JVC Picsio GC-FM1 is an ultracompact HD camcorder offering outstanding video quality and excellent portability thanks to its minute size. The camcorder has interstice design and metallic finish yet it does not feel too reliable. If you want to know if it is worth its price of $199, read on.
JVC Picsio GC-FM1 pros:
+ Very good color accuracy
+ Smaller than competing camcorders
+ Excellent sharpness
+ SD/SDHC memory card support
+ Good automatic white balance
+ User-friendly
+ Stereo audio recording
JVC Picsio GC-FM1 cons:
- High noise level
- No manual controls
- Unresponsive rewind and fast forward controls
- Audio quality is not that good
- No optical zoom
The design:
JVC Picsio GC-FM1 measures 53.0mm x 97.0mm x 17.0mm and weight 95 grams so it is really minute and even smaller than many point and shoot digital cameras. The camcorder is built of good quality materials and it is finished with flashy metal so it is a real eye-candy. The front of the camcorder houses the he fixed f/2.8 lens and the microphone. On the right side of the JVC Picsio GC-FM1 you will see the AV-out port, HDMI terminal, speaker and the USB connector. The back houses the 2-inch LCD display, and all the controls: the power button, playback mode button, delete button, D-pad, charge lamp, reset pinhole playback index button and the video/still photo switch. The left side features only the macro switch and the wrist strap. The bottom houses the tripod mount and the SD/SDHC memory card slot.
Performance:
The small camcorder is capable of recording 1080p videos at 30fps and 720p films at 60 fps. In low light the camcorder does a really good job for such a small device. Both saturation and color accuracy are good and the noise level is even better in low light than in bright light. The camcorder uses the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec so editing the videos should not be a problem. The maximum video resolution in 1920 x 1080 – it is full HD. Since the JVC Picsio GC-FM1 has no built-in memory ice can record films only on SD/SDHC memory cards, but that should be quite comfortable as their price drops and capacity rises all the time. The camcorder has no optical zoom whatsoever, and only 4x digital zoom.
Video quality:
The videos captured with the JVC Picsio GC-FM1 have excellent color accuracy and good saturation levels. Although the noise tended to be too high it was nothing out of the ordinary for this class of camcorders. The films are smooth in both frame rates and they looks really sharp. In fact the JVC Picsio GC-FM1 has better sharpness than the majority of ultracompact camcorders.
Still image quality:
The JVC Picsio GC-FM1 has four different photo sizes with the maximum of 8 megapixels. The photos are taken in the 4:3 ratio and you can shoot macro photos. However, the overall still image quality is rather poor and the camcorder performs in video mode much better than in the still mode.
JVC Picsio GC-FM1
features and specifications:
Camera
Image Sensor
8 Megapixel 1/3.2″ CMOS
Zoom
Digital 4x
Image Stabilization
Digital Image Stabilizer
Recording media
SD/SDHC Card (not provided)
Monitor
2.0″ Color LCD
Video Recording
Mode
1080p: 1440 x 1080p / 30fps / 12Mbps, 16:9
720p: 1280 x 720p / 60fps / 12Mbps, 16:9
VGA: 640 x 480 / 60fps / 4Mbps, 4:3
QVGA: 320 x 240p / 30fps / 0.7Mbps, 4:3
Format
Video: MPEG-4 AVC / H.264: MOV, Audio: AAC
Still Recording
Mode
8M: 3264 x 2448, 4:3
5M: 2592 x 1944, 4:3
2M: 1600 x 1200, 4:3
0.3M: 640 x 480, 4:3
Format
JPEG
Connectors
HDMIâ„¢ out (Mini), AV out, USB 2.0/1.1
Others
PC Software and Instruction Manual (pre-installed in internal memory)
Continuous Operation Time
Approx. 96 minutes
Provided Accessories
USB Cable, AV Cable, Hand Strap
Other recently reviewed camcorders:
Panasonic HDC-TM300, Canon Vixia HF S11, JVC Everio GZ-HM400, Sony HDR-TG5V
