's shooting needs, from beginners to the experienced users. With the GR-D cameras JVC introduces a 25x optical zoom and 800x digital zoom. These precision lenses offer new possibilities to users. Images can be enlarged up to 25 times without encountering jagged edges or other undesirable noise in the image. The picture can further be enlarged up to 800 times when the digital zoom is employed. These zoom lenses demonstrate JVC's commitment to push existing technology to new levels. The GR-D240 is provided with the Data Battery and Power-Linked Operation functions. The user can check the remaining battery and recording time by simply touching a button, even with the power turned off. It is useful to check these before shooting to prevent the battery from dying during a shoot. With the popular and convenient Power-Linked Operation, the camera automatically turns on when the LCD monitor is opened or the viewfinder is pulled out so users can start shooting immediately, and automatically turns off when the LCD is closed or viewfinder is pushed back in to save battery drain. JVC's Super High-Band Processor expands the camera signal's frequency range to raise horizontal resolution to 520 lines or more, thereby taking full advantage of the DV format's original high resolution. JVC's 3D NR (3-Dimension Noise Reduction) compares field A to field A, and field B to field B across two frames so that the scanning lines are identical and noise can be reduced more accurately. As a result, the signal-to-noise ratio is improved by 2 dB and noise is reduced by about 30%. So, flicker is eliminated and color reproduction is improved, enhancing overall picture quality. In addition, the Digital Color NightScope and Auto Illumi. Light (Auto Illumination Light) functions have the ability to shoot in extremely low light situations. Digital Color NightScope boosts picture brightness using slow-shutter and digital signal processing, with full color reproduction and no distance limitation like infrared-based systems. The Auto Illumi. Light brightens up the subject, providing a brilliant full-color picture using energy-efficient LEDs to reduce battery drain. Since this light automatically turns off in bright environments, battery power won't be needlessly wasted. The GR-D camcorders feature a 2.5" Clear LCD Monitor which provides bright and vivid images with reduced surface reflection and glare when shooting outdoors, so users enjoy shooting under the sun without the washed out image common with conventional LCDs. It's also possible to view through the viewfinder and LCD monitor simultaneously, especially convenient in situations where you want to share the view with other people. The GR-D240 provides customers looking for their first video camera, or people wishing to replace their old analogue camcorder, many convincing reasons to choose JVC MiniDV. The high fundamental image quality as well as unique features and various interfaces make a great base for image capture and editing on a personal computer, and are sure to be a favorite with the digital generation.
Easy to use, Compact, Excellent Quality, PC Friendly, Lightweight, Economically Priced 
