Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

Chris, this is a new "GC"series. Seems like it would fit here with JVC's new single chip SD card cameras.

Last year's PX10 had the most detailed video I have seen. JVC has updated it to the PX100. Much more a "pro" camera.

Review, Hands-On Review: the JVC GC-PX100 Full HD Everio Camcorder | BH inDepth

Review, with videos, at: JVC GC-PX100 Video Camera Hands-on Review

Does 1080p50/p60 H.264 at 35Mbps. MOV wrapped has LPCM audio. MP4 wrapped has ACC audio.

Also does 720p50/p60 at peak 16Mbps (MP4) --OR-- I-frame (no P or B frames) at 35Mbps!

AVCHD 2.0 at 27Mbps for 1080p50/p60 available too. (17Mbps for 1080i50/i60.)

Also WIFI stream at 640x360 to phone/tablet.

Terrible PDF manual at: HD MEMORY CAMERA GC-PX100 Detailed User Guide | JVC

JVC Brochure at: Procision | HD MEMORY CAMERA GC-PX100 | JVC

I may buy one as I'm not into 24fps (although 24p can be obtained from 60p) or RAW.

Steve Mullen

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

This reinforces my belief that JVC makes the prettiest video cameras on earth. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

I agree! May be why I ordered one. :)

I think the slo-mo is little of value to video folks, but after watching some sports videos on Utube, it really is useful.

I'm looking forward to running tests because most -- if not all -- the sample videos I've seen were not well shot.

Steve

PS: Looks like I-frame 720p is 25p or 30p. Must be designed for iMovie which can't do 50p/60p. But, the softer 720p and the lower frame rate could make a nice film look. Great for the web.

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

Just came across this new JVC model and it looks rather interesting. While everything I've read about it talks about it being a "sports camera" or that JVC is "targeting coaches and players", I can see other uses for the fast frame-rate capability. Slow-motion can provide interest to regular speed videos as well as fulfill the need for when there is fast moving subject matter, such as waves on the water (I'm thinking video taken from, or of, a boat for example).

The f/1.2 lens is nice, especially coupled with the large back-lit CMOS sensor.

The wi-fi capability is another interesting feature. For non-sports users, what can this be used for?

The versatility of the camera seems like it would be a good profit-center for a professional. By the time I figured out how to use everything it is capable of they'd probably be coming out with a new model.

Waldemar was looking for a HD7 replacement camera - maybe this could be it?

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

Just got mine.

Best looking $900 camcorder -- ever.

At +12dB gain with 100W lamp -- recording is at the same brightness as one's eye sees the room. It can go to +18dB.

AWB renders flesh EXACTLY as it looks. No super saturation or red push. (Some might not like this look.)

Need to check how much ND filtering is needed in bright sun to keep shutter-speed under 1/60 with aperture at f/5.6 -- which like the 4K2K JVC is the limit. Same chip.

JVC, however, doesn't put a manual on the CD! :(

More later.

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

Notes:

In brite contrasty light, PROGRAM mode chooses 1/2000 at f/4.5. To limit to 1/60th, a 5 stop ND filter is needed.

IDEALLY NO 100% ZEBRA SHOULD BE VISIBLE BECAUSE MAX. SIGNAL IS 108%, but your NLE may cut to 100%. Seems like -0.3 to -0.7 is needed to keep image from being recorded over bright.

Need 64X (6 stop) to "reduce" 100% zebra, by cutting an extra stop of light, creating a too dark picture at f/4.5. Thereby, allowing you to dial exposure to f/4 -- which is still a 1/2 stop too dark.

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Record Setup:

Format >> .mov (LPCM audio) / .mp4 (.mp4 audio) at 35Mbps (1080p60) or 16Mbps (720p60) video-only (H.264) or .mts (Dolby stereo audio)

Quality >> 1080p60 .mov (LPCM audio), 1080p60 .mp4 (.mp4 audio), 720p60 (.mp4 audio), I-frame 720p30 (.mp4 audio).

