JVC GZ-MG505: Lilliputian dream ninja
Bored by big camcorders? Wish that you could pack ungodly amounts of video footage into a small camcorder that fits in your monocle pocket?
While the world's attention was distracted by an outbreak of corpse-head bonging, JVC launched a gorgeous 1.33-megapixel camcorder with advanced prism optics. The JVC GZ-MG505 enjoys 16:9 video and can be used to create digital stills of up to 2,560x1,920 pixels for A4 prints.
The GZ-MG505 is the successor to the immensely popular MC500, husband to a murdered wife, father to a... you know the rest. The 505 uses a new Megabrid Engine (wow -- doesn't that sound just like a Transformer?), which applies optimised processing to moving and still images to create videos with a high signal-to-noise ratio and high-resolution still pictures. This improves colour, especially flesh tones, which appear more natural-looking.
The 505 may not share the 500's petite chassis, but in our cursory examination this morning, it more than compensates for its comparative lardiness with an extended hard disk size (30GB) and improved optics. It's available now in the UK for around £740. Expect a full review soon. -CS