Victor Co. of Japan Ltd. (JVC) will begin selling two cameras later this month that feature both still and video recording modes and store data on a removable hard-disk drive, the company said at Ceatec Japan 2004 on Friday.
The GZ-MC100 and GZ-MC200 will both be sold under the ‘Everio’ name and have similar specifications, but are built into different style cases. The GZ-MC100 is built into a thin case that is held upright with a monitor that hinges out from the side, while the GZ-MC200 (pictured) is a little squarer and gripped with the hand and has a lens that swivels to point forward.
Both will be supplied with a 4GB MicroDrive removable hard-disk drive from Hitachi Ltd. The cameras also accept SD (Secure Digital) memory cards.
A key function of the cameras is a high-quality video recording mode, said JVC. They have a built-in MPEG2 encoder chip and can record DVD-quality video in 720 pixel by 480 pixel wide-screen format. The supplied 4GB hard-disk drive can store between 1 and 2 hours of video at this resolution and 5 hours of video at the lower 352 pixel by 240 pixel resolution.
The cameras have a 2-megapixel class image sensor and this is available at full 1,600 pixel by 1,200 pixel UXGA (Ultra Extended Graphics Array) resolution in still image mode. At this resolution and with the 4GB drive, users can store either 2,797 fine-mode images or 9,142 standard-mode images, said JVC.
Other features include a 10x optical zoom, a voice recorder and support for the PictBridge standard, which allows the cameras to connect directly to printers without the need for a personal computer.
JVC plans to offer both products in Japan, Europe and the U.S. starting in mid-October. The GZ-MC100 will cost ¥130,000 (US$1,171) and the GZ-MC200 will cost ¥140,000, it said.