16:9 is an aspect ratio and could be NTSC, PAL, HD or film.
When it's projected by a 4:3 device it's usually referred to as 'squeezed'.

well... the one wish i had, was stated above already... focus assist out of the camera to a monitor so you can have someone pull focus while using that...

on a different note, if JVC put all these things that we are asking for into the hd100 it would be around $30,000 hahahah ridding the whole reason for it being cheap.

so i give a pat on the back for jvc being the first in its leage to do things that we always thought would never be in the $5,000 range... with that said... Now lets go one step further... a Full size ENG size camera with all of the features of the hd100 + 1/2 lens mount WITH LENS, AB battery connection build in, plus black and white viewfinder AND foucus assist for around $10,000 or less, NOW THAT WOULD FLY OFF THE SHELF IF THEY GOT IT RIGHT :-)


I say lets call it the GY-HD200u :-D

VF & LCD controls
 

The VF and the LCD should have adjustments for
BRIGHTNESS
CONTRAST
HUE
COLOR

They could spoil us completely and offer 'blue gun only' for the LCD...:-) but, please, give us at least the basics!

I don't own this camera yet, but...
I understand it has a Header Record function which applies bars/tone followed by black on the push of a button. What would be really cool would be if it could also feature a sort of auto-slate option, where instead of plain black it would have the option of displaying (and recording to tape) a shot/take number, which would increase incrementally every time the auto slate button was pressed. If it could include some additional text info such as location/date etc that would be good too (maybe data from the SD card). three seconds of this before every take would make logging the tapes much easier for someone as disorganised as me...

Alex Bowles

The JVC HD100U does have a method of bypasses the MPEG codec with Cineform's HR-1 recorder through JVC Component HD port.

http://www.cineform.com/products/WafianHR1.htm

Check out the link for more info.

Unfortunately at this time Cineform's codec is only available on PPro and Sony Vegas.

Thanks David. I'd come across Cineform's codec earlier, and got very excited, as the results are astounding. But as you pointed out, it's only available on two platforms, neither one of which commands major market share. I've already committed to FCP, so I'm hoping that the Cineform guys (who are regulars on this site) will let us know if and when their stuff can work with Apple's NLE.

In the meantime, I'm considering doing a show where I take an uncompressed 720p60 signal from the camera, and capture to a disk array via a Black Magic card. I would be on a stage for this, so the bulk of the setup isn't a worry. I'd be shooting live-action elements against a blue or green screen, with all the backgrounds added in post, possibly using Shake.

If anyone has been going down this path (aside from the 'Spoon' guys, who I'm already following), could you let me know?

Cheers,

Alex

White Balance adjustment
 

Maybe I'm the only one who would want this, but I do mostly documentary filming and I would LOVE to be able to dial in a white balance adjustment, say in 100 degree increments with the little shutter dial.

I would also like it if the User buttons could be programed to select different whole scene files.

Any updates on these suggestions being implemented?

Ditto.

White Balance by degrees I like that you actually see what degree has been chosen by the white balance but I'd LOVE being able to dial in 100 degree increments. That has to be somewhat easy to program and it's probably my number one "wish".

Zebra Toggle It would be nice to quickly switch Zebra settings. A button push to toggle between two user selected presets like 100% / 70% would be helpful. The HVX has it. Toss in some kind of shadow area zebra too.

Better white balance toggle Right now you have to burn a user button to create a toggle button. The toggle button should be the white balance button when you are in preset WB mode.

Scene file via user button The user buttons are pretty limited IMO. One way to really make this camera run faster is by allowing user buttons to select entire scene files.

Prime lenses (Fuji / Canon) Maybe I'm the only one this makes sense to, but if we had a wide and standard focal length primes that were sharper with less CA this would really be an incredible camera. Drop the price on the 2/3" adapter.

Focus Assist to External monitor

Image Flip A 35mm adapter friendly flip would be awesome even if it was just a preview flip.

Not at all -- I've seen a few comments around the boards wishing for this, myself included. JVC is pitching the HD100 as a cinematography camera, and many cinematographers with experience in 16mm/35mm are taking interest in it. Considering the drawbacks of the stock lens, and way-too-high price of the wide-angle zoom, prime lenses would be an ideal addition to the accessory options.

