Despite the slow progress toward solid-state camcorders, there is still life in the MiniDV market yet, as JVC shows with this release of a budget camcorder that can shoot widescreen 16:9. The GR D850 is petite but packs a good 35x zoom, 680,000 pixel CCD and a decent 2.7 inch screen with auto-adjusting brightness. More details after the jump.

Measuring just 2.7 x 4.6 x 2.9 inches, and weighing just over a pound, the GR D850's 35x zoom beats the 34x of its predecessor, the D750. It can shoot in brightnesses down to 12 lux and the supplied battery can shoot for about 2 hours continuously, which isn't too bad. It seems like it's aimed at beginners, with a good Auto mode that should make life easy if you do use it to capture those precious moments when Junior chucks food around your dining room at feeding time grins for grandma.

The GR D850 will be available in Japan in January 2008 for 45,000 (around $400), and should make its way across the Pacific before too long. [Impress through Google Translate]

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