Which JVC for Wildlife?
 

I'm looking to get started in video. I would love a Sony XDCAM but the whole workflow is too expensive for me at the moment...maybe in a few years. The Canon XL-H1a would be a possibility if it weren't for the crap viewer. So can anyone tell me the best JVC choice and why please?

thanks

Dave

Theres not much to choose from Dave, the jvc hdxxx series are pretty much the same except some functional differences.

If you go for the 1xx series, make sure you get a good third party battery/power pack. This is built in the 2xx series.

You might focus on the 110 or 200. You might not need hd-sdi output on the 250. I personally recommend the 200.

Your major concern for wildlife would be, what lens you should have. The 16x have certain issues on its extreme ends and at full open.

I do tourism work and shoot landscapes and nature, i got the zoerk adapter to allow me to use long nikon lenses on the jvc for added reach.

Ted

Thanks Ted. I was planning to use a Sigma 100-300 Nilon mount should I decide on a model. Any particular reason for the 200?

Dave

You should choose the 200, 201 or 251 - as they have the integrated V-mount or A/B system and they provide 50p capability in case you would want to slow a shot down (and that's quite useful for wildlife, I suppose).
Besides, the HD200 isn't that much more expensive then the 110 with a A/B or V-mount adapter.
for both the 11x and 2xx : Lots of possibilities to attach long lenses as well - a nice feature for wildlife...

Hi,

If you go to dvuser.co.uk and search through there you should find info about Mike Linley and a Wildlife training film they made useing the JVC. I think there are some video clips in there TIPS section

Regards

Mick

I have the 100 and the 200.
Reason aside from integrated V mount or mount for the antonbauer system is, improved DSP in the 200 series. this amounts to better noise handling and improved overall image.
The 1xx series, when used with the provided small jvc battery is good for 30 min(if your lucky)
You still need an idx or AB sysytem for long operations. And i know nature shoots require long waits and shooting away from the nearest power outlet.

60p at 720 which you might find useful when you want to slow down motion (overcrank).
I shot butterflies mating using this featuer so i can slow down the footage later.
I used the nikon 80-200 f2.8 with the zoerk for this.

60p is available in the 1xx series but only in live output and at 480P.

I have a HD110, and I highly recomend a 200 instead. For the cost of an AB or IDX battery system (both good) you could have got the 200 with the kit and better electronics. I incidently got 60+ minutes on each JVC battery for the stock HD110 with the LCD open and lots of powered zooms (sports) as well as powering a phantom mic as well as powering my headphones.... Also 3rd party batteries for the HD110 were bigger, (I forget the brand... jensen or something like that.. big generic battery company... more amps and less money than the stock batteries) and maybe $50 a piece. So if you find a USED 110 for $3,000 or so, jump on it and get a half dozen $50-$75 generic batteries from amazon/bhphoto or the like.

16x lens. It's an actors lens. that is to say it's a little fuzzy. I've seen good results from Zoerk and MTF 35mm adapters using Nikon glass. I'll probably get a used one this next week if I can. 17x? I hear at it's worst it's as good as the stock 16x at it's best. the 13x I can attest to rocks! But it's not a telephoto, however I was musing over getting a 13x then get a Sneider/Century optics 2x doubler for $700. The 18x is great, but $9,000 for a lens means you had better have a working gig that requires it or have a lot of rationalizing to do for that $6,000 more than the 17x ($3,000)

as far as frame rate? I say 24p or 60p. Don't use 30p for anything important. (mostly because DVD encoding is 24p or 60i and doesn't handle 30p well in my humble opinion) 30p is fine for HD and NTSC broadcast, but I hate it for DVD publishing. Others here will disagree with me on the framerate statement.

Thanks for the info guys....looks like I'll be researching the 201E a little more.

Dave

Hi Dave,

You may like to have a look at my classified ad, selling my my like new JVC GY HD201E as part of an attractive package.

what is your market
 

would be my question, if your just a hobbyist, the 200 series is great, but if you have commercial interest, at least get the 250's as the HDSDI will mean you can then use things like the XDR and whatever other variations of this theme are now out there. That changes you cam into a 4:2:2 50/100/160mpbs beast recording direct o QT or MXF and 24Bit audio vs 384kbps HDV, and good pre-amps (and I do say this a bit toungue in cheek as I'm yet to see anything serious from these units as they're still technically in beta, but the market will soon be flooded with these sort of options, and recording to 64Gb CF cards means even though the unit is pricey, but compared to other solid state media it's cheap and effective, and of course this opens up SDI monitoring in the field as well - which is all superflous is your only doing it for a hobby :-) )).
these cameras are great as DV and HDV go, but things like the 720 50/60p are useless for serious work, too much macroblocking, and if your shooting wildlife then it means often low light work under tree's etc, and hdv mosquitoe noise in these cameras is quite pronounced, and the HDSDI model will remove a lot of this problem.

good luck

Adam

Adam..I see your point and although I would just be gathering material initially, I would like to use it for commercial purposes later if possible. If I'm looking at the price of the 251 then I may as well go the whole hog and look at the EX3 and cut tape out all together. I know there are solutions for alternatives to SxS such as Flash XDR but even that is expensive at the moment. The problem would be archiving material. Blueray discs are not that cheap at the moment so the only option would be hard drives and lots of them. Also 720p is not acceptable for broadcast material in this country...so am I back to square one?

What a minefield this is :-)

Hi Dave. I shoot almost exclusively wildlife with the HD110 and Nikons as well as the stock lens (also 2/3rds through adaptation). I have also owned Canon XL's in the past.

I have followed the same thought pattern that you are currently going through and before you know it you've convinced yourself that only a £20K pany varicam will do the job! The truth is only the EX3 will probably satisfy HD broadcast requirements and from what I've been told this certainly isn't across the board. That said if you are just starting in this game then by the time you start shooting to the standard to even worry about broadcast then the camera will be superseded anyway.

I'd say, look at your overall budget, think about weight (this is important) and consider lens and support options! That 100-300 Sigma is great, I used one for over a year. BUT you'll need support bars/plate for it and remember to budget on a good tripod. And I mean £1K+

But most importantly learn and shoot lots and lots of footage and to be honest while you’re doing that an XL2 would make a great choice and deliver solid images.

Here is some interesting info and close-up photos of the Zoerk and MTF Services 35mm adapters for the JVC 110-250 series cameras:
JVC GY-HD200 Lens adapter comparison - Zoerk VS MTF

Thanks Jack I came across this yesterday...good article.

Dave

Jack,

I bought Eric's Zoerk. He still has the MTF.

Dave,

That adapters (zoerk and mtf) is so essential to the jvc when doing nature shots.

In this video, the butterflies and caterpillars were shot with 80-200 nikon attached via zoerk to the jvc. Thats good for closeups.

The winsurfers were so far away, but since the zoom factor is multiplied several times when using 35mm lens, this is also ideal in this type of situations. Also used the 80-200 in that shot.

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Ted