Tiny Nab Gy-hd100u Report

[PappasArts]

Just wanted to let you know that a friend of mine was at NAB yesterday and went to the jvc booth and he looked at the JVC GY-HD100U.

Simply put, he said that the GY-HD100U had beautiful images. Stunning 24fps quality. Great lens etc. Very professional feeling camera. The playback was on a HD CRT monitor and of city footage, night and day. Lots of motion. No artifacts and he was blown away by the night footage too. My friend is in the middle of editing a film shot with cinealta. So he has been knee deep in footage at that level of quality. He said that the JVC looked Cinalta like. Also Adam Wilt was in the booth and he was amazed that it was artifact free and so clean. So kudos to JVC. The GY-HD100U and a firestore/hard-drive, you will be ready to go. That's all I have to offer, hope it was good info for you.

michael pappas

[reservoir]

Thanx for the report. Sounds interesting to say the least. Maybe JVC *will* give Panny a run for their money!!

~reservoir~

[Robert_Niemann]

Michael, thank you for your info. At present it looks like more of the attention goes to the Panasonic HVX200, maybe also because of its 1080p, that seems to be an advantage. But we still have to see, which camera will have the better image quality. What is 1080p for, if the HVX will have approximately the same CCD pixel amount, the JVC has!? Then 1080p would seem to be more a promotion gag (but a very clever one).

[Mediacre]

I have to say you have got my hopes up again for the JVC Michael. I confess I was considering scratching it from my list after they announce the wide angle lens will be 6k and the stock lens is only 7.3 (apparently at least. Can you confirm that Michael?) Also, if the wide angle cost basically the same as the camera with the stock lens, you can only guess how good is the sock lens. But if you say an Cinealta editior was impressed with the HD100 footage, then I have to at least check it out. Thanks for the heads up Michael. Have fun at NAB.

[author]

Just wanted to let you know that a friend of mine was at NAB yesterday and went to the jvc booth and he looked at the JVC GY-HD100U.


michael pappas

Thanks for the report, Michael! Sounds most interesting, the HD100U.

[PappasArts]

Your welcome everyone.

Yes, my friend was very impressed. As to the wide angles. I'm not worried. On pro lenses,there are alot of options to attach really nice glass adapters from Century, Optex etc. As well, the Nikon/Canon still lens adapters are cheap and allow your to do nice long lens shot options.

I believe we are going to hear a lot more about the JVC. My friend was live on the phone with me when he was in the booth, and his reactions to the footage said tons. 6K MSRP for a camera with a professional lens system. Lets keep an eye out for footage. People have footage from this camera already, it's just got to make it's way to us.


Mediacre: Here is a link to some adapters.

I used some of these, and on broadcast cameras they are very good performers...

http://www.centuryoptics.com/products/broadcast/index.htm

[redindian]

Also, if the wide angle cost basically the same as the camera with the stock lens, you can only guess how good is the sock lens.

But a good WA is very difficult + expensive to make without barrel or pincushion distortions, unless its a fisheye. Depends on how wide it goes and what its apeture is - for 6K I am guessing its gonna be a well made one.

I wonder if we they have a WA bundle as well (without def lens)

[redindian]

On pro lenses,there are alot of options to attach really nice glass adapters from Century, Optex etc. As well, the Nikon/Canon still lens adapters are cheap and allow your to do nice long lens shot options.


What do you mean Nikon/Canon adapters - You mean we can fit a 35mm lens adapater/mount and use Nikon/Canon lenses ??!?!

please explain - now I am very very interested in JVC!!

[Neil Rowe]

..its looking like it will be a very nice camera. as far as HDV goes i think id take it over the sony anyday before even reviewing its imagery or what it can do.. on specs and faith alone that its going to be the better choice between the two.

[Gibby]

I'm at NAB. I have handled the camera extensively off and on for the past two days. The footage from it is stunning! JVC has a proprietary motion filter that eliminates excess judder in 24p and 30p. Motion is clean! Chroma is rich. As to the question about the 16x lens width at full wide, it is 5.5. There is also a .8x zoom through wide converter that goes on the front of the 16x lens. They didn't have one to demo, but price for the wide converter was estimated to be around $800. The 13x lens is superb. It is 13 x 3.7, as I remember. Yeah, it costs $6k or so, but if you are doing serious documentaries, indie films, music videos, etc, it would be real nice to have. The camera has a sliding shoulder rest to help it achieve a balance on your shoulders. You can lock it down when you find the best position. They have setups with an Anton Bauer battery and also an IDX Endura battery. Camera balance is excellent. Even with the bigger batteries, the entire package weighs about 7 pounds. Light enough for serious "run 'n gun", but large enough to shoulder comfprtable. The Firestore FS-4 was mounted on one of the cameras.

This appears to be a serious contender for nearly any genre of 720p production: hardlined to a truck, ENG-style, documentaries, indies, travel, business video, and on and on...

My background is national television, in the areas of adventure travel, alternative sports, music, lifestyle, and documentaries. From what I've seen of the HD100, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one...

Steve Gibby
www.cut4.tv

[Ron R.]

Gibby-

Did you witness them capturing footage to the FireStore? The press release mentioned that Focus has created a new version of the FireStore to capture HDV footage, but I am unclear if any version would work. I've never used a FS, so i don't really understand how they work. What I'd really like to know is if it will be able to capture HD footage as well as DV footage (not simulatneously). For some jobs, it would be nice to capture many hours of 24 or 30P DV quality footage on the drive.

[Gibby]

Ron R. -

I did not view any footage shot on the FS-4. It was simply mounted on one of the demo cameras. I'll be at NAB all day tomorrow. I'll ask some more questions about the FS-4 and it's capabilities with the HD100, and post my finding tomorrow evening. They did say that the FS-4 will ship in May, though the HD100 will probably not ship until early July now.

If anyone else has specific tech questions about the HD 100, post them tonight, and I'll try to get some answers to post tomorrow evening...

Gibby
www.cut4.tv

[Ron R.]

Thanks, Gibby. It's great for the rest of us to have a Man in Vegas!

Please ask JVC if the tripod adapter is really going to cost $965 (!) as Mike Curtis reported earlier today at hdforindies.com If so, ask them if it's made out of pure gold gilded with pure gold leaf and delivered in a pure gold box.

On a serious note, if you can please ask them how to monitor ProHD from Final Cut Pro 5 to their new 10" HD monitor or to another HD-capable monitor. I'm wondering if it will require a BlackMagic Decklink card, Aja Kona or similar.

Thanks again,
Ron

[Mediacre]

Mediacre: Here is a link to some adapters.

I used some of these, and on broadcast cameras they are very good performers...

http://www.centuryoptics.com/products/broadcast/index.htm


Thanks Michael. I actually use their wide angle adpater set (with the .7x and .5x) with my Fuji lnes. They are pretty good. But I'm afraid not HD quality.

I can't wait to see footage from this camera though.

[Mediacre]

I'm at NAB. As to the question about the 16x lens width at full wide, it is 5.5.
www.cut4.tv

I knew it wouldn't be 7.3 as people were thinking. The release pics lens was a 1/2" lens only used for the promo shot it seems.
Good news.

[thisiswells]

On a serious note, if you can please ask them how to monitor ProHD from Final Cut Pro 5 to their new 10" HD monitor or to another HD-capable monitor. I'm wondering if it will require a BlackMagic Decklink card, Aja Kona or similar.

Interesting note, Ron. I will ask them today about this. My knee-jerk reaction would be, "well just go FW out from the computer, then transcode to analog then into a monitor" But, thinking about it a little more I remember reading that the current editing solutions DO NOT simply output HDV to the camera like that in realtime.. So, this brings up a relevant point: How do you output HDV to a field monitor without a AJA K2 or DeckLink card? If that's the only way, then mobile editing the way I am used to ceases to exist as I cut alot of things on a powerbook, select realtime out firewire to an ADS Pyro DV-to-analog converter box, then into a monitor. It's obvious that I can't fit a DeckLink card in my Powerbook.. Will try to get to the bottom of this for the group.. It is a very good question to task.

brian wells

[Daniel Moore]

I, for one, am not opposed to HDV and mpeg compression in general. Anything that can put more information into a small bitrate is fine by me, as long as quality is not compromised (which it sounds like it isn't!)

