THANKS FOX-TALBOT (JVC GR-DX25E)

Member Name: THE_CHEMIST

Product:	JVC GR-DX25E
Date:	21/02/04 (874 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: SIZE, VERSATILITY

Disadvantages: BATTERY POWER

In 1840, William Henry Fox-Talbot had a dream, to capture a still image for all posterity. After much hard work and determination, he made this dream come true. And from that meagre ambition, has spawned the art and science of photography.

Imagine the man?s bewilderment if he were alive today.

Not only can we capture a still image, in colour no less, but we can capture moving images as well. Add to that the ability to simultaneously imprint sound on these recordings, and do all this in the comfort of our own homes.

The poor man would probably die from the shock, but he would depart this earth with a smile on his face at where his accomplishment had led the human race to.

And so to the JVC GR-DX25.

It is not the cheapest of machines (£400), nor is it the most expensive.
It doesn?t have the largest range of special features, nor the smallest.
It may not be the best camcorder in the world, but it is a very, very long way from being the worst.

The JVC GR-DX25 is a very good camcorder, with an impressive, yet not too bewildering range of special features, at a sensible and reasonable price. It pretends to be nothing more or less than that.

CAMERA
It is small. VERY small. In fact, when they said it was ?hand-held?, I didn?t realise they were referring to a Barbie doll?s hand. By necessity, this means that everything on it is small (buttons, catches etc). For the more ham-fisted of us, this can create some problems, but I promise you that, with perseverance and practise, these can be overcome.

The first thing you are going to need to do before trying out your camcorder, is charge the Lithium-ion battery (supplied). This is real fun, because it attaches to the camcorder directly below the hand-grip (supplied attached). You may be tempted to remove the hand-grip. DON?T. It is next to impossible to re-attach with the battery in place. Struggle on, always remembering that the battery, when in p
lace, will not need to be removed until it finally won?t charge again.

Once in place, charging is done by the AC mains adapter cable (supplied). This cable is also used during playback (on the TV), whilst editing, when the battery is low and when using as a webcam.

Before I go any further, I must admit that I know nothing about this camcorders function as a webcam. I am relatively new to the Internet and haven?t got that far yet so I will not be commenting on this aspect. However, with webcams costing about £60, it would seem strange if anyone wanted to fork out £400 for this camcorder to use it mainly as a webcam.

The next thing you will want to do, if you are anything like me, is take a look at the TFT/LCD viewscreen which comes attached to this machine. At 2.5 inches, it isn?t the largest you?ll ever see but it does what it needs to admirably (as I say to my wife). Just lift gently, and twist (which I don?t say to her) into position. The resolution is good, and the colours are lifelike, but the screen does feel just a little flimsy. BE CAREFUL. This screen displays the menu for this camera, allowing most of the effects I will mention later. A broken screen will not be cheap to repair.

The buttons on this camera are clear, well-placed within easy operating reach, and well marked. There are two sets of note.

1.The control set, in the shape of a ring is situated at the back of the camera for use by the thumb when shooting. The ring itself selects between PLAY, OFF, AUTO, and MANUAL.
AUTO allows you to shoot film with all the parameters set at their defaults (ie shutter speed etc.).
MANUAL allows adjustments in the parameters to be made by the filmmaker. It also allows for the use of the special effects.
The RECORD/PAUSE button is set neatly in the middle of this ring.

2. The other set is a minor group, used mainly for shooting in darker conditions or, during playback, to adjust the volume

Th
e only other controls of real note are the touchkeys housed under the viewscreen which can only be accessed with the screen open. The primary use for these is to access and navigate the extensive screen menu, which allows the filmmaker to change camcorder parameters and special effects. The menu itself is clear and when used, initially, in conjunction with the instructions, quite simple.

Now, you are going to want to put a film in. I hope you bought some.
The one thing that makes the extensive bundle of extra bits you get with this camcorder incomplete, is the lack of a free film. They cost about £3-5 depending upon whether you buy them singly or in a multi-pack.

