Introduction
Design
The GZ-VX700 has a slim, rectangular design that makes it more portable than your average mid-range HD camcorder. The thin design makes it easy to slip in and out of a handbag, and you could even carry the VX700 in your pocket as long as you're not wearing skinny jeans. So, as far as portability is concerned, the VX700 has a fantastic design. We have some durability concerns, however, and the touchscreen interface gave us more than a few headaches during our testing. We also doubt there will be many fans of the VX700's flimsy hand strap, but, luckily, the camcorder is easy to wield without the hand strap support.
Front
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Back
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Left
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Right
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Top
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Bottom
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In the Box
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Performance
Color accuracy was not the VX700's strong suit, which is a surprise considering its "big brother" model (the JVC GZ-GX1) did rather well in our color tests. Still, despite poor accuracy, the VX700 rendered colors with plenty of saturation in both bright and low light. Thanks to the camcorder's fast f/1.2 lens, the VX700 was able to impress in low light, putting up better sensitivity scores than most of the competition in the $500 price range.
Color
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We measured the color error in the GZ-VX700's bright light videos at 6.58, which isn't very good (even for a low-end camcorder). As you can see from our graph below, the camcorder did well in reproducing blue tones with strong accuracy, but greens, yellows, and reds were not up to snuff. On the bright side, the camcorder did manage to produce vibrant colors in this test, with a saturation level topping out at 95%. More on how we test color.
With its lack of any special color modes, the GZ-VX700 is very limited in its ability to adjust or alter colors during recording. If you want to change color tones, boost saturation, or alter the hue, then you'll have to manipulate video footage using post production software. In the table below, you can see how the GZ-VX700 stacks up compared to the competition. The colors don't look that much different to the naked eye, but you should be able to notice how the VX700 produced slightly different tones than, say, the JVC GX1.
{{comparison_bars title="Color Score Comparison", attribute="Color Score", xLabel="Color Score"}}
Low Light Color
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The GZ-VX700's worst low light performance came in our color accuracy test, where the camcorder put up a color error of 5.88—a number that is worse than all three camcorders we compared it to. Even though this is a middling score, there are two pieces of good news: this color error is actually a tiny bit better than the VX700's bright light color accuracy, and the camcorder was able to retain strong, vivid colors in low light despite the poor color accuracy. The saturation level remained at a high 90.6%, which isn't much lower than the camcorder managed in bright light. More on how we test low light color.
Noise
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In bright light the JVC VX700 had no trouble with noise. We measured the noise levels to be around 0.51%, which means you won't see any noise in your bright light videos shot with the camcorder. This result is better than the noise levels we saw on the Canon HF R21, and roughly the same as the levels we measured on the JVC GX and Panasonic V500M camcorders. More on how we test noise.
Take a moment to glance at the comparison crops above, which give a good idea of the sharpness levels the VX700 (and the competition) is able to achieve for motionless video clips. The camcorder did a reasonable, but not amazing, job with sharpness, but you can see that some of the numbers and horizontal trumpets are a bit fuzzy in the above crop. Still, its image looks a bit sharper than the Panasonic HC-V500M in comparison, while the JVC GX1 and Canon HF R21 produced images that look much sharper.
{{comparison_bars title="Noise Score Comparison", attribute="Noise Score", xLabel="Noise Score"}}
Low Light Sensitivity
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We knew the JVC VX700 was equipped with a fast lens (f/1.2), but, in all honesty, we didn't expect the camcorder to do this well in our low light sensitivity test. The VX700 needed just 13 lux of light to illuminate our test chart properly—and that's when we used a bit of zoom to frame up the chart. Without zoom, the camcorder needed just 4 lux of light to reach the same levels, which is a very impressive performance for a camcorder in the VX700's price range. More on how we test low light sensitivity.
With its strong performance in this test, the JVC VX700 exceeded our expectations in low light sensitivity. It also outperformed the competition in its price range, as well as besting its more-expensive sibling model, the JVC GX1 by a significant margin. The Canon HF R21 put up similar numbers in this test, but the VX700 had a slightly better sensitivity score overall. If you're looking to capture "bright" images in low light, the VX700 appears to be a good choice in the mid-range camcorder market.
