JVC's Everio X files

JVC joins the rest of the direct-to-Web video party with its Everio X camcorder. It's relatively compact and designed to fit into a jacket pocket. The X has some design novelties, including a 2.8-inch LCD that flips all the way around so that you can view videos while it's closed.

The X incorporates a 1/2.33 10.3-megapixel CMOS to capture 1920x1080 AVCHD video; that's better than most of their higher-end single chip camcorders (which says more about their other camcorders than this one). It can shoot up to 2.4 seconds of 600fps stills for slow-mo playback, such as golf-swing analysis. In addition, burst supports up to 5 shots at 15fps for 9-megapixel stills.

The camcorder debuts a new OIS technology that uses a prism and shifts the outermost lens element for compensation. I'm not quite sure what's going on here yet; I need to read more about it--and test the camcorder, of course--before commenting on it.

The Everio X is slated to ship in late Spring (May/June) for $999. Clearly JVC doesn't understand that the biggest attraction for the pervasive recording market is low price. However, the lens is a pretty short 5x zoom, while its real SD-based competitors--models like the Canon HF series--have more flexible 10X or greater zooms. If it has decent low-light quality it might be able to compete, but that's never been one of the strengths of JVC's consumer products. We'll just have to wait and see.