JVC NAB updates

[Barry_Green]

Well, no new press releases yet, and the page that they did post promises a webcast but it brings up a "file not found" error. However, keep your browser pointed here for updates from JVC:

http://pro.jvc.com/prof/pr.jsp

[VGurcu]

Found this link at Dvinfo, link works but no news yet:
http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/jvc/nab2009/

[VGurcu]

Quick update:JVC product manager just announced a 4K(60p) camera & 4K monitor in the development. (No sensor info was given) Application purpose he said 'HD video conferencing, CAD applications and digital cinematography. He also added it would be produced on demand.

My understanding is they will be watching this whole new DSMC, red & new 2/3 cine cameras movement.

EDIT: Here is the press release(4K, single 1.25 inch CMOS sensor camera):
http://pro.jvc.com/pro/pr/2009/nab/kyf4000.html

[puredrifting]

Under $200k for the JVC KYF4000 camera?!? Where do I sign up?

Dan

[LuckyStudio 13]

The " KY ", which you will need when JVC takes your $200k away from you.

[VGurcu]

I appreciate the sarcasm guys. I wasnt aware of any pricing info when PM was talking about it...

[Spartacus]

Under $200k for the JVC KYF4000 camera?!? Where do I sign up?

Dan

I´m sure with JVC position in the camera race, they will at least sell 3 units of this next-big-thing! :beer:

[mcgeedigital]

“By including real time output for display or transmission, the engineers at JVC are really thinking ahead,” says Edgar Shane, senior product engineering manager of JVC U.S.A.. “Where other 4K cameras on the market have been designed for cinema and are processing at 24p to 30p, we are offering full 60p output, with live transmission capability, because we believe that’s the future of ultra high resolution."

Yeah who wants that stinky 24p anyway! :p

[puredrifting]

Sorry VGurcu, it's hard tp NOT make fun of JVC. They have been the neglected stepchild in pro video since I have been in it. Always in the driveway but nobody will let them through the door because of that "incident" at the family Thanksgiving in 1978.

Dan

[VGurcu]

Sorry VGurcu, it's hard tp NOT make fun of JVC. They have been the neglected stepchild in pro video since I have been in it. Always in the driveway but nobody will let them through the door because of that "incident" at the family Thanksgiving in 1978.

Be my guest Dan, just remember every story has a spin where a main character has to overcome his weaknesses and transforms his position/identity. ;)
Little time I spent with HM700 was enough to decide making it my next purchase.

[puredrifting]

My beef with JVC goes back decades, they have been making inferior products that always break since the 80s when I was a store manager at an electronics chain. I will always remember filling out monthly initial defect rate report, JVC was always hovering around 70-85% defective out of the box. I fonalluy told the salesman to stop selling them and we put out of stock signs on them because we were pissing off so many customers when we sold them. People get mad when they drive 30 miles to buy a new piece of electronics, get it home, unbox it and it's dead. Ot it would eat their tapes. Or the remote wouldn't work. Or three LED segments would be out on the VCR's clock. Or...

Then the corporate client I had in the 90s who had three million dollars of JVC "Pro" video gear setup in three different facilities. They had a full time crew to three guys to just keep up with the breakdowns, premature head replacements and arguing with JVC for out of warranty fixes.

Then there was the more recent HD100 split prism debacle.

It has always been maddening too because cosmetically, their products look great and they always sucker people in with great features. The new records to FCP formatted QTs is genius, great feature. But functionally, they always break and JVC Pro Video service has been a nightmare everytime I ever dealt with them.

If you like to gamble, go for it! ;-) Live dangerously.

Dan

[VGurcu]

Dan,
You voiced your JVC dislike on several occasions which is fine, however in case you forgot let me remind you few facts:
-Panasonic which was Matsushita up until few years ago also owned JVC until 2008. (Last year JVC partnered with Kenwood Electronics.) One would expect similar QA/QC procedures applied to parent electronic companies.
-DVXUser founder Jarred stated his dislike for Panasonic Canada many years ago, and I can assure you he was right back then and still is. Does it stop us Canadians using Panasonic products happily? No.
Did you have bad experience with JVC USA division?Yes. Does it mean that an electronic giant can be blamed for that?No.

I avoid debates so i wont post on the subject any further. At the end of the day equipment decisions are like choosing your better half, what is best for you does(may) not mean a lot to me. vice versa...

[SPZ]

While it is true some of us can have some bad experiences with equipment or costumer support with a certain brand which end up influencing the way we see it, I have to backup Dan on this: Fellow professionals that jumped on the H100 bandwagon over here where not warned of the "split screen", for example. A Director friend of mine swore to not use JVC gear anymore after the hassle that was his JVC gear, from his HDV deck (which broke twice already, from regular- not very intensive- use), as well as the camera, which had the same problem (image turning blue) twice, also.

This is unnacceptable for professional gear. On the other hand, though , we both own JVC monitors for years (HD CRT's), and they are great.

As for Panasonic, they sure have their blunders. We have an HVX200 with a non functional FW connection, for example, which came like this from day one.

Te HPX300, for example, has known issues with image quality that are being addressed by Panasonic. The same happens for Sony. The EX1, for example, had a troubled start.

If I'm to say, between all brands, the one I hear less complains from users is Canon. maybe their userbase is smaller, but the fact is you rarelly see complains from Canon users either online or on the field (concerning reliability and Quality Control).