{{comparison_bars title="Low Light Sensitivity Comparison", attribute="Low Light Sensitivity Score", xLabel="Low Light Sensitivity Score"}}
Low Light Noise
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In low light, the VX700 averaged 1.36% noise in its video image. This isn't among the best noise scores we've seen, but it certainly respectable for a camcorder of the VX700's class. Among the camcorders we compared it to, the VX700 had less noise than the JVC GX1 and the Canon HF R21. The Panasonic V500M did better, however, and many high-end camcorders and video-capable DSLRs do extremely well in this test (and perform far better than the JVC VX700). Still, this is a positive performance for a mid-range model like the VX700. More on how we test low light noise.
Looking at the crops above we can make a judgement about the VX700's sharpness capabilities in low light as well. The camcorder certainly does not capture the same level of detail as the JVC GX1, but its image is clearer than that of the Panasonic HC-V500M and much brighter than the Canon HF R21 camcorder.
{{comparison_bars title="Low Light Noise Score Comparison", attribute="Low Light Noise Score", xLabel="Low Light Noise Score"}}
Low Light Color
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The GZ-VX700's worst low light performance came in our color accuracy test, where the camcorder put up a color error of 5.88—a number that is worse than all three camcorders we compared it to. Even though this is a middling score, there are two pieces of good news: this color error is actually a tiny bit better than the VX700's bright light color accuracy, and the camcorder was able to retain strong, vivid colors in low light despite the poor color accuracy. The saturation level remained at a high 90.6%, which isn't much lower than the camcorder managed in bright light. More on how we test low light color.
Motion
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Motion recorded by the JVC GZ-VX700 looked similar to our test footage from the JVC GX1, except the VX700 showed more signs of artifacting and had a slightly duller image overall. The camcorder's motion results are pretty good for a mid-range model, however, but the fact that the VX700 offers no high-quality alternate frame rate options (it just records 60i) is a disappointment. There is a low-quality slow motion mode on the camcorder, though, but we don't recommend it unless you don't mind the look of low-res video. It should also be noted that the camcorder offers 1080/60p video output, but the camcorder doesn't actually record video using this frame rate. The camcorder itself "upconverts" the video signal to 1080p when played back on the VX700 itself via HDMI connection. More on how we test motion.
See below for a full discussion of the available resolution and frame rate options for the {{product.model}}
Resolution & Frame Rates
Technically, the VX700 offers more than its basic 60i frame rate for recording video. The camcorder also has a 300fps high speed record mode, but the video captured with this setting is extremely low quality so we don’t recommend it for general use. All of the camcorder’s regular record modes use a 60i frame rate, although the signal is upconverted to 60p during playback on the camcorder (and connected to an HDTV via HDMI).
Slow Motion Modes
Yes, the VX700 has a single high-speed record mode that records at 300 frames per second. If you don’t want to do the math, that’s five times slower than the normal 60i frame rate used for the camcorder’s HD and SD record modes. So, the resulting video image for the VX700’s slow motion mode will be five times slower than that of the other record modes. Hence, a 12-second clip will turn into a 60-second slow-mo video.
Video Sharpness
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The VX700 did very well in our horizontal sharpness test, measuring 700 lw/ph under bright, even light. Vertical sharpness wasn't so hot, though, as the camcorder resolved just 500 lw/ph. These numbers are far lower than that of the JVC GZ-GX1, which is probably the main reason that camcorder costs a bunch more than the VX700 (the GX1 has a larger sensor). The VX700's lack of a 60p record mode may also have something to do with its diminished vertical sharpness numbers, although the camcorder does output an upconverted 1080/60p signal when video is played back on the camcorder via HDMI. More on how we test video sharpness.
{{comparison_bars title="Video Sharpness Score Comparison", attribute="Video Sharpness Score", xLabel="Video Sharpness Score"}}
Stabilization
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The JVC GZ-VX700 is equipped with optical image stabilization, but the camcorder wasn't effective in stabilizing the video image in our tests. In regular use, we saw the OIS as being somewhat effective, but our shake tests were too much for the VX700 to handle, and the camcorder's image stabilization features were of no help. We saw nearly identical results with the JVC GZ-GX1, so this performance was somewhat expected. More on how we test stabilization.
