HD201 just received / some questions
 

Hello everybody,

I'm new here, and first of all let me say what a wonderful forum this is for those who want to purchase a JVC ProHD cam. I just got mine (HD201) and it seems to be a great piece of device. There are still some things that keep me puzzled though. I always seem to get the same white-balance values. Not in the '3000k range' (I got 3200, 3400, 3700 and 3900). But above that the cam only shows 4300, 5200, 5600, 6500 and 8000 k. Are these the only values?
And one other thing; it seems that the audio (attached mic) is not on a normal level when selected 'auto' It's a bit low, I have to put the volume on my PC up quite a bit.
I hope someone kwows some answers, thanks in advance!!!!

Jeen de Vos / The Netherlands

Perhaps I should modify the question. Normaly I work with a Sony DSR400 DVcam. It's easy to make your own preset colour temparature with this cam. You can set it at any temparature you want. When you white-balance with the Sony it gives any Kelvin-range set by 100. Like 6000, 6100, 6200, 6300 etc. The JVC gives above preset 5600 only 6500 and 8000. Does this sound familiar to other owners?

I haven't tested this so I can't answer the question precisely. I can say that I have taken two WB readings that are in fact different, yet the camera will read out the same number. So I only take the reading as an approximation. Why JVC does this, I have no idea.

Next time out I'll see if there are more readings.

Sony is less than accurate with their colour temp readouts as well, at least in the BetaSX and DSR300 lines, from my experience. It REALLY comes down to technique in terms of feeling secure that you do in fact have a good white balance instead of trusting the readout. I've gotten a 5600k readout in HEAVY shade on a 9 series BetaSX when it was obviously over 10k. Just do it again to makes sure you didn't mess up and keep shooting.

Being able to dial in your own WB value would be great for the difficult shots were sunlight and lighting are combined in situations were the 5600 and 3200 setting aren't enough. While the WB measurement is way off when you try to set the WB due to this combined lighting.