İ want to know if gy-250u is a prosumer or professional camcorder.

Professional.

You won't find Anton-Bauer Gold mount, HD-SDI, genlock, multi-core studio connector and TC IN/OUT as standard features on "prosumer" cameras.

Agreed. That doesn't mean there aren't different levels of professional (2/3" vs. 1/3" ccds for example...) but I can't see any sort of consumer application for this camera that wouldn't just be incredibly overkill.

jpb

Hello
Is'nt the 110 a consider Professional
hope so i own one with the IDX batt sys and the DR HD100, NT1 MIC. could go on and on

Joe

The entire JVC Pro HD product line is considered professional level gear... from the HD100 on up.

If you get paid to use it, it's professional:)

Depends on how good your lighting and cinematography skills are.

Thanks Chris:
Thanks Liam:

Phil: how someone use's the equitment was not my question.
I can tell your new to this form
We don't question each others ability here
we try help each other
This is not 2POP
Joe

While I realize there is no standard definition for a made-up word like "Prosumer", I believe it refers to a piece of equipment, designed for a consumer, that offers higher quality and more advanced features than a lower-end model.

For example, we could probably all agree that a Canon GL2 or HV30 is a prosumer camera.

However, I would say the JVC HD100 through HD250 were not designed for the consumer with extras added, but were designed from the ground up for professional use.

I could hand my 10 year old a GL2 (and have) and they would be able to shoot video. I could not do that with my HD100.

Sorry Joseph my comment was not meant to offend anyone. I only meant that I feel the difference between professional and prosumer has more to do with the abilities of the user than the tech specs of the camera. As Liam commented "if you get paid to use it, it's professional". That is, it's the user that is the professional and not the camera and the abilities of the cinematographer are more important than the tech specs of the camera.

I purchased the JVC camera because it is designed to be operated like a broadcast style camera and I prefer the progressive scan images (for the type of production I mainly shoot).
Many of my colleagues prefer to own Panasonic and Sony cameras that are more handycam style in their physical design and have slightly different technical features. We all however earn our living from these cameras, our ability to earn a better living is based on how skilled we are at our work as cinematographers.

In choosing a camera I don't believe we should make our decisions on whether someone puts a "professional label" or "prosumer label" on it, nor should we imply our skills as a cinematographer are purchased off the shelf with the label on the camera.

That said I consider the JVC HD Pro series cameras the best, in the HDV category, for me to achieve a professional result. I charge the same rate as when shooting with Sony Betacam and the client sees no degradation in the final quality. What they do like is the direct to disc capture from the DR HD100 that saves them hours of time digitising tapes. Of course for bigger budget jobs such as commercials and drama I prefer a Varicam, HDCam or more recently the RED, from a rental house.

In choosing a camera I don't believe we should make our decisions on whether someone puts a "professional label" or "prosumer label" on it, nor should we imply our skills as a cinematographer are purchased off the shelf with the label on the camera.


While I don't disagree, one of the "issues" we face in this more technology savvy (or PERCEIVED more savvy) world we live in today is that our clients are either more informed OR more bamboozled by television ads, and information they have gleaned from sales people at the big box electronics stores or the internet. In addition to the feature set my HD200's give me, I'm glad to have the form factor of a shoulder camera that has all the appropriate "oversized" parts (like Anton Bauer power instead of small proprietary lith-ion mini bricks) as much for being taken seriously as for the increased run-times.

When I used to show up with my Sony PD150 for training videos, my clients would sometimes remark that they thought they were getting a "real" camera and that they were disappointed with this "consumer toy". Then the discussion would ensue that it wasn't a $700 consumer "toy" but a $5000 camera with $5000 in add-ons in the bag such as "real" wireless, remote zoom handles, a $2000 tripod blah blah blah. All the things that I had used when filming for broadcast abroad with this camera due to the increased risk associate with shooting with more "pro" gear in some of the places we were shooting.

One does not purchase our cinematographic or videographic skills with our gear, but in many cases the choice we make in gear helps to establish our pedigree in advance of the first image being screened by the client (assuming we know how to use our "toys" - another debate entirely). I've seen many a recent media college graduate (or self taught videographer) show up with the best gear and blow a shoot. I've also seen national news shooters buy under-quality gear and turn out less than stellar images with AMAZING framing and potential visual impact.

The semi-false idea that we can get away with using ANY gear if the images are compelling enough needs to be culled. If you have the only existing images of a once in a lifetime event that just happened while you were standing there minding your own business, your image is PRICELESS. If you went LOOKING for that same image armed with a camera phone and a flashlight, your image is WORTHLESS. Broadcasters have standards for a reason. We spend a lot of time trying to circumvent those "rules" rather than embracing them and running with our story.

My mechanic uses Snap On and Mac tools. If I saw him using Mastercraft or Walmart branded tools, I wouldn't question his ABILITY, but I WOULD question how serious he was about his BUSINESS. I have a minimum standard for gear when hiring freelancers to shoot for me and XLR inputs and three CCD's are among those standards (excepting the 3 CCD standard on a RED, of course).

Hello Phil:

I'm sorry for being such a pain in the ass
It's problem i have called OLD AGE

thank you
Joe

Hello Joe,

Yeah I've got that too, funny how creeps up on you!

Phil

Hello Phil
:
My son in law is from Sydney.
He is in the wine business here:
Love him like a son

You have a great day
Joe

Hello Phil
:
My son in law is from Sydney.
He is in the wine business here:
Love him like a son

You have a great day
Joe

Come on guys, stop hitting on each other.

Brain how did you Know?
Phil i guest we have been caught

Ha Ha
Joe

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... This Pro labeling is a load of nonsense really. I've always thought that if it has to be labeled "Pro", it's not "broadcast", but that's changed I guess. As yet another old codger it didn't take me much checking to see that the GY-HD series reaches the mark really rather well. These cameras are made by JVC's broadcast division, which tells us a lot.

The other thing to remember is that the 200 series' ability to inverse the image at capture and to mount Arri PL prime lenses via their optical adapter really hoists the 200s 1/3 chips into quite another league. Yes I know you can use the adapter on the 100 series too, but not invert the image for film primes unfortunately.