Usability
Leaving the VX700 in its dedicated auto mode will make for some simple recording, but using the camcorder's LCD touchscreen results in a very frustrating experience. We're not sure why JVC's touchscreens are of such poor quality, but the VX700—much like the GX1—has a very slow response time when using the touch interface. On top of all that, the camcorder's menu system is also sluggish, and many of the controls take forever to adjust (especially when you try to change them during recording). Here's the camcorder in a nutshell: if you're a beginner who has no interest in adjusting controls or using special features, you'll probably be fine with the way the VX700 works. If you're more of an explorer who likes to test out special options, then you're going to have to prepare yourself for a frustrating ride.
Auto Mode
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Like nearly all consumer camcorders that hit the market these days, the JVC VX700 is equipped with Intelligent Auto (iA), a dedicated auto mode that allows the camcorder to function with entirely automated controls. It's great for beginners, but our main problem with the mode is that it is so difficult to find. You need to tap the tiny icon in the upper right corner of the LCD to switch between iA and manual mode, and JVC does not make it clear that this little icon is a button at all. Would it be that difficult to simply have an easy-to-find, well-labeled auto mode button on the body of the camcorder itself?
Auto Controls
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The automatic controls on the JVC GZ-VX700 work fine, but there were some issues. Autofocus can be slow at times, particularly with closeups, and the auto exposure system did blow out certain scenes. When moving from completely different lighting situations (e.g. from outdoors to indoors), the camcorder did handle the exposure adjustments properly and quickly. But in mixed light scenes (like and indoor shot with a bright window) the image often was too bright in certain parts.
The camcorder does have four tracking modes, all of which can be fun to use but don't work 100% of the time. The tracking settings include face, pets, colors, and range (where you specify the area you want to track). You'll have best luck with tracking if your subject isn't moving that quickly and stays within the camcorder's frame the whole time.
The zoom toggle is small and looks cheap, but it works surprisingly well. It is easy to apply a small amount of pressure to the slider in order to get a slow, even zoom, and then fully pushing the slider one way or another brings the zoom up to its top speed. You can also use the zoom buttons on the LCD screen, but we don't like them nearly as much as the slider on the top of the camcorder. There are no static zoom speed controls on the VX700, so the only way to adjust the zoom speed is to do so by applying varying amounts of pressure to the zoom toggle (this won't work with the touchscreen buttons).
Menus
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The menu itself on the Everio GZ-VX700 isn't that bad, but coupled with the camcorder's terribly-slow interface and the poor response time of the LCD touchscreen, the menu system ends up being horribly frustrating to use. The slow input on the touchscreen makes the long menu (up to 8 pages) a pain to navigate, and the quick access menu that appears a screen before the main menu is just annoying to skip through. It includes features that a good chunk of people won't be interested in: digital effects (like putting stamps and art on your videos), WiFi featurs, and smile shutter. JVC should get rid of this quick menu entirely, or at least offer an option to remove it.
The menu system does have a help feature, which is activated by pressing the small question mark on the corner of the menu screen. When engaged, the help feature brings up an info screen each time you select a menu option. Sometimes these info screens are great and really give you extra info about the feature you've selected... other times the info screen says next to nothing, just repeating the name of the feature and letting you know that you're about to turn it on. That's just pointless. Even worse is that sometimes you make a selection and the info screen says "help is not available". Thanks JVC. Thanks a lot for your "help".
Handling
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The GZ-VX700 is small and handy, and it's even fairly comfortable to hold despite its lack of a contoured shape. The strap on the camcorder is terrible and thin, but the VX700 is light enough that you don't always need to use the strap to hold it properly. Still, we wish the strap was a bit more comfortable on the back of our hand. The overall design of the camcorder's body also feels very cheap and you can tell there were areas where JVC cut costs on design and construction. The battery compartment is covered by a thin piece of removable (therefore losable) piece of plastic, the port cover is strangely difficult to get open, and the lens is equipped with a manual (rather than automatic) lens cover switch.