1 Zoom control on the top handle
2 Optional floating lens image stablizer like in the canon.
3 720p60 hdv

Let's see... SDI 4:2:2 output? Lenses that don't cost more than the camera itself? A camera that actually will work with other equipment would be nice... Pay attention here Canon! Basicly, I just want something affordable that works the way it is supposed to, right out of the box- not sometime in the unforseen future.

Two of those three wishes already exist. There is an optional zoom control for the top handle(at least there was). That was the first shortcoming I pointed out after seeing the camera at NAB last year.

720p 60 is available via component output to a dedicated capture card. You just can't pump that much through a firewire pipe. FW is limited to 720p 24 and 30 frame modes.

-gb-

Really, you can order one? Or is mine just missing it for some odd reason?

It would also be sweet if they had a firestore that captured the 4:2:2 output.

no I'm really dreaming.

also maybe a bottle cap opener on the side ;)

The very first HD100s I received back in August of 2005 DID NOT have a zoom control on the top handle. Their serial numbers started with "12"
I then swapped both units a couple of weeks later because of split-screen calibration issues, and the new ones had the zoom rocker on the top handle. These new units started with serial numbers "13."

I'm not sure if any of the early European models have zoom controls on the top handle, since they were released months before Canada or the U.S.

Do you think they will upgrade me.....?

Is it built into the handle or strapped on?

no pun intended.

FWIW, the HD-100 on loan for our Texas Shootout did not have the top handle zoom control. It did have the A mod in it though.

If you look back at some of Chris' pictures from NAB 2005 in the photo gallery, you can see the optional zoom rocker attached.

-gb-

Do you think they will upgrade me.....?

Is it built into the handle or strapped on?

no pun intended.

It is built into the plate with the Focus Assist and REC buttons.

Frankly, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It is a very "consumer-like" feature and I have never personally had a need for it. In fact, I hardly ever engage the servo.

How is this possible with a Fujinon lens?
Is there a separate cable running into under the lens connector?

Servo control is on three of the pins in the Fujinon connector. This allows the camera to control zooming.

Normally I would agree but one thing I liked about the xl-2 is I can ski with it grasped by the handle and pull out. (although it took alot of practice for me).

If I can get JVC to correct mine, why I got an older one I don't know, It would help me.

Thanks though. Good to know that it is there.

With all due respect Tim, most 'consumer' cams don't even have a top handle to put a rocker switch on. :-)

I always use the handle zoom for framing low angle shots. In fact, I used mine this past weekend during some behind the scenes stuff at our Texas HD Shootout.

I suppose it depends on the type of projects or shots you normally do with your camera.

-gb-

Bluetooth!
 

Right now (for ENG work) we use a small two channel Bluetooth receiver/transmitter mounted on the camera. One channel (receiving) is hooked into the camera (headset jack), and the other channel (sending) goes via a headset with mic to a Bluetooth enabled "earwig" the on-camera talent uses (talent can hear via the wireless earwig, talk via the wireless handheld mic). Operator can hear what the mic is picking up (including talent) on the camera circuit and talk to talent via the paired send/receive Bluetooth device.

Just a built in Bluetooth sending circuit feeding off the audio monitor would be nice and eliminate headphone WIRES.

On the other hand, I REALLY like the built in headphone (and easy to reach/use channel selector) on the HD-100, it's so much better than the usual camera ENG built in monitor. Very nice touch JVC!

HZ-ZS100 zoom controller
 

All,

JVC Pro offers a top handle-mounted zoom rocker control. It is the HZ-ZS100. List price is $279, and you can order it from any authorized JVC Pro dealer. It is in stock at JVC. Here is a link to our page that describes it.

http://pro.jvc.com/prof/attributes/f...l_id=MDL101597

Regards,

Carl

thanks!
 

Sweet, thanks!

Another request: Is it possible to have a portable hard drive that would connect to the component instead of firewire so we can get the 720p with 60 frames?

I would guess such a unit would suck alot of power. I know it would probably be bigger but if it could fit in a pocket or packpack with it's own battery we would have a realistic portable 720p60f solution.

Maybe the size of the JVC portable hdv deck. Actually if the drive was big enough maybe it could be used to dump footage from the focus type drive.

