Cramming three CCD sensors into a camcorder isn’t a new idea. You split the image into red, green and blue light and use a sensor to capture each, with the promise for all this hard work being brighter colours and more detail.

The MG505 packs this technology alongside a 30GB hard disk and a 5megapixel camera – but is it all a bit redundant now we’re all talking about hi-def?

Well, those three CCDs do seem to make a difference, so at least you can see what your money’s got you. The MPEG2 footage is reasonably detailed, although little better than you get from the other Everios, and the colours are incredibly vibrant.

It’s a double-edged sword, though, as sometimes brighter colours get so saturated that they lose detail and become a blobby mess. As for sonics, the stereo sound recording is as good as it gets from built-in mics.

A big 2.7in LCD swings out from the side to act as your eyes – no optical viewfinder here. It’s widescreen to cope with the 16:9 recording option and is very bright, which is good for shooting in heavy sunlight. But that’s about all that’s good about it. It’s smeary, grainy and washed out, turning any normal, well-lit scene into a slushy mess.

Storage for your movies comes courtesy of a 30GB hard disk, which is good for 7 hours at DVD quality – reserved for weddings, where you want to capture every memory – or up to 38 hours in the economy mode – best kept for births, where a memories are best kept lo-res, for the sake of all concerned.

Ropey stabiliser
But what if you want to archive or burn your footage to DVD? Well, the HD7 has a handy optional extra called the CU-VD40 Share Station, which will burn the results directly onto DVD sans PC. Letsgodigital.co.uk, who supplied ours, has it at half price with the cam.

Considering its optical perfection, it's a real shame that JVC's saddled the poor HD7 with ropey OIS. Camera wobble reaches Blair Witch levels at full zoom. And there are a couple of other shockers, such as no direct headphone socket and a 'cold' accessory shoe, which is a bit of smack round the chops at this price. Fix those small problems, though, and the JVC would be close to perfection.