There aren't too many actual buttons on the body of the camcorder, and, frankly, we wish there were a few more. Why are we saying this? It's because the touchscreen interface on the LCD is lousy. Buttons are unresponsive, often requiring multiple presses before the camcorder registered the fact that we were trying to make a selection. And when the touchscreen system does work, it's still awfully slow to respond (calibrating the LCD didn't help for either of these issues). This problematic interface makes using the menus a pain, and makes setting controls blatantly annoying.
Like other JVC models, the GZ-VX700 is slow—slow to turn on, slow to adjust controls, and slow to switch between modes. Things are even slower when you try to change options or controls during video recording. If you're someone who is used to lightning-fast technology, you may end up throwing the VX700 out the window after a few days.
Portability
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The VX700 weighs around 228g with its provided battery pack and 203g without the battery installed. This is light, even for a mid-range camcorder, and it does make the VX700 easier to lug around all day. The slim design of the VX700 does make it possible to fit the model inside a large pocket (especially a coat pocket), but you'd probably be better off leaving it in a bag or purse.
Battery Life
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Despite its tiny battery pack, the GZ-VX700 lasted for just under two hours in our battery life test (110 minutes). That's not too shabby for a camcorder of this size. Just for sake of comparison, the JVC GZ-GX1 went for just 78 minutes with its larger battery pack and the Canon HF R21 lasted for 83 minutes (both terrible scores). When shooting for a long periods at a time, the GZ-VX700 does break up large clips into several individual files, each around 25 minutes in length. But the camcorder doesn't lose any data while recording, the next clip picks up exactly where the previous one leaves off. More on how we test battery life.
Since the VX700 is a slender camcorder, it's battery compartment must fit in with this narrow design. In doing so, JVC resorted to using an enclosed battery compartment on the right side of the camcorder. This design has two flaws: 1) you can't use larger battery packs with the VX700 in order to get a longer recording time, and 2) the battery compartment door doesn't remain connected to the camcorder when opened. That last point is a shocker. The battery door comes right off of the camcorder when you open it, which means it is very easy to lose or break when you take it off. And working with the VX700 with its battery fully exposed won't be safe (or fun) for anyone.
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LCD
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The GZ-VX700 is equipped with what has become the standard size LCD for a mid-range camcorder: 3-inches diagonal with a 230k pixel resolution. You'll find these LCD specs for most camcorders in the $500 price range, while many flagship models have a bit larger screens (up to 3.5-inches) and usually have much higher resolutions (often approaching one million pixels).
So the specs for the VX700's LCD are just fine. The screen looks decent enough, it has brightness controls, and it should be large enough for most users. The problem with the screen lies in its touch interface, which is downright awful. At times, we found ourselves pressing touch buttons on the LCD four or five times before the camcorder would recognize our input. That's not just bad, that's borderline unusable.
Stabilization
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The JVC GZ-VX700 is equipped with optical image stabilization, but the camcorder wasn't effective in stabilizing the video image in our tests. In regular use, we saw the OIS as being somewhat effective, but our shake tests were too much for the VX700 to handle, and the camcorder's image stabilization features were of no help. We saw nearly identical results with the JVC GZ-GX1, so this performance was somewhat expected. More on how we test stabilization.
Manual Focus
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Yes, the GZ-VX700 has a manual focus option. No, we don't recommend using it. The controls are cumbersome, require you to use the awful LCD touch interface, and without any focus assist options you'll be hard pressed to be able to see whether or not your videos are in focus. It's such a bad system, we almost wish JVC had left it off entirely, or maybe replaced it with a focus lock or something like that.
Manual Exposure
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The VX700 has more exposure controls than many camcorders in its price range, but the act of adjusting these controls isn't a simple task. Like manual focus, setting exposure is made more difficult by the GZ-VX700's slow response time and lousy touchscreen interface.
You can set exposure in three different ways: straightforward brightness adjustment in 1/3 EV steps, aperture-priority control, and shutter-priority mode. The brightness control is the easiest to use, and it is the only method that isn't terribly frustrating to set. The aperture and shutter speed cannot be set independently from one another, but they can be controlled individually (set the aperture and the camcorder picks a corresponding shutter speed to match it automatically). We do like that the VX700 has a bunch of slow shutter speed options (down to 1/2 a second), so you can create some cool effects by switching over to manual mode there. The aperture control range is far more limited (f/1.2 - f/5.6), and it certainly doesn't offer enough control so that you can play with depth of field.
Gain cannot be selected manually, but the VX700 does have a feature to turn off gain entirely. There is also an auto gain setting that lets a slow shutter (1/30 of a second) kick in when the camcorder detects it needs an illumination boost. This slow of a shutter speed will give your video a slow, choppy look, though.
Miscellaneous Controls
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The camcorder does have manual white balance, but this may be the VX700's worst designed manual control of them all. To set white balance you must press—and hold—the manual white balance button on the LCD for a good second before the camcorder calibrates the color temperature properly. The worst part about this is that the camcorder gives you no inclination as to whether white balance was set properly or not. This means, for beginners at least, you have no idea if you've set the white balance or not. JVC offers this terrible white balance setup on all its Everio models, and we've hounded them for it for years to no avail.
There are also three white balance presets in addition to the manual option: Fine, Cloud, and Halogen. Two "underwater" white balance modes also are found on the camcorder, but they are only meant to use when shooting underwater with an optional waterproof case that you can purchase from JVC.
Backlight Compensation
Supposedly, this feature will help capture details on your subject that is lit from behind by a strong light (like a window). In practice, we found it barely made a difference, however, as the camcorder struggles with auto exposure whenever a strong light source is detected in a portion of the frame.
xv Color
Allows the GZ-VX700 to record video using the expanded xvYCC color gamut. You’ll only notice a difference when the videos are viewed on a xvYCC-compatible television, though.
Tele Macro
For taking close-up shots, you can use the Tele Macro function on the camcorder to make focusing on close subjects easier. Tele Macro only makes a real difference when you're using a bit of optical zoom to shoot your close-up.
Auto Controls
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The automatic controls on the JVC GZ-VX700 work fine, but there were some issues. Autofocus can be slow at times, particularly with closeups, and the auto exposure system did blow out certain scenes. When moving from completely different lighting situations (e.g. from outdoors to indoors), the camcorder did handle the exposure adjustments properly and quickly. But in mixed light scenes (like and indoor shot with a bright window) the image often was too bright in certain parts.
The camcorder does have four tracking modes, all of which can be fun to use but don't work 100% of the time. The tracking settings include face, pets, colors, and range (where you specify the area you want to track). You'll have best luck with tracking if your subject isn't moving that quickly and stays within the camcorder's frame the whole time.
The zoom toggle is small and looks cheap, but it works surprisingly well. It is easy to apply a small amount of pressure to the slider in order to get a slow, even zoom, and then fully pushing the slider one way or another brings the zoom up to its top speed. You can also use the zoom buttons on the LCD screen, but we don't like them nearly as much as the slider on the top of the camcorder. There are no static zoom speed controls on the VX700, so the only way to adjust the zoom speed is to do so by applying varying amounts of pressure to the zoom toggle (this won't work with the touchscreen buttons).
Audio Controls
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JVC limited the GZ-VX700 in terms of audio features. The camcorder has no mic jack, no headphone jack, no shoe mount for attaching an external mic, and no audio level controls. The built-in mic does record stereo audio, though, and it has a wind cut feature and a zoom mic feature that will focus in the audio recording to match the area the lens is zooming towards.
Features
The most elaborate new feature on the JVC Everio GZ-VX700 is the camcorder's built-in WiFi capability (a feature found on numerous new JVC Everio camcorders). But there are some other interesting options on this mid-range camcorder as well: HD and SD recording features, a high-speed recording option that shoots at 300fps, an auto record function, and various still image shooting options. There are also a decent number of manual and automatic controls on the VX700, although the terrible user interface makes these features a nuisance to utilize.
Compression
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Like most consumer camcorders, the JVC Everio GZ-VX700 records using the AVCHD compression system. This format is based on the H.264/MPEG-4 codec, but the video is recorded with extra information that makes it AVCHD-compliant. AVCHD clips are big, they require special software to import to your computer, and they can be difficult to work with in post-production. But the format is popular right now, so most programs should be able to handle them fine (as long as you're working with a fairly new computer and software). The two standard definition modes on the VX700 record video using the MPEG-4 codec as well. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of various high definition compression types.
