First thought: it’s bigger than I thought it would be after seeing the pictures. This is not a bad thing. I’m actually glad it’s a little larger than I expected. Basically, the camera unit is a little larger than most consumer cameras on the market. Once you add on the included accessories and throw on a wireless mic receiver, the camera really has some bulk to it.

Bad news first:

1. I tried to save some money and ordered some eBay memory cards. I don’t know if those cards just aren’t the “class 6″ speed they advertised or if this camera is just snobby enough to know they didn’t cost $300 each, but either way, it turns up its nose at these cards and won’t record video on them at all. The error displayed is, “Cannot use in video mode”. Well, that’s descriptive. Come on JVC, how about “Card does not meet minimum speed requirements” or a more snobbish response like “eBay cards, like OMG!!!”.
2. No tethered recording (that I can find). I knew there wasn’t a firewire connection when I ordered it, but I was hoping for a miracle here. A lot of the stuff I shoot could be recorded directly to a PC with the proper connection (Adobe OnLocation). However, this does not seem to be possible with this camera. It will connect to a PC via the supplied USB cable, but doesn’t appear to work over USB to record video. Maybe some solution will arise.

Good news:

1. Size. Enough said.
2. Audio simplicity. I love the way the audio controls are organized and easy to use. They seem to be a little more intuitive than my previous Canon XH-A1.
3. Great viewfinder eyepiece. The rubber cover around the viewfinder is very large and soft which should make daylight shooting much better by keeping out more light.
4. Zoom ring. When I first read that the zoom (or focus depending on setting) ring was servo controlled I was pretty bummed, but after using it for a few minutes I think I could get the hang of it and create some smooth zooms pretty easily.

Without memory cards, that’s about all I can report at this point. Hopefully, I will be able to round up some cards tomorrow and give some sample footage and talk about the streamlined editing process.

UPDATE: I picked up a SanDisk Extreme III card at a local camera shop. That’s the largest card I can find locally. It seems to work just fine. I think the issue with the cards is around the write speed, not necessarily their “class 6″ rating. Hopefully, I will have some sample video up soon.

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