JVC GC-PX10 Digital Camera Review

Noise

We were shocked by the GC-PX10's strong noise score, because shots taken with this camera are consistently noisy. How can this be? Well, most of our sample shots were polluted with large colored splotches which may either represent an undesirable quality of this sensor, or the result of heavy noise reduction software. Either way, it's possible these splotches are so large that our testing equipment fails to recognize them as artifacts. We have to retain the score for the sake of consistency, but rest assured, this is a very noisy camera. More on how we test noise.

Noise, and the splotching problem that comes with it, is just as bad in low light. Our 60 lux test showed the very same issue, which becomes distracting by ISO 400.

Though our scores do give the advantage to JVC, in practice this is far from true. In the face crops below, notice how sharp and natural shots appear when taken with the EX-ZR100 and especially the 100 HS.

ISO

Those familiar with digital cameras may have difficultly locating the manual ISO options menu. Camcorders refer to this as "gain," and so does the PX10. Once you've made to your way to it, you'll find ISO levels extend from 100 all the way to an impressive 6400, which would've been even more impressive if the shots didn't look so bad.

NOTE: The images above are not used in our testing or scoring, but are included here to show real-world examples of the differences between cameras at the various ISO settings.