Come on JVC, don?t be so tight.

The type you need are MINI DV films, which usually come in 60 minute length.
WARNING !!!!!
The film goes into the bottom of the camcorder via a motorised door and pop-up sleeve. Mini DV films are very small, and can be confusing. Be very careful to put it in the right way round, otherwise there are costly bills ahead.

EFFECTS
The most basic special effect on any camcorder is Zooming. The DX25 has an optical zoom of 16x, which should be sufficient for home users. It also has a digital zoom of 700x, for the more demanding. However, using high digital zoom can make the resolution worse.
The zoom function can be switched from optical to digital via the on-screen menu, but both are controlled by the turnable ring around the control set of buttons.

The DX25 has a range of special features available to the user.

Nightscope is used for shooting film in dark areas or at night. In reasonable light it can give some very weird timelapse type of effects.
Backlight is a similar thing but does not affect the shutter speed, thus preventing the effect. It is also not as strong as the Nightscope.
Snow, can be used when the subject is against a very bright background, to prevent subject darkening.
Sport can b
e used to record and playback in slow motion.

My personal favourites are the old-time effects like B&W and Sepia, which allow you to shoot film with different tints. Add to this the Classic effect which puts just a hint of flicker into the film, and you can end up with your film looking like it came from the thirties.

Also in the effects part, I?m going to include Fade & Wipe.
Strictly speaking these are more editing tools, where the filmmaker can slowly allow the film to emerge onto the screen, but because you are able to add this to your film when shooting, I guess they also qualify as effects. This camera has a plethora of different F&Ws so it will be up to the filmmaker which to use.

The biggest point about these effects, and the reason I?m not going into too much detail about them is that everybody is going to prefer different settings for their films. The effects are all good, and my best advice would be to play around with various combinations to see what you can achieve. You?ll probably find some effects that even JVC never imagined.

EDITTING
I confess, I have not tried out editing much at all, certainly not enough to give a good definitive review, so I shall be editing this review in the near future. Keep an eye out.

PLAYBACK AND TRANSFER
Playing your finished tape could not be much simpler, thanks to JVC. Not only have they supplied SVideo/Audio leads which will attach to practically every TV, but they have even supplied a Scart adapter for these leads as well.

Transfer onto video tape (or DVD) is just as simple. Either tune your recorder into the appropriate channel, or attach the leads directly to the recorder itself.

For the technophile, JVC has included a CD-ROM for download, which will allow to hook the camcorder directly into the computer (via another supplied lead). The software is, however, pretty basic (although it has MPEG capability, still image capture and editing facil
ity). The photo/film junkies will want to go out and buy better software to do all the things they want to do.

It would be very unfair of me to comment about the picture quality or sound of this machine. Remember, not everyone is going to get it right, and that will be reflected in these two things. If however you do get it right (as the makers intended), the picture and sound will fall nicely into place.

REMOTE CONTROL
This piece of equipment is mainly, although not exclusively, used for editing purposes. It is small, lightweight and comes packed with enough buttons to start a shuttle mission.

INSTRUCTIONS
With any new piece of equipment come a set of instructions. The JVC GR-DX25 is no different, except that these instructions are clear, precise and in plain English. Alongside the words, some thoughtful soul has included very accurate and easily understood diagrams detailing the buttons used.

PITFALLS
Apart from the minor problems and warnings I have already highlighted, there is one major problem. The battery which is supplied with this kit is woefully inadequate. After an hour and a half of charging, it will only give an hours worth of recording. There are better batteries on the market, but at £50+ you will have to be pretty serious about film making.

AND FINALLY?.
The DX25 is not going to satisfy the all-out professional filmmaker. You won?t find Spielberg raving about using it for his next film. But for semi-pros, college/uni students and the average man in the street, it will meet and probably surpass you needs.

Summary: