HM100 - Is flip-out screen wobbly or very tight?
 

I have seen two HM100s, and on one the flip-out screen is wobbly on the connection to to the hinge. The outside edge of the screen will move up and down about 1/4' when pushing on it a bit. In general, the connection is loose and wobbley.

On another camera, the screen was very tight, taking a bit more force than normal (on an XH-A1 for example) to open and rotate it.

Which is correct? Is the wobbly screen broken, or do others have this condition?

Is there variation in the way these are on different cameras?

Can the screen to hinge connection be tightened?

Finally, is there a JVC service number I can call to ask this question?

Thanks!

The flip out screen on the HM 100 is not the best in both image and build quality. Mine is a bit wobbly, but nothing I cant live with.

Mine is tight and feels precise, I have no issues with it, other than it's not very high resolution and smallish.

I wonder if this variation is normal, or if the wobbly ones are defective. The one I have has a significant wobble.

I would be interested in hearing from from anyone else with the camera.

I will try to see if I can get an answer from JVC, and if it is a defect, get it fixed.

I took the HM100 to a pro JVC authorized service center, and they said the flip-out screen should be tight. They are going to fix it under warranty.

However, they suggested JVC would claim it was caused by the user, but nothing happened to the camera to cause it.

They also mentioned that this is a common problem in JVC cameras 2 or 3 years old, but they hadn't seen it yet on a fairly new HM100.

(By the way, has the way JVC does service changed? With the HD110, the only option was to send the camera to one of the two big JVC service centers. However, today, when asking for a service location, I was given several local here. The place I took the camera said they have been an authorized service center for about a year or less.)

My HM100 flip-out screen is a bit wobbly, but then again so am I...

There used to be a time when cameras were hewn from steel girders, alas no longer. Doesn't bother me anymore. Flimsy bits of plastic is the way it is today. Even the flip-out on my Sony DSR450 is basically a breakage event waiting to happen. I tend not to use it, nor the flip out on the HM100. Only when shooting low or high angles - otherwise I'm strictly a viewfinder guy, which is just as well - the HM100 viewfinder is absolutely fine. I use it with 'peaking' (mono with red edges) on all the time. Works fine.

I tend to adapt and mold things to my way of working. The HM100 handle started coming apart at the very back where plastic meets metal. It used to catch awkwardly when pulling out of the bag. My solution - adapt the design - I superglued the sucker so well you could dock a battleship alongside that handle now. Not a hint of trouble since. My way.

I'm filming some hacks doing a charity hike this weekend for a news feature. 450 for the big stuff, but Ill spend an hour or two hiking and shooting - impossible with the 450. Enter the HM100. Perfect. I use a Hague mini jib for some crane shots on the hoof:

Hague Handy-Jib K1

usually shoot with a mini-cam on it, especially underwater - but the HM100 fits well and is manageable for extending about 7 feet - nice smooth shots. Should be fun!

Cotty

Hague mini-jib w/HM100
 

Enter the HM100. Perfect. I use a Hague mini jib for some crane shots on the hoof:
usually shoot with a mini-cam on it, especially underwater - but the HM100 fits well and is manageable for extending about 7 feet - nice smooth shots. Should be fun!

Hey Steve, I would love to see some footage from your HM100 utilizing the Hague mini-jib. Until your post , I had never heard of a mini jib/mono pod like this before.

Rick-

I have a wobby screen on the HM700 and the reseller said to m that also the old GY200 had the same problem. The good news, he said, that it stays like that and doesn't break.
Don't ask me.. new to JVC

I got the HM100 back. The very wobbly flip-out screen is fixed. All I know is they replaced a part, but I don't know which. Obviously, probably the part that contains the connection between the screen and the rest of the body... or possibly something inside that holds the screen on.

In any case, the screen is no long wobbly but now is tight, like the camera I looked at at the rental facility.

Apparently there is a big variation is wobbliness from camera to camera. I don't know if this is due to lack of control during manufacture, variation in parts used, or some weakness that causes wobbliness very early in the camera's life.

Fortunately, the place fixed this even though they said JVC would normally call this problem user caused. However, it was probably helpful that the camera was less than two months old and it was a new model that just came out.