JVC GY-HM200 - alternative to Sony PXW-X70

[Andreas Jaeger]

Hello Dave,

good to hear that others will testing the HM200.
Please do some (Low-)light testing with same Gain / F-Stop / Shutter with the XA20 and the HM200.
I 'm wondering what else you are testing....

I'm very curious of your opinion.

Andreas

[Andreas Jaeger]

Hello,

I now have the test setup Canon XA25 made against JVC GY HM200.
Cameras white balance is in a hurry, almost 100%, but whatever.
The cameras are set so that the white part of the test chart just Zebra is 100%.

The room is pitch dark, the blinds are very let down.

The overall scene shows the test chart and fabric printing, illuminated only by an IKEA lamp.
The cameras can be seen in the dark in front and:

http://www.studio-perspective.de/Pro...amtszene_1.JPG



And here is a closer view of the test chart, the fuel pressure and the IKEA - lamp (in the dark weakly on the right) show


http://www.studio-perspective.de/Pro...estchart_1.JPG



Now the display of the XA25
Shutter: 1 / 50th
Gain: 12dB
Aperture: F3.2

http://www.studio-perspective.de/Pro...anonXA25_1.JPG


Now the display of the HM200
Shutter: 1 / 50th
Gain: 12dB
Aperture: F 5.0

http://www.studio-perspective.de/Pro...JVCHM200_1.JPG



The frame grabs from the footage will follow later.

Andreas

[Paul Anderegg]

Wow, if you opened up the HM200 to f3.2, you would be able to show the same sensitivity at 3db! I am very impressed.

M station will only buy JVC cameras, and I am wanting them to procure a small live shot camera like the HM200, but it needs to be able to see in the dark at least as good as the X70.

Looks promising, *crossing fingers*!

Paul

[Andreas Jaeger]

Hello,

here the frame grabs .

Canon XA25 :

http://www.studio-perspective.de/Pro...eich/Canon.jpg



And the JVC GY HM200 :

http://www.studio-perspective.de/Pro...gleich/JVC.jpg



Note:

The fuel pressure looks like " grainy ".
This is the material and has nothing to do with noise of the camera .


My conclusion on the JVC HM200:

Very good camera .
Matches the XA25 (experience from yesterday - live jobs)
Both in terms of color characteristics as well as sensitivity.

What 4K (or UHD ) concerning JVC HM200 I have until next week time ( Wed or Thurs ) .

But as much advance :
visually it gets after the switch to 4K no darker ( on the display) .

Follow frame grabs ....

greeting
Andreas

[Andreas Jaeger]

Hello,

have now taken some time to test the 4K mode.

The camera is definitely 6dB darker in the 4K mode.
On a FHD monitor 6dB Gain still looks pretty good.
12dB Gain is no longer acceptable.

Now I have to buy an SDXC UHS 3 card.
Because the camera denied all SDHC / XC with only Class 10.
Whether 64GB or 32GB I can not format and the display shows "incorrect".

What recommendation for a SDXC UHS 3 card do you have?

I further reports, wenns what's new.

greeting
Andreas

[Paul Anderegg]

Would you consider the 30-36db gain settings in HD mode to be acceptable for NEWS? On my other JVC ProHD cameras, anything above 18db is some sort of special LoLux mode and the contrast goes to heck and everything is super-noise and blacks turn light grey.

My X70 will do 30db pretty sweet, then that 33db step introduces a slight grey out, but can still be considered news acceptable.

Paul

[Andreas Jaeger]

Hi Paul,

the Lolux 30-36db gain setting is IN MY EYES not accepatble.

I dont know what "sort and amount of grain" is for you "news acceptable".
Because i dont make news.

I had checked it in HD Mode and there is as you say "super-noise and blacks turn light grey".
IN MY EYES 18dB or max 24dB is acceptable for news.

Andreas

[Ugo Merlini]

is the 422 HD format 8 bit or 10 bit?

