JVC GR-D33

The playback head on my JVC GR-D33 digital camcorder has broken after a year. It is a shame, as I really liked the camera. The original battery life is rubbish, and I ended up buying a three hour battery for £21. It is a good camera, it just doesn't last.

The JVC camcorder was bought for an 18th birthday present, and it locked after 2 months. It had to be sent to the store in London, as it was bought over the internet. We had to pay postage. Thank goodness we insured it, as it has since been sent back twice! We've had no response to our letters to JVC, and now we would never buy another JVC product again. Very poor!

After only a year, my JVC GR-D33 digital camcorder camera's screen went black. I used the camera sporadically, and since I've never dropped it, or abused it, kept it in a case, etc., I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

After research, I found a website that explains that these cameras, among others, were having problems with the CCD screen.

Honestly, when I bought the JVC GR-D33 there was a strange problem with the playback. After I recorded and tried playing it back, the screen was pixelating like when you fast forward; only it was at normal speed. It was pretty odd so hopefully when I replace it I can write a better review, but I was just curious to see if anyone else had this problem. It was probably just an unlucky defect I got and I hope I can write a better review later.

I bought this JVC GR-D33 digital camcorder as I wanted a much smaller camera than my Canon Hi-8, with better colour images. This camera is about the size of my Hi-8 charger! In normal lighting, the picture is much better than Hi-8, with cleaner, more brilliant colours. The EIS works quite well to 16X (the maximum optical zoom, equiv to about 807mm in 35mm terms); quite often it looks as though I'm using a tripod. (I hated my tele shots on Hi-8 as they invariably were shaky as I refuse to carry a tripod around.) NightScope is only good when the camera and subject are not moving. In that instance, the picture is actually brighter than the actual scene in some cases, and still shows some colour with minimum grain. My satisfaction grows with each scene I tape. Highly Recommended, if you can live with it's few low points.