jvc's hd latest? a success? or go with z1u

[caldwell]

to those who have touched the camera...or seen footage
thumbs up or down?

thanks

[scharky]

Personally, from the small amount I have seen :thumbdown
However, there have not been any professional tests done with this camera so hopefully that will turn to a :thumbup: . But first impressions do stick. Personally, the first footage from the DVX, the XL2, and even the andromeda have far surpassed the first footage from this camera, so my expectations are not that high.

[caldwell]

while i was hoping you would give it a thumb up... that is the succinct response i was looking for. thanks scharky.
i hope more will respond
rocketeer?mmmm?

[tomapete34]

theres a post on sonyhdvinfo.com HC1 forum from sum 1 who claims to be DP and who tested HDX400, Z1, HD100 and HC1 side by side. He placed the HD100 below of all the other cams in pic quality department. You may wanna check it out, ask for sample footage/grabs etc

[theHeadlessPuppy]

Who his that DP? Is he reknown or what? Does he have a page with the footage he collected?

I think it would be very unwise to base your decision on wether to buy camera A or B from what someone at some forum says about this cameras. We're talking $4k minimum here.

[scharky]

Yeah, definatly don't jump to conclusions. The camera isn't even out here in the US, and the footage that is shown I'm sure is not the full potential of this camera (although) it seems far below what it should be.

[mezelf27]

Hmm, I don't know. It surely is different then the Sony, but I can't see it yet as worse. Okay colour-saturation isn't all that, but you can tweak that to personal liking (some like it the way it is already). Almost-Night-shots and a 3/4 distant blue shot. Not that bad for what it is. Actually, I've seen worse from a Sony Z1....

Actually I'm quite pleased with the seemingly robustness of the compression in fine detail as far as I can judge....

[mezelf27]

Yup, just looked that DP's conclusions up.

What can we say?

it's on SONYhdvinfo.com....
It is nameless, anonymous...
weird line up... HC1 €3.5k, Z1 €4.5k, HD101 €7k, HDX400 €... you get the picture....
No evidence, no grabs...

I'm sorry, I just don't believe a word in it....

[mezelf27]

especially this is a nice touch of the writer :

"The LCD had a dead pixel, and unlike on Z1, it was not automatically compensated."

dead pixel on the LCD? Now, THAT would be NO big deal. Besides, is it even possible to repair a dead pixel on a LCD? just on CCD's, in my expert opinion, I guess...

[Barry_Green]

All I will say is that that "DP"'s review seems to have an awfully, awfully familiar writing style. I don't know for a fact that it was written by that particular guy, but it sure is extremely reminiscent of his style... if you know what I mean...

[caldwell]

to be frank I come from the news world...
and i haven't liked any small style camera yet... HOWEVER I understand their usefulness,
I've seen the z1u and thought it plasticky (if that's a word or description) however I feel they have the bugs worked out. Where I live its near impossible to touch a hd100, without ordering it first. Unfortunate. So forums and talking to sales folks is all I have right now.
thanks for all your help.

[Rocketeer]

while i was hoping you would give it a thumb up... that is the succinct response i was looking for. thanks scharky.
i hope more will respond
rocketeer?mmmm?

OK our position is slightly different from most. We are a rental company and we also operate in a non-hd broadcast country (unlike Australia or the US).

From my point of view the camera is an excellent SD DV camera that does 16:9/4:3 and SD DV 25p. An added bonus is it does HDV 720p. This is probably the reverse requirement of its intended market.

It offers us an alternative to the Z1, which we also carry.

The camera is a joy to use and handle and you can put a matte box on it!

The VF is not to my liking, but other have said its acceptable.

The 'look' is growing on me and Matt prefers it to the Sony.
I'm happy, but I wasn't expecting a 'giant killer' at that price so maybe my expectations aren't as high as some.

We haven't paid for ours yet and it does have faults which I'm waiting an official reply from JVC on, but even then I'd give it :thumbsup:

Now if Sony had made the Z1 with true 24/25p in the JVC form factor with a real HD lens on it.... :laugh:

[Zack Birlew]

I would go for it. From what I saw and played with at NAB'05, the camera can kick the Sony's butt all around the world three times. This isn't to say that the Z1U is "useless" or anything, they were showing some excellent footage taken in Thailand at the Sony booth that would look great on Discovery Channel HD. For filmmakers, the 24p is really nice and not buggered up like the Cineframe stuff Sony's been feeding us. All I would worry about is initial bug reports and stuff, like these white dots (dead pixels) almost everyone has been experiencing. From what I've seen, this camera has a TON of potential but people need to either get over their apprehension towards HDV or stay quiet and wait and see what the HVX200 does. That's my take on the JVC, take it or leave it. =)

[mmm]

I am still to decide between the HVX200 and the HD100... basically the bugs in the HD100 have made me want to wait and see the HVX first. I really like the look of the footage coming out of the HD100 though, and it obviously doesn't have the additional storage costs of the HVX, but I can afford to wait and see. I may end up not getting either and going for a Z1 or XL3 (or whatever!) but I doubt it.

[Gibby]

If I only had a budget to buy just one of the two - HD100 or HVX200 - I'd probably buy the HVX200 for it's format, multiple frame rates, ability to overcrank/undercrank, etc. Since I have a budget to buy both cameras, I'll buy both cameras, because the HD100 also has a key feature I can't get on the HVX - a removeable lens. On some of my projects a removeable lens is critical. I'll buy both cameras, analyze each project for which camera/format is most suited to that particular project, and use that camera. There's something amazingly conforting about having a quiver of different arrows to hunt with...

Gibby
www.cut4.tv

[Barry_Green]

Which exactly parallels my attitude as well...

[mezelf27]

... if one's budget allow that... :-)

[Barry_Green]

If your budget allows it, yes. If your budget doesn't allow it, by all means wait for the HVX before making your decision. If money's tight, are you really going to be happy if you spent $6300 on what turns out to be not the right camera for you?

And besides, as I've said before, if you're buying it for business, these cameras are so cheap that they pay for themselves very quickly. If you have a specific need for one of them, the choice should be obvious. If your business demands the features of both, then get both.

[Gibby]

...or buy one and rent the other as needed per project.

Gibby
www.cut4.tv

[mezelf27]

..... sjeez, just joking. the HD100 is the one for me...

And indeed, for the bussiness (and for their capacities): these cams are *CHEAP* beyond belief....