[Andreas Jaeger]

Hello Ugo,

Internal is 8 Bit.
But there is no statement from JVC if the HDMI or the 3G-SDI is 8 Bit or 10 Bit for external recording

Andreas

[Ugo Merlini]

regards

there is a chance to have a very very short native footage in 4k and hd 422 just to check if media composer can import it?

Thanks
Ugo

[Joachim Claus]

Originally Posted by Andreas Jaeger

Hello Ugo,

Internal is 8 Bit.
But there is no statement from JVC if the HDMI or the 3G-SDI is 8 Bit or 10 Bit for external recording

Andreas

In the specifications part of the manual you will find definitions of SMPTE standards for various SDI-settings. In case of 3G-SDI, SMPTE ST424 is listed.

Within ST424 there is a description of the video payload. It says:

"Color encoding

Several color encodings are possible in the serial digital interface. The default (and most common case) is 10-bit linearly sampled video data encoded as 4:2:2 YCbCr."
.....

Other color encodings

The dual-link and 3 Gbit/s interfaces additionally support other color encodings besides 4:2:2 YCbCr, namely:
4:2:2 and 4:4:4 YCbCr, with an optional alpha (used for chroma keying) or data (used for non-video payload) channel
4:4:4 RGB, also with an optional alpha or data channel
4:2:2 YCbCr, 4:4:4 YCbCr, and 4:4:4 RGB, with 12 bits of color information per sample, rather than 10. Note that the interface itself is still 10 bit; the additional 2 bits per channel are multiplexed into an additional 10-bit channel on the second link."

According to this description, there is only a 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 format with 10 bit defined as standard. So I am convinced, that the SDI sneds 10bit 4:2:2 YCbCr video format. Be aware, that according to the standard SDI only sends in SD- or HD-format, not in 4K. 4K is probably only sent via HDMI. This is also said in JVC's specification for this camcorder. There it says:

...
Live 4K UHD output via HDMI connector
...

•HD-SDI (3G) and HDMI outputs (4K output via HDMI only)
...

Joachim

[Kevin Balling]

GY HM200 footage and initial thoughts on the camera here.

Shooting with the JVC GY-HM200: 4K handheld camcorder

[Jase Tanner]

Thanks for posting this Kevin. There doesn't seem to be much out there from this camera, not even from JVC which I find surprising.

[Kevin Balling]

I am surprised at the lack of marketing for this camera as well. As a JVC HM150 owner, I am very interested in how this camera performs. I really like the form factor of the JVC's and look forward to more footage being posted. The reviewer states that he is going to do more tests like low light, HD recording, etc so be on the lookout. I suppose that JVC has been so entrenched in promoting the LS300 that they have forgotten that the HM200 would seem to have a much wider market in terms of sheer numbers of potential users.

[Anthony Lelli]

Originally Posted by Kevin Balling

GY HM200 footage and initial thoughts on the camera here.

Shooting with the JVC GY-HM200: 4K handheld camcorder

Thanks Kevin, well done
I have few questions please:
1. the remote, lanc (wired): is it compatible with the sony protocol or proprietary?
2. stabilization handholding : how is it?
3. the zoom rocker: how is it? :)
4. rolling shutter and blur panning in both HD and 4K: is it manageable?

other than that I wouldn't compare this camera to the X70 simply because this camera works and the X70 is still in progress (for months now): so let's compare it to other cameras that actually work.

Totally agree about the benefits of a smaller sensor regarding a bit longer DOF for run-and-gun shoots,where there is no time to adjust anything. And again regarding the size of the sensor we should stop and meditate about the iphone (with that big 1mm lens!) and like somebody said in another forum compare it to a big expensive camera of the past like.. say .. the EX3? so for once it looks (to me) that size doesn't really matter (if you think iphone for a minute) and that's a fact, not fiction. so let's judge with our eyes instead of following the marketing flow around the motion pictures industry (proven wrong by the first D90, actually caught with the pants down by the first D90 :)

Like you said , Kevin: what counts are the "pictures" .... and I completely agree