Here is something interesting to think about, quoted from this page http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HEN/is_6_32/ai_n6081424


I'll let you in on a secret: the current 4:2:0, 8-bit HDV spec already provides for higher level protocols - 4:2:2 and up to 100Mbps - and NAB scuttlebutt has it that 50Mbps HDV will give 185Mbps HDCAM a run for its money.

I for one, can easily handle this new JVC's bitrate on my computer, but even with a little coaxing, I could probably handle 50Mbps as well. And imagine if we had an even more advanced codec (say MPEG-4?) to compress information into that 50Mbps stream? I say, bring it on HDV!

[Mediacre]

Interesting.

[Barry_Green]

So, this brings up a relevant point: How do you output HDV to a field monitor without a AJA K2 or DeckLink card? If that's the only way, then mobile editing the way I am used to ceases to exist as I cut alot of things on a powerbook, select realtime out firewire to an ADS Pyro DV-to-analog converter box, then into a monitor. It's obvious that I can't fit a DeckLink card in my Powerbook..
Stop by the Serious Magic booth and see their demo of HDV Rack. They make a big point out of saying that yes, the cameras can output uncompressed component video, and yes, you could hook up a monitor to it, but -- that may bear little resemblance to what you're actually getting on tape. You don't see the effects of the MPEG compression on the analog monitor. I forgot how he phrased it, but the presenter said something about the "dream" you see on the monitor, vs. the "reality" you get on tape.

With HDV Rack, you see exactly what you're getting on tape, because it's capturing the post-compression firewire output. However, you'd need an awfully fast computer to see the full frame rate at full size.

[David Jimerson]

Anyone who was hoping this thing is pro-sized will be disappointed. With the lens, it's bigger than the DVX, but significantly smaller than the XL2. It does have a nice little earmuff, though.

[Barry_Green]

I still think they'll sell a ton of 'em, 'cause it does look neat, but it's nowhere near the size of a regular shoulder-mount camera. The body's about the size of your hand sideways (maybe a little bigger) and the lens is about the size of your other hand.

I'm thinking this'll be a big hit at the WEVA convention, among event & wedding videographers who need to have a camera that looks like it's not the kind sold at Circuit City. I didn't get a chance to see the 30p footage with the "motion smoothing" filter though.

[David Jimerson]

I did appreciate that JVC had several of them with different lenses on that you could touch and pick up. Tactile contact makes all the difference in the world.

[xray]

Actually I was hoping for a PROGRESSIVE SHOOTING camera just bigger than de DVX and smaller than the XL2, with a removable lens, good formfactor and shouldermount, a tape system -so I can shoot longer than 6 minutes and give a tape away without losing $1100,- , and with a nice earmuff!!

Found it.

[Aaron Koolen]

Problem is, your other ear will get cold.

Aaron

[Mediacre]

Lol.

[xray]

I think it stays warm by excitement!

[dvxshooter]

Hi,
I spent considerable time with the GY-HD100U at NAB. It is a very well thought-out product. It looks durable and easy to use in most situations. Like the Canon, you can swap lenses, and the Fujinon 16X that comes with it is an HD lens - important point. I also like the earphone with padding that is placed next to the color flip-out viewfinder. Off of sticks, it is definately nose-heavy (also like the Canon), but it can be balanced with a Anton-Bauer Battery pack - which is another cool feature. I also saw a neat device that is made by a third party that allows HDV to be recorded directly to disc (Firestore).

I read a pretty good review at http://www.dvshop.ca/camera/jvchdv.html (DV SHOP) and there is a streaming video piece on the new camera at http://wiredmetro.com - I also heard the camera will be available in July and I'm guessing the street price will be around $5500. There's also a good photo of the camera at: http://blogumentary.typepad.com/dtv/2005/04/jvc_gyhd100u.html

[author]

Problem is, your other ear will get cold.

Aaron

Duct tape, the gaffer's friend. Just be careful when you pull it off your ear. ;-)

--Ralph

[Barry_Green]

If you look at the exploded parts/accessories diagram, it looks like they make a "headset" which would be a companion earmuff for your left ear...

[lone_lobo]

Am I the only one that was at NAB that noticed very serious barrel distortion at virtually all focal lengths with the wide angle lens? Seemed to be a very wide lens, obviously, but the amount of barrel distortion I saw is only good for special effects and was quite distracting to me. My clients would definately see it as well.