JVC GR-D70

It's heavy, comparatively large and more than a little plasticky-looking. But look past the JVC GR-D70's physical drawbacks and you'll find that it can easily outstrip many of its competitors in terms of added features.

A feature often overlooked by people shopping for camcorders is the position of the microphone. The shape of some cameras forces manufacturers to put the microphone on the top of the unit, which isn't always the best place for it to pick up sounds from your subject.

The GR-D70, on the other hand, sensibly places the mic bang on the front, just underneath the lens where, thankfully, it doesn't seem to pick up any noise from the zoom motor.

The model's extra size also means that the mic remains out of reach of fingers, which can sometimes muffle or brush against the audio receptor on smaller cams.

Video image quality is by no means bad, but when tested alongside other models, seems to lack a little of the lustre that you'd expect from MiniDV.

Also on the negative side, the GR-D70 is also another one of those annoying bottom-loading camcorders, which will confound tripod users.

Nevertheless, there's more than enough to compensate. An 8MB SD memory card, USB connection (in addition to DV-in FireWire) and software make it perfect for transferring stills to your PC. Meanwhile, a long 16x optical zoom, an infrared remote and the possibility of using the camcorder as a webcam for videoconferencing make attractive extras.

JVC 0870 330 5000
www.jvc.co.uk