Media
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To keep costs down, JVC didn't include internal memory on most of its new 2012 Everios. So the VX700 requires the use of a SD-type memory card in order to save and record media content with the camcorder. The card slot is on the bottom of the camcorder and it fits SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of various media types.
Resolution & Frame Rates
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Technically, the VX700 offers more than its basic 60i frame rate for recording video. The camcorder also has a 300fps high speed record mode, but the video captured with this setting is extremely low quality so we don't recommend it for general use. All of the camcorder's regular record modes use a 60i frame rate, although the signal is upconverted to 60p during playback on the camcorder (and connected to an HDTV via HDMI).
Slow Motion Modes
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Yes, the VX700 has a single high-speed record mode that records at 300 frames per second. If you don't want to do the math, that's five times slower than the normal 60i frame rate used for the camcorder's HD and SD record modes. So, the resulting video image for the VX700's slow motion mode will be five times slower than that of the other record modes. Hence, a 12-second clip will turn into a 60-second slow-mo video.
Still Features
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JVC is still pushing hard to include a variety of still image features on its Everio camcorders, and we're not all that impressed anymore. We'd rather have a camcorder that just records video well instead of one that can do a mediocre job capturing both video and photos. Anyway, the VX700 does come with a bunch of photo options, and whether you choose to utilize them is your own choice (but we don't recommend it).
The camcorder's maximum photo size option is something of a blatant lie. It tops out at 3808 x 2856, which translates to a 10.9-megapixel photo. But this is entirely interpolated because the camcorder's max pixel count is only 3.3 megapixels, so any photos larger than that are essentially digitally stretched and resized. This makes the VX700's 2-megapixel 1920 x 1080 photo size option really the highest native resolution option available on the camcorder for stills. You can also capture 1920 x 1080 stills during video recording. Additionally, there are numerous continuous shooting modes, a self timer, and smile shot features in the VX700's photo mode.
Lens & Imaging System
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The JVC Everio GZ-VX700 has a 1/4-inch CMOS sensor with a total pixel count of 3.32 megapixels (3.03 effective megapixels). This is a solid mid-range camcorder sensor that is bigger than the sensors you'll find on some of the lowest-price camcorders in JVC's Everio line. But it's a good deal smaller than the sensors than you find on flagship models (usually around 1/2-inch or 1/3 of an inch in size).
The f/1.2 lens is very fast and has a wide angle of view in addition to its 10x optical zoom. JVC loaded the lens with a number dynamic (18x) and digital zoom (up to 200x) rather than equip the camcorder with an impressive optical zoom ratio (10x is on the low end for a mid-range camcorder).
LCD
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The GZ-VX700 is equipped with what has become the standard size LCD for a mid-range camcorder: 3-inches diagonal with a 230k pixel resolution. You'll find these LCD specs for most camcorders in the $500 price range, while many flagship models have a bit larger screens (up to 3.5-inches) and usually have much higher resolutions (often approaching one million pixels).
So the specs for the VX700's LCD are just fine. The screen looks decent enough, it has brightness controls, and it should be large enough for most users. The problem with the screen lies in its touch interface, which is downright awful. At times, we found ourselves pressing touch buttons on the LCD four or five times before the camcorder would recognize our input. That's not just bad, that's borderline unusable.
Connectivity
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JVC conveniently locates all of the GZ-VX700's ports in a small strip on the back of the camcorder. In a line going straight down you'll see the DC-input, AV-output, HDMI port, and USB terminal. These ports, while protected well by a plastic cover, are a bit difficult to get to thanks to the difficult-to-open cover design. There's no release switch to pop the cover open, so you must pry it open with your fingernail using the tiny slot located near the base of the camcorder. It's not crazy difficult, but it is harder than it should be.
Battery
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Since the VX700 is a slender camcorder, it's battery compartment must fit in with this narrow design. In doing so, JVC resorted to using an enclosed battery compartment on the right side of the camcorder. This design has two flaws: 1) you can't use larger battery packs with the VX700 in order to get a longer recording time, and 2) the battery compartment door doesn't remain connected to the camcorder when opened. That last point is a shocker. The battery door comes right off of the camcorder when you open it, which means it is very easy to lose or break when you take it off. And working with the VX700 with its battery fully exposed won't be safe (or fun) for anyone.