When AVCHD, (H.264) >> 1080p60 or 1080i60

MP4 / MOV is HP@L4.2 (H.264)

Industry compatible at 1080i60 AVCHD (.mts) or 720p60 (.mov). Camera can burn 1080i60 17Mbps to a DVD using a burner.

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MP4 audio is 48kHz ACC LC at 128kbps.

LPCM = 16-bit at 96kHz!!!!!

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Operation:

Set MANUAL mode.
Set shutter to 1/60th. Locked.
Press Exposure button.
Adjust exposure for minimal zebra. Locked
Zoom-in while in AF. When focused, press MF/AF button. Locked
Shoot

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Motion FX:

Press Time Control to select Slo-mo and Fast-mo rate.
Slight delay before recording.
Slo-mo and Fast-mo rate. Slo-mo and Fast-mo rate always .mp4 (H.264) with no audio.
To return to normal >> Press Time Control to select 60fps rate.

Serious aliasing because sensor lines are skipped to reduce amount of data read from chip in Slo-mo.
H.264 MP@L3.0 at about 4Mbps (360p) and 500kbps (176p).

Fast = 1080p60 at 31Mbps

Makes no difference what is defined for standard video recording.

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FCP X:

Best to not analyze during import, but remove SILENT because silent .mp4 audio is recorded with Motion FX!

Slo-mo clips rendered to 1920x1080 or 1280x720 in background.

Frames of 1080p60 and 720p60 dropped on playback with i7 2GHz MB Air. I need to make and use Proxy for perfect playback of p60. For a project with scaled-up slo-mo I need to use Optimized PR422 at "Better Performance" for Playback.

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Working with 720p30 .mp4:

HP@L4.1 at 35Mbps with audio at about 128kbps.

1 Ref frame -- all others formats have P and B frames with 2 ref frames.

NONE has CABAC encoding.

Plays fine.

Perfect for iMovie. Slo-mo is RT up-scaled to 720p.

------------------------------------------------------

iMovie accepts both 720p60 and1080p60 .mp4 and seems to export both 720p60 and1080p60 ProRes 422LT.

Steve

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

Discovered that the Exposure Control dial -- in Shutter Priority mode -- can set a shutter speed (1/60th S) and also set exposure compensation. Why is this important? Because max signal is 108% one might like to bias the exposure darker so the max is 100%.

The adjustment is made to the aperture.

Also found that in User mode -- the maximum gain can be set. For example, to +12dB. In other cases, it seems AGC is used. The on-line manual is totally useless!

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

Hey Steve,

I hope you can show use some footage soon. I'm also interested in this one.

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

You may notice I haven't said anything about image quality. That's because I've been puzzled about some soft images. Not what I expected. Seems JVC shipped it with digital zoom turned on!

So now I need to wait for a sunny day in MN. Hopefully this week.

My 64X ND filter should also arrive this week. I want to shoot at about f/4.

Getting used to the natural color after years of SUPER color.

I have yet to notice ANY jello! Even in slo-mo you can see none. This may make it a keeper.

Also see no edge sharpening -- which if confirmed means JVC's consumer division has learned a lot from the pro division.

Photos seem fine -- I've set USER mode to ISO 400 although ISO 800 may be OK too.

How does one check 96kHz PCM stereo audio other than to assume the audio will have less aliasing. Wonder why JVC did this? Utube does support 96kHz, but do all players? And, does anyone know if Utube supports 1080p60? Not a word on 1080p60, although they do support 720p60.

As far as slo-mo -- the JVC marketing push -- it looks fine with humans and animals. (But it's soft by the time you upscale to HD. Perhaps better to put in into HD as a PIP FX.) Objects like cars -- don't waste your time. Line-skipping, like Canon does for it's DLSR video, simply creates ugly aliasing on hard edges. Fast motion looks great!

Remain surprised that iMovie imports 1080p60 and 720p60 and passes it through as p60. Because it's H.264 and not AVCHD I suspect. Don't know what it will do with motion FX. Cut it to 30p? Of course, 1080p60 is useless for the web (except, I think for Utube) and BD. However, Toast will take 60p and make it 60PsF for BD which makes it 30fps. Toast sadly doesn't burn 720p60 -- at least not my version. Must check FCP X.

Ask any questions you want answered.

Steve

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

I found a demo model at BIC Camera yesterday and spent a few minutes checking it out.
It's very small and lightweight. I kept accidently hitting buttons with my fingers while just trying to find a proper way to hold on to it. Also, it's very plasticy.

Shot some 600 fps high speed video and it looked decent when played back on the LCD except for some weird orange fringing which might be from the fluorescent lights and the WB not set up right.

You can zoom while recording in high speed but image stabilization does not work. With such a light camera, I found it difficult to get video that wasn't shaky when zoomed out to 10x.

Would like to see how this compares to the Panasonic DMC-FZ200 ($500).

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

I have the FZ100 and I too am curious about the FZ200.

Slo-mo and Fast-mo really requires a tripod.

I re-shot with no digital zoom. Much nicer as expected. Crisp, but edges are not sharp. Sort of a slight film look. To my eyes not as detailed as the PX10. From a new review: "The PX100 is capable of resolving 700 lp/ph horizontally and 750 vertically under full studio illumination. These results are worse than JVC's own last-gen PX10." Hmm!

More: "... when we brought the camera closer to the chart (thus zooming out and opening up the f/1.2 aperture), the sensor only required 1 lux."

Wish I knew which Gain mode they used. You have a choice of AGC and AUTO.

Like the first JVC HDV camera it has red chroma noise. Since bright red flowers are too saturated -- I suspect were the reds less saturated the noise might not be there. (The review does show REDs a bit over-saturated.) Could one live with it? I'm uploading a clip I encoded at 50Mbps to Utube. It will take all night from rural MN.

From the review: "Noise levels under studio illumination average 0.5%, which is competitive with Panasonic's X920 but inferior to Sony's PJ50V. The Canon G20 can only manage 0.65% noise."

Hmm again. Guess I've spent to much time with $6000 to $15000 3-chip pro camcorders. I expect no noise at all.

I lived in Tokyo about 20 years ago -- loved it.

Steve-san

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

thx for the update Steve!
But what is CA?

So the low light is great in your 52 inch LCD? I hope you see the video soon you made.

When you record audio in a loud environment? IS the audio still ok?
Loud audio like a music band on stage. Maybe put your radio or TV very loud to test it?

Because stage events is something I film reguraly.

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

AhHa! I was watching ProRes Proxy which has higher noise level than the original. More noise is added compressing to h.264. Compressing to ProRes 422LT yielded slightly less noise.

So the camera is better than I first thought in the noise dept.

It still has shadow noise and lots of Chroma Aberration (CA).


UPDATE: after dark I watched what I shot today on my 52" Sony LCD via HDMI from the PX100.

WOW -- it all looks great! No noise and much less CA. Perhaps Apple's H.264 decoder is not so great?


PS: I noticed that during import into FCP X the 96kHz PCM audio is converted to 48kHz PCM. I also found the full 108% is passed through to H.264.

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

Try this link:
Set player for 1080p if you go to YouTube. "www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLFLuR6qDIo"

The 60p is converted to 30p. The 50Mbps to only 6Mbps so it looks soft.

I was shooting much with my left hand so some shots a full of camera jitter.

Re: Information on the new JVC GC-PX100
 

Hey Steve,

I watched the 1080p footage on youtube. I liked the sharpess and colors. Looked good to me. I bit shaky but you filmed with your left hand.

Could you please answers my 2 questions from before?
1) the low light was good? If you have time could you post a short sample of this with zooming in if possible.
2) Is there sound distortion when filming in loud environment?

Thanks again.