Introduction

The GC-PX10 has an MSRP of around $800, which makes it one of the more expensive models in JVC's lineup. Being that this is CamcorderInfo.com, this review of the PX10 focuses on the video capabilities of the camcorder. For a full review of the PX10's still features and performance check out our review at DigitalCameraInfo.com.

Design & Usability

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The odd photo/video hybrid design of the GC-PX10 ends up making the camcorder a hassle to work with.

Just looking at the GC-PX10 for a few seconds, and you'll quickly see that this isn't a normal camcorder. With its long, cylindrical lens barrel, the PX10 resembles a camcorder from the front, but the hackneyed grip on the back is where JVC decided to take cues from the world of digital photography. The grip looks identical to what you'd find on a cheap DSLR camera, and it is not conducive for shooting video. The camcorder has no right-side handstrap to slip your fingers through, nor is there a top-mounted zoom toggle that you can control with your index finger.

The GC-PX10 has a good set of automatic controls, but the overall design and interface of the camcorder do not make it one of the easiest products to wield. It is awkwardly constructed and its controls are a strange hodgepodge of video and photo functions. By trying to make a true hybrid device that is good for both photography and videography, JVC failed to make a product that is easy to figure out.

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Features

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The unique record modes on the camcorder make us wonder why JVC doesn't include these options on other models.

Admittedly, the GC-PX10 has an interesting set of video features, as well as a bunch of photo options not found on most camcorders. Most intriguing is the camcorder's record options, which includes a high-bitrate mode that captures video at 36Mbps. Recording clips with this setting will result in very large files, but a bitrate of this level does mean videos will have more detail and less compression artifacting. This high-quality option is at least one of the reasons the GC-PX10 did so well on our video sharpness test. The camcorder also has a 300fps slow motion mode, although the quality of this setting wasn't that great.

The camcorder is outfitted with your traditional set of manual controls, including control over focus and exposure. Strangely, JVC didn't include a lens ring on the PX10, instead opting for two flimsy control dials, neither of which are a pleasure to work with. The camcorder also has a couple of extraneous video controls that aren't usually found on consumer models: overexposure zebra patterns, a 3.5mm mic jack and manual audio options, and a time lapse record function. The 10x optical zoom lens isn't anything special, but it is flanked by a built-in flash that is just one of the PX10's many still image features.

Performance

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Excellent sharpness and motion results were overshadowed by a below-average low light performance.

The GC-PX10 is a better camcorder than it is a camera, but as a camcorder it still has flaws. In bright light, the PX10’s videos look great. The full HD record mode creates sharp video with the kind of smoothness and clarity that you expect to see from a camcorder that shoots 60p video. Low light performance was not nearly as good, but it was still passable despite the fact that images appeared faded and dull.

Color accuracy was good in bright light and decent in low light, but the camcorder's real struggle came in our sensitivity test that determines how much light a camcorder needs to produce a usable image. Simply put, the PX10 needs a lot of light to record a strong image, and it was quite more than the competition required.

Conclusion

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Solely for recording video, the JVC GC-PX10 is not a complete waste of time—but it is still seriously overpriced for what you get.

What really brings the PX10 down is the camcorder’s terrible handling. The shape of the camcorder is not conducive for shooting video, and the interface for adjusting controls and settings is one of the most frustrating setups I've ever encountered. The problem stems from JVC's attempt to infuse the PX10 with equal appeal to both videographers and photographers. By attempting to do so, however, JVC ended up with a product with little appeal to either.

Thanks to our friends over at DigitalCameraInfo, we know the PX10 offers next to nothing in the still image department. Based on the camcorder’s performance in a battery of photographic tests, DigitalCameraInfo determined the PX10 to be worth the equivalent of an $80 camera. That leaves a whopping $720 bucks left for the PX10’s capabilities as a camcorder, and it's not worth that much.

With the GC-PX10’s current incarnation, we can’t recommend the camcorder to anyone, even if you’re dead-set on buying an “all-in-one” video/photo device. You’d be better off buying a good HD camcorder for around $500 (the Panasonic HDC-TM90 or Canon HF M40, for example), and then spending another $100 – $200 on a solid, compact, point-and-shoot camera (like the Canon PowerShot 100 HS).

Video Sharpness and Motion

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In bright light, sharpness is the PX10's specialty.

The GC-PX10 did an incredible job on our sharpness test, and the positive results are likely tied to the camcorder’s large sensor (with a high pixel count), as well as the high bitrate used to record video (36Mbps). The PX10 was able to record a horizontal sharpness of 900 LW/PH and a vertical sharpness of 800 LW/PH, both of which are excellent results.

The camcorder's motion results were also quite impressive, although they weren't perfect. There was some focus popping in our motion test at times, and some very fine blur in certain portions of the frame. There was also a bit of color fringing around the edges of moving subjects, but the motion captured by the PX10 was impeccably smooth. The camcorder does not have a 24p or 30p frame rate option for full HD recording, but a 30p mode is usable for standard-definition iFrame recording. The PX10 does have a high-speed record mode that shoots low-quality videos (at a 640 × 360 resolution) with a 300fps frame rate, thus producing a video five times slower than normal.

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Color Performance

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Vibrant colors in bright light gave way to more subdued low light results.

JVC camcorders have wowed us with excellent color accuracy in the past, but, while the GC-PX10 did do a good job in this test, its results weren’t phenomenal. The camcorder managed a color error score of 3.54, which is on par with most mid-range HD models, and its saturation level came in at 107.5%. This saturation level is a bit high, but many users may prefer the deep colors produced by the camcorder in bright light.

In low light, the GC-PX10’s colors certainly appeared more faded and less accurate than the camcorder’s bright light images, but the performance was still decent overall. The camcorder registered a color error of 4.8 and a saturation level of 80% in this test, both of which are consistent with what other mid-range camcorders were capable of in low light.

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Low Light Sensitivity

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Mediocre performance in this test was one of the camcorder's biggest performance drawbacks.

Usually, a high concentration of pixels on an image sensor results in worse low light sensitivity, and that's exactly what happened with the GC-PX10. When using optical zoom, the camcorder required 19 lux of light to record a usable image. Without any zoom, the camcorder needed just 9 lux of light to reach the same levels, which is a much more respectable result. These numbers aren't downright awful, but they're worse than many of the mid-range camcorders that pass through our labs.

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