The new HDD Camcorder from JVC, the GZ-MC500 started to ship from Amazon.com.

Originally the shipping date was June 15th, but our records show that Amazon.com already shipped some of the new JVC GZ-MC500 camcorders. Amazon.com also changed the text in the listing saying the camcorder is in stock soon.
The JVC GZ-MC500 is the new superior successor of the already cool GZ-MC200 (review). There is still no other camcorder that features a hard-drive instead of a tape or DVD disc. See the GZ-MC500 specification below.

Amazon.com sells the JVC GZ-MC500 for $1,599.95 (MSRP: $1,799.95).


JVC Everio GZ-MC500 Specification:

• Imaging device: 3 CCD (3-1/4 .5-inch 1.33 megapixel CCDs)
• Effective pixels: 5 megapixels
• Digital still images: Up to 2560 x 1920 pixels for 8 x 10 or A4 prints
• Video format: High-quality MPEG-2 video recording (up to 720 x 480 / 60 in ULTRA mode) with Dolby digital audio
• Shooting capacity: UP to 60 minutes on the on the supplied removable 4GB microdrive card
• Shooting modes: Four levels of video quality
• Manual focus: Manual focus ring with push auto-focus button for precision and creativity
• Lens: High resolution JVC lens
• Zoom: 10x (8x for stills) optical / 200x digital zoom
• 35mm equivalent : 16:9 video to 37.8 to 378 mm. 4:3 video to 46.2 to 462 mm. Still picture to 43 to 334 mm
• LCD: 1.8 inch LCD monitor
• Exposure: (video: -6 to approximately +6, Stills: -2EV to approximately +2EV)
• Shutter speeds : video: 1/2 to approximately 1/4000 seconds / still: 1/2 to approximately 1/500 seconds
• Program AE : sports, snow, spotlight, twilight, portrait, shutter priority, aperture priority
• White balance: auto, MWB, fine, cloud, halogen
• Self-timer : 2 or 10 seconds
• Macro shooting : as close as 5 centimeters with zoom set to wide
• Tele-macro : shooting distance: up to 60 centimeters
• Voice recording mode : Fine, Standard, ECO
• Special effects : sepia, black and white
• Advanced photo functions : Auto bracket (plus or minus 1/3 F stop and normal) and real-time histogram display
• Data storage: Microdrive / CompactFlash card and SD dual card slots for extra data storage and transfer
• Weight: 400 grams. Volume: under 480 cubic centimeters