JVC's HD7 - with its large matte box, focus ring and its many buttons - looks and feels like a small and sleek professional camcorder, but the three very small 1/5-inch sensors relegate it to an awkward space in-between consumer and professional markets. Image quality is too low to appeal to professionals, even as a B-cam, and the complex controls and $1500 price scare consumers away. It's too bad, because with its miniature pro looks and dual recording media - HDD and flash memory – the HD7 could have performed like a consumer camcorder from 2010.



JVC has developed a new HD compression format for the HV7, and it is called MPEG-2 TS. The best compression setting available records 1920 x 1080 with a variable bit rate, averaging 26.6 Mbps and reaching up to 30 Mbps (depending on scene complexity and movement). Recording is done to the built-in 60 GB hard disk drive or SD/SDHC memory cards.



The HD7's image is noisy in any and all conditions, and over-saturated to an aesthetically displeasing extent. Compression artifacts are less noticeable than those of AVCHD based camcorders, but the video is not as clean as in the case of HDV. The camcorder's dynamic range is poor, with a tendency to aggressively blow out highlights. In low light, it retains color information but introduces high levels of electronic grain.



The aspherical Fujinon 10x lens is optically stabilized. An aspherical lens means less blurriness and light aberrations. Another plus of aspherical lenses is their ability to conserve aperture as you zoom into the telephoto range. In the HD7's case, it goes from f1.8 at wide angle to an amazing f1.9 at full telephoto. Zoom control is assigned to a good sized zoom rocker.



A large matte box (which protects the lens from flaring) and a manual lens enclosure add to the HD7's professional aspect. A 2.8-inch 16:9 widescreen LCD is about the norm for this price, and the device is also equipped with a color viewfinder.



Auto-exposure is accurate, rendering pleasant and detailed blacks, but the speed with which it adapts to changing light conditions is slow. Auto-white-balance adds an incorrect warm taint to most images. Auto-focus, although a bit sluggish, does its job well.



The real strong point when it comes to focus is the dedicated focus ring located on the HD7's lens. Together with the focus peaking feature, which is activated by an external button, it allows for very quick and professional focus in any situation.



Other manual buttons activate control over aperture, shutter and exposure compensation. Once pressed, a lever adjusts the selected function. Shutter speed ranges between 1/2 and 1/4000 of a second; aperture can be adjusted from f1.8 to f8.0. The camcorder's remaining functions are menu-driven, and accessed by way of a joystick.



A zebra function provides only two IRE thresholds: 70 and 100. Another feature that is rare in the consumer realm is the ability to output color bars.



An internal stereo microphone records MPEG-1 Layer 2 audio, but the camera lacks controls over audio levels or gain. A mic jack and an accessory shoe are provided, but no input for headphones.



Photos can be captured at a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080.



The HD7's array of ports includes any connectivity options your can ask for in this class: USB 2.0/1.1, HDMI Out, iLINK Out, Component Video Out, S-Video Out, AV Out, SD/SDHC Memory Card Slot.