JVC Everio HD7
 

I read a lot about the JVC Everio HD7 camera. But still I am not sure about on thing. Apparently this cam shoots only in HD. But can I get standard definition Pal Dv (I am in Europe) out of the firewire port to capture it on my PC as we used to do with the normal digital cameras? Hope that someone can give me an answer as this is the last thing I wish to clarify before buying it. Many thanks

Personally, I would stay away from the HD7. The resolution is very disappointing as well as its low light performance from tiny 1/5th inch CCDs. You would be better off waiting for the Sony HD1000 which will give you a better picture at about the same price.

Anyway, getting back to your question. The HD7 has a down convert function to get SD out of the camcorder. Actually, you want PAL DV, so you want the HD7E model. If you engage the down convert, SD PAL DV outputs via the firewire. If you don't, HD outputs via the firewire. However, it's unknown that any editor, except for JVC's supplied cheapie, will work with this different flavor of MPEG 2 compression. If the very limited editing controls are enough for your uses, then this camera might be okay for you.

I read many reviews on this cam and all seem to agree that it is difficult (if not impossible) to capture on pc the full HD of this cam. However for the time being I am mostly interested in capturing standard definition DV via firewire, by using the downconverting mode. If I do so, will I still encounter problems to capture dv on my pc by normal editing software? And will the quality of the downconverted video be equal to that of a similar camcorder which is shooting in standard definition (non HD cmera)?

Moved from Open DV Discussion to JVC Everio forum.

Personally I record in 1440cbr for output to sd, this gives me room in edit to reframe...we do adventure stuff where the subject doesnt alwys end up being as close as we'd like or in the right place. Also leaves me with 720 HD source. I dont use firewire, just drag the files from the D7 to the pc over USB2.0. The JVC .tod files read straight into vegas, though it was a struggle getting there

NEVER believe what you read in consumer magazines. The PC has six NLE's that edit HD7 video: Vegas, Edius, Liquid, and the Ulead and Pinnacle NLEs. Plus, one is bundled with the camcorder.

The Sony 1000 is 10X bigger and likely without the HD7's exposure controls.

I am but a novice and from what I can interpret from the available information in this forum, there is basically nothing alarming about the image formats in the camera. I dont necessarily agree that 1394 needs to be used at all. I am using USB and letting the edit software do the importing and exporting of the final result.

I assume you need "less than" HD because your editing package is not able to mix HD with older footage. Because I dont have any legacy footage I can just use whatever is common and popular and start my library with HD and downsample to the required resolution (as far down as H.264 for YouTube).

If you are starting from fresh then I would trust the members online to guide you as they cover all of the main topics. you just have to decide on Mac or PC and which editor you prefer.

I'm no veteran, but you obviously have no idea what you're talking about.

Everyone has a comfort zone. All you need to do is turn your back on software for 18months and BLAM you are buried by all of the variations and new products. I'ts hard enough knowing which camera to buy let alone which software to use. The information in review sites are generally misleading and spends too much time reviewing the colour of the camera and the shape of the buttons.

I couldn't agree more. I understand the confusion about .TOD's and everything, but I can't stand it when someone who leads me to believe that they've never owned this camera, and doesn't know the facts about misconceptions such as .TOD compatibility tells someone to 'stay away'.

One wonders why some folks read threads on products they don't own and believe no one should own.