JVC Picsio GC-FM1 Camcorder Review

Performance and Use

If you can get used to the controls, you will find that the GC-FM1 takes very nice videos. These are some of the clearest videos that we’ve seen on a pocket camcorder. Videos are recorded in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 format and stored as .MOV files. Using these popular formats make it easy to share your FM1 videos. The Picsio takes videos at 1080p at 30 frames per second and 720p at 60 frames per second.

The 1080p at 30 frames per second looks quite good, but it is odd that this camcorder only uses 30 frames per second rather than the full HD 60 frames per second. The 1080p video is 1,440 x 1,080 pixels at 30 fps rather than 1,920 x 1,080 at 60 fps. The problem here is that some players and video editing software will automatically scale the resolution up to 1,920 x 1,080, which will degrade the picture.

So you may want to do a side-by-side comparison that shows the 1080p and the 720p resolutions. We did just that and found that some people thought one resolution looked better, while others preferred the other. Bottom line is that both are very good.

Which one you use on a regular basis will be determined by how the editing software you use handles the videos and how you will show the videos. It you plan on using the videos for YouTube, either resolution will probably be good. But if you will show your videos on a television, you will want to see which looks better on your TV after editing.

The Picsio takes excellent videos in natural sunlight. Color representation is especially good. Since there is no flash, you will have to supply the lighting when taking videos inside. However, given the proper lighting, interior videos are also very good. Although low-light are a little dark, color representation remains good.

The FM1 is very easy to pocket making it useful to have handy for impromptu videos. We actually liked its flashy purple faceplate ribbed silver edges which not only give it a unique look, but also make it easier to find among our other devices.

Although this JVC Picsio has a sturdy built, at 3.3 oz. (95 g), it is extremely lightweight. This makes it feel a little fragile. It also makes it difficult to keep steady. The Picsio’s image stabilization is electronic rather than optical, and doesn’t add much to the quality of the video.

We are generally not a fan of digital zoom, but found that the 4X Picsio’s digital zoom worked fairly well and although far from perfect, it looked better than most other pocket camcorders we’ve seen. The macro switch on the side is convenient and again, worked fairly well.

Still pictures can be easily taken with the Picsio’s 8.17 megapixel sensor. While most pocket corders of this size use a ¼” sensor, the PICSIO has a 1/3.2” CMOS sensor. While the sensor is larger and there are more megapixels than most other camcorders of this type, the still pictures are not as clear as we had hoped.

Taking still pictures brings us back to our complaint about the controls. There is no tactile or audio feedback to indicate that you have taken a picture. When you press the button the picture appears on the screen for only a few seconds and you are often left wondering if you actually took the picture or not. The only way to confirm that the picture was taken is to go into playback mode and scroll through to find the picture.

The Picsio has 128 MB of built-in memory but only 34.5 MB is available for storing pictures. This device takes SD cards with capacities up to 32 GB. So you have to factor in a little extra into your budget for a few memory cards. However, doing so will assure that you can continue to take movies if you fill up the first card and don’t have a computer handy to transfer the videos to.

The internal battery is recharged through the USB cable and we were able to take about 1 ½ hours of video on a single charge. Although a wall adapter is not included, the PowerBlock Dual Universal adapter by Griffin can be purchased if you will be in situations where you need to recharge the unit and a computer or USB port is not available.