Media
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To keep costs down, JVC didn't include internal memory on most of its new 2012 Everios. So the VX700 requires the use of a SD-type memory card in order to save and record media content with the camcorder. The card slot is on the bottom of the camcorder and it fits SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of various media types.
Still Features
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JVC is still pushing hard to include a variety of still image features on its Everio camcorders, and we're not all that impressed anymore. We'd rather have a camcorder that just records video well instead of one that can do a mediocre job capturing both video and photos. Anyway, the VX700 does come with a bunch of photo options, and whether you choose to utilize them is your own choice (but we don't recommend it).
The camcorder's maximum photo size option is something of a blatant lie. It tops out at 3808 x 2856, which translates to a 10.9-megapixel photo. But this is entirely interpolated because the camcorder's max pixel count is only 3.3 megapixels, so any photos larger than that are essentially digitally stretched and resized. This makes the VX700's 2-megapixel 1920 x 1080 photo size option really the highest native resolution option available on the camcorder for stills. You can also capture 1920 x 1080 stills during video recording. Additionally, there are numerous continuous shooting modes, a self timer, and smile shot features in the VX700's photo mode.
Other Features
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WiFi Features
The GZ-VX700 is loaded with WiFi features, most of which are very complicated to explain. Some are easy to implement for the most part—particularly the remote viewing on a smartphone or web browser—but other features have a long setup process that require many steps before you can get them to work properly. Below we include a brief list of the camcorder's WiFi functions, but for a more detailed explanation about each, you should read the WiFi Feature section of our JVC GZ-GX1 review. The two camcorders have the same WiFi functions, so that page should have everything you want to know.
The VX700's WiFi features include: direct monitoring via smartphone (including remote operation with smartphone via free Apple or Android app), direct monitoring via web browser, outside monitoring via internet, email media, and wireless media transfer to phone or computer. Like we said, you can read more about all these features here.
Time-lapse Recording
We know the story. You saw a cool time-lapse video on the internet last week and now you want to make your own. Well, the GZ-VX700 can help. It has a special time lapse record mode that lets you capture one frame of video at a specific interval of time that you've selected (from once per second down to as slow as once very 80 seconds). Making things look great is still a challenge, but this is can be a fun feature to play around with if you're patient.
Video Light
The small video light on the front of the GZ-VX700 can help you in a pinch, but don’t expect it to improve your low light shooting dramatically. The light has a limited range of a few feet and it gives off a tinted glow that doesn’t bode well for color accuracy. You can turn the light on, off, or set the camcorder to automatically power up the light when needed.
Auto Record
Auto Record is a function that JVC has featured on a bunch of Everio models in the past. With Auto Record turned on, you can set the camcorder down and it will automatically start recording when a new subject enters the frame. The VX700 uses contrast detection to notice changes in lighting that signify something new is moving in front of the camcorder.
Panasonic HC-V500M Comparison
The GZ-GX1 is JVC's flagship Everio for 2012, so it does have a bunch of extra features that aren't found on the GZ-VX700. Mainly, the GX1 has a larger image sensor, a better lens, more advanced manual controls, and a larger LCD than its little brother. It also costs around $300 bucks more than the VX700, so you are paying a significant amount more for the benefit of these extra options and improved hardware.
So the real question is if the extra cash is worth it for the GZ-GX1. In short, the answer is no. But it's more complicated than that because we don't recommend either of these Everio models too highly. Sure, the WiFi features are kinda cool (and they are way better than Canon's WiFi functions on its new Vixia camcorders), but the VX700 and GX1 both have serious flaws when it comes to user interface. JVC made two very cheap camcorders here, both of which are exceedingly frustrating to use thanks to their unresponsive LCD touchscreens. Both camcorders put up decent numbers in our tests, but neither stood out from the pack in terms of performance.
With its $900 price tag the Everio GX1 is cheaper than most other flagship camcorders. The same could be said about the GZ-VX700 compared to other mid-range camcorders. But JVC cut too many corners in making these camcorders. We'd rather pay a little more for a camcorder we can trust than save a few bucks on a camcorder that leaves us disappointed overall.
