Question to owners: how run and gun is this cam?
 

I've always wanted an HD100 and now that the new versions are out, I can afford to get one. My main question is: how run and gun is the HD100/110? Is it durable? Can it survive a journalist/documentary environment?

720p, good XLR audio, and 35mm are my main needs. An interchangeable lens system satisfies the 35mm criteria, so that's why I look at the HD110 (using a custom non-flip adapter to save weight and do in-cam digital flip).

Is this cam appropriate overkill, or is there something handheld that does 720p with a manual lens?

Run and gun? Hmmm....

More like run and gun from camcorders made 15 years ago then what is possible with some of the small Sony DV cameras. This camera takes a little time to get used to. HD focus is very demanding and unlike auto-focus DV cameras that do a reasonable job, this camera requires you to learn some manual focusing skills. These are good skills to have anyway. The shoulder brace will make your handheld shots steadier and reduce arm fatigue. After you get settled with the camera's unique qualities you'll be able to do successful run and gun filming.

Is it pretty easy to get a good picture quickly, or does it take a little while to setup? The reason I ask is because on my XL2, I can get the picture quite nice, but it takes 10-15 minutes of proper adjustment. Run and gun style, it leaves some to be desired. I'm hoping the JVC is a little bit better "out of the box".

Why 15 minutes to adjust?

I think the camera is suitable for journalistic type work. All the controls are in the same place as a pro broadcast camera, and you have a real manual lense like you do with a pro broadcast camera. So I would say this camera is probably as good as any other pro camera when it comes to journalistic type work.

The television station that I work at uses the panasonic SDX-800 P2 cams. When I first recieved my HD-110 I took it in to show it off. Several of my co-workers joked that we should have gone with the HD-110s over the panasonic because of the form factor and light weight.

I also have a smaller handheld sony SD camera... but for run and gun stuff I will usually grab the HD-110. The reason? All the important controls are on the outside and easily accessable. The sony camera requires extra steps to do everything- for example on the sony I can't simply adjust the shutter on the fly, i have to press the shutter button and spin a dial.... the same dial adjusts the iris if I press the exposure button, also pressing in on the dial white balances it if I press the white balance button first to switch to white balance mode. The same little dial also navigates through the menu if I press the menu button. The sony camera is great if I have time to set it up, but it is all too easy to accidently adjust something that you don't want to adust. And everytime you adjust something an overlay telling you what your doing fills the screen making it hard to perform adjustments while your shooting.

10-15 minutes was perhaps an exaggeration. 3-5mins is more realistic, for the same reasons that Adam just posted about. Every little feature has to dialed in for the scene through menus and such rather than a more manual approach. For run-and-gun, it takes too long. Ergonomics are also important for me because I am a short guy.

I'm convinced. I want one :)

The ABC affiliate here in Chicago has 2 of the HD250s that they use for live remote stuff so I guess it works fine for run and gun.
Don

I do run and gun and will save you a lot of heart ache...

Get the 200 not the 110 or 100.

Run and gun at 24p is just plain ugly unless you have artistic intention.

60p is the way to go unless your doing a film narrative.

Or- if you can live with SD at 60p then the 110/100 would be fine.

Hope this helps.

I think it's a great run and gun camera. From Tim's thread - the guy who shot An Inconvenient Truth notes that point in this video:

http://www.independentfilm.com/techn...vc-hd100.shtml

My final format is 480/30p at the moment, and 720/30p soon, doing mostly straight-to-dvd low-budget narrative. I do want an HD200, but I have to justify it by making some money with the 100 first. More than likely, I will buy an HD200 later and use the 100 as a B-cam.

Depends on your definition of run and gun!

If you're used to pro camera controls and ergonomics (particularly manual focus) and know how to work low/film frame rate progressive then I'd say it makes an excellent run and gun camera because it is so light for a shoulder-mount camera. I use it for documentary shooting and I'd take the HD100 over the Z1 or HVX200 any day - even though HDV1 and Avid do not make good bed fellows.

Antony- do you have any of your stuff online? Would love to see!