Personnally, and because the great costumer support from Panasonic HK, as well as the fantastic look of Panasonic's Cinegamma and 25p (and coming from operating Panasonic cameras for more than 6 years now- wow, time flies!) I tend to stick with the brand. Of course, I'm always looking for the best upcoming bang for the buck Professional camera, and If I have to jump ship, I will, but working on Panasonic gear is like Driving a car you know for years- you know where the switches are, were they excell and were they tend to be less good at. With a Panny camera, I can get good results almost immediately due to Past experience- this is a plus, specially if I have projects in a short notice and I need to use the improvement in Picture quality as a pitch to potential costumers. On the other hand, it isn't that hard to "learn" a different brand camera. But it certainly needs to be "special" to lure me away from the confidence Panasonic cameras gave me with their past products...

[ecking]

-DVXUser founder Jarred stated his dislike for Panasonic Canada many years ago, and I can assure you he was right back then and still is. Does it stop us Canadians using Panasonic products happily? No.

Oh man you did not just bring up Panasonic Broadcast Canada. I hate them so much it pains me.... but your right I still use Panasonic gear - bought in America.

[dadoboy]

I've used two JVC cameras in the last 8 years that I've been shooting.
I bought a GY 300u DV camera - it was solid. No problems at all. Shot a few documentaries with it for other people. Nice for what it cost me.
I used an HD 100u on a three camera shoot for a picture with a budget of 500K.
Horrible experience. The HD 100u HDV camera would say it was recording, but wouldn't record anything at all. We had to re-do or lost many many shots. Almost switched over to F900's in the middle of the shoot.

Personally, I would wait for the second generation of any JVC camera format before I bought or rent it - I bet that the 200u was much more reliable than the 100 series.

[Carlos Corral]

I experienced "hot pixel" problems with the JVC110. Apparently the sensor overheats sometimes and cause this problem. I now have to take my footage into Shake to get rid of the "bright white pixel" that is in several of my shots.

[puredrifting]

VGurcu:

It seems that you are perceiving my dislike of JVC as a personal attack on your choice of products to buy or as a value judgement about what kind of person you are. I am not trying to make this about you or your choice at all, i hope that you are not taking it that way. You will buy whatever you want to buy and nothing I say is going to change your mind and I really am not trying to. I am just relating my experience and echoing the experiences of hundreds of others who have posted here and elsewhere for the past few years about JVC. Read the posts above this one about Carlos, Dadoboy and Sergio's JVC experiences. If you search around pro video discussions on the web, you will find a disproportionately high amount of dissatisfied users of JVC pro video gear, mainly cameras and decks (other than their monitors, which DO seem to be fine). I am not making it up.

And yes, I am very aware of the corporate structure of Matsushita, Kenwood, etc. I write about electronics, go to tradeshows, am on all of the PR Web releases about electronics. But you should know that even though JVC was owned by Matsushita, the two divisions never really worked together, JVC was left alone pretty much to do what they always did. That is why the new products utuilize SxS Sony technology, Matsushita the time obviouslty didn't want to intermingle or dilute the Panasonic brand with JVC, that is why there were never any JVC P2 cameras.

I disagree that the electronics giant cannot be blamed for the bad service of JVC America and the poor reliability and high initial defect rate of JVC products. The Victor Corporation of Japan is who makes all of this stuff, so the reverse is actually true, I can't blame JVC America, because just like Panasonic USA, they don't make the products, they just distribute them, sell them, repair them.

And yes, guilty as charged. I am a really forgiving, easy to get along with person, but if you burn me, I will use every means at my disposal to utilize the rule of 7/23, the axiom that if a company gives good service or makes a good product, the average user will only tell 7 people about their positive experience, but if the same compnay burns someone or makes crappy products, the average person will tell at least 23 people about their negative experience.

JVC has burned me many times, both professionally and personally so I like to turn to the rule of 7/23 into the rule of 100k/500k with the power of the Internet and columns I write in magazines and for websites. I feel that good products made by good companies should be rewarded with good press and a positive reputation and I do preach a lot when I find a great product or even an average product but the compnay had great customer service and took care of my issue. The way that Panasonic took care of the lens wobble on my HPX170 should be commended and I did in print and on the web many times. They made a mistake and promptly took care of it with little hassle on my end. That is how you do it if you want to build good customer will. I don't have issues with JVC having an occasional problem with their products but when the problems have been repeated through many different product lines for decades, that should be acknowledged by someone who has experienced it. Same with their factory service, I won't go into details but lets just say that the after sales service with JVC America has been less than stellar.

I truly hope that you have a positive experience with your camera, I would love to hear that JVC has finally gotten their act together and start recommending rather than warning people about their products.

Good luck,

Dan

[Justyn]

I think Dan is very fair in giving his honest opinions and he delivers them with tact on this subject and many others.. Personally, I had one experience with JVC and it was so horrible and so frustrating that one time was enough. We shot a project on the 100 something or other and we had timecode breaks and dropped frames and the cam shutting off and then stopping recording. Now I know it was one time, but a first impression means a lot. I wouldn't want to have that uncertainty.. so it's only ever been one time.

[cheezweezl]

i checked out the jvc booth at nab today. overall, across the board nice sharp images but the colors sucked big time. very very video looking.