Canon Vixia HF R21 Comparison
The Panasonic HC-V500M is an entry-level camcorder that easily garnered our support. Despite being cheaper than the JVC VX700 by a good margin (you can find the Panasonic online for less than $400), the Panasonic V500M outperformed the JVC in nearly all of our tests. The only area where the JVC did better was low light sensitivity, where the VX700's f/1.2 lens really did give it a boost in performance.
But we also prefer the way the Panasonic V500M handled. Its touchscreen interface wasn't perfect, but it was far more responsive than JVC's. The Panasonic also has just as many manual exposure controls as the JVC, as well as some extra features that are absent on the VX700 (like gain control, some picture effects, and a much larger optical zoom capability). The JVC's advantages are slim: it has the benefit of built-in WiFi and its slow motion record mode, and a smaller body design, but that's about it.
If you're looking for a traditional camcorder on the cheap, the Panasonic HC-V500M is one of the best options we've seen in 2012. It's videos don't bring amazing image quality, but the camcorder is easy to use and it is packed with a lot of features for a model that's priced so low. And it is better than the JVC GZ-VX700 in nearly every category that counts.
COMP 3
The Canon Vixia HF R21 is a 2011 camcorder, which means you should be able to find it at a bargain price if you shop around. Last year, the camcorder was pricey for an "entry-level" model, but its performance results were pretty good and these numbers positioned it as more of a mid-range camcorder instead. Overall, the Canon R21 performed at roughly the same level as the JVC GZ-VX700, so the two camcorders aren't that much different in terms of image quality.
Even though the Canon R21 is over a year old, we still give it the edge over the JVC GZ-VX700. The two camcorders may perform similarly as far as image quality is concerned, but the Canon is way easier to work with. We like Canon's touchscreen LCD design (it's pretty responsive, although still not perfect), and we think the menu system is easier to navigate than JVC's. The VX700 does have more controls and features than the Canon, but if you're a novice videographer then you probably won't be interested in these controls anyway.
Conclusion
We like what JVC has done to expand the possibilities of built-in WiFi on consumer camcorders, but the Everio GZ-VX700 has few other redeeming qualities. Poor color accuracy in bright light, middling image sharpness, and terrible handling issues haunt the camcorder to the point that we're unable to recommend the GZ-VX700 for anyone. Sure, the model is cheaper than the competition, but in our mind the camcorder doesn't represent a good value—no matter what it's price tag may be.
The VX700's unresponsive touchscreen interface may be the most frustrating aspect of the camcorder overall. We found ourselves pressing the touchscreen buttons five or six times before the camcorder would respond, which is something we deem as unacceptable.
We do have to admit the VX700 does have some bright points. We like the WiFi features, although we must be clear that most of these options require a lot of setup before you can get them to work. We also were impressed with the camcorder's low light capabilities, as well as its plethora of manual controls and features (time lapse recording, auto record, and slow motion modes being the most interesting). But the handling issues with the LCD are too significant to overlook despite these positive notes.
If you're looking for a budget camcorder, we recommend staying away from the JVC VX700. Sony, Panasonic, and Canon all have better models than the Everio GZ-VX700, many of which are available for less than $500.
Photo Gallery
{{photo_gallery "Front Photo", "Left Photo", "Left Open Photo", "Back Photo", "Right Photo", "Top Photo", "Bottom Photo", "Lens Photo", "Lens Photo 2", "3D Lens Photo", "Media Photo", "Easy Mode Photo", "Manual Controls Photo", "Zoom Photo", "Zoom Photo 2", "Ease of Use Photo", "Battery Photo", "LCD Photo 1", "LCD Photo 2", "EVF Photo 1", "EVF Photo 2", "Mic Photo", "Mic Photo 2", "Ports Photo 1", "Ports Photo 2", "Ports Photo 3", "Ports Photo 4", "Ports Photo 5", "Ports Photo 6", "Handling Photo 1", "Handling Photo 2", "Handling Photo 3", "Handling Photo 4", "Box Photo"}}
Meet the tester
Jeremy is the video expert of our imaging team and Reviewed.com's head of video production. Originally from Pennsylvania and upstate NY, he graduated from Bard college with a degree in film and electronic media. He has been living and working in New England since 2005.
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