Like maybe hold 18 hours. that way if you were on location and it filled up you don't necessarily need a computer and firedrive to clean it off.

Just thinking out loud. Actually at this point if it had a small lcd screen that would be pretty cool too. You could play it back on location without having to stop shooting. Good for sporting events or videographers.

The only other complaint is I wish somtimes the lcd was on top instead of the side. But I guess I could just buy a second lcd screen.

This thing is WICKED.....but
 

The sad fact of the moment is that no camera below Cinealta or Varicam price does everything we want it to for a price we're willing to pay. But until something does (then again...will we ever be satisfied), this little guy is pretty amazing. For less money than the HVX or XL-H1 this thing delivers a far more complete package for indie production. That said....

There are workarounds for most flaws on most cameras. It sucks to drop a lot of cash on a camera to get 80% of the functionality we're looking for. But hopefully forums like this will point the manufacturers in the right direction. I was prepaid for an HVX before I saw it, and saw this, and quickly rushed to switch sides to JVC. I'm happy I did.

For me, the only issues that don't yet have good workarounds are frame rates and bandwidth. JVC shot themselves in the foot by trying the lever into the HDV standard. You have a camera which leapfrogs anything else out there in so many aspects, and cram what could be a magical picture into the worst possible format. My advice:

Keep the HD100, add a model with variable rate recording and compete with XDCAM HD. Jack the price a bit, who cares! People will complain about ANY price, no matter what, but if you can put all that lovely data down at Sony's max 35mbps or even 50!!!!!, you'll win over a lot of people on the fence. Yes, the 1/3" vs. 1/2" chip debate will rage, but from what people are saying, so far the XDCAM HD looks like 1/3" chips with really really high detail and a better than HDV codec.

In terms of frame rates, offer SOME solution to capture variable frame rates. Panasonic released the baby varicam, and we all have a case of jealousy. Now that we know it's possible (relatively) cheaply, why not make that type of recording natively available on a FAR better camera, the JVC. Better yet, solve both problems above, as well as battery life by:

Redesign the rear battery mount. Include space for a firestore-type unit molded in and produced by JVC. The catch would be instead of using fixed drives within, copy AVID and sell hot-swappable drive trays. Users could order as many trays as they want, and feel like they're getting a good deal becase they can use whatever brand and size drive they want, FUTURE PROOF (as long as we have hard drives around). By doing this, JVC could allow a proprietary HDV-based file format with unlimited flexibility...a-la-wafian, and record multiple frame rates at 4:2:2. Oh, and with removable storage, nobody could knock them about basically anything. Even now, if you compared 3.5"hdd's to XDCAM discs or HDCAM tapes, you'd find that using your own drives "consumably" (i.e. as your archival media, like tapes), it would probably costa about the same dollar per minute archival. yes it would be more expensive than DV tapes, but then again, when you start hanging cables and converters off the back to interface with recorders etc..etc...etc, you end up paying a LOT MORE. Plus, the tape mech. would still be built in, so like the HVX, if you needed to you could still use tapes....and brilliantly JVC allows HDV recording to tape, so it's STILL one up.

Oh, and the best part about redesigning the butt of the camera? JVC could ditch the HD100 batteries, and with their newer more pro-oriented model step to 3-pin batteries (gold mount).

If JVC doesn't do it, I will. I promise!


But in the meantime, HUGE respect to JVC for an ergonomically AWESOME camera with the best feature of all - real focus aid! Who cares what rez the lcd/evf is, the focus assist feature is the best thing put into a dv/hdv camera EVER! In the end, what good are all those XL-H1 pixels if you can't get sharp focus? Charts are charts and resolution is one thing....but this camera rocks in the real world, which is the only place we're using it that matters.

Thank you JVC!!!!
 

WOW, thanks JVC! I like when manufacturers listen. Can't compliment them highly enough. Looks like I'll be upgrading.

you are clairevoyant..! :)

they just did release Gy-HD200U (http://snipurl.com/jvccomparison)

You've short changed the HD-100 on your chart. It's highest possible color and framerate are 422 @ 60fps out of the component connections (just like the HD200). The HD-250 brings HD-SDI, genlock and word clock into the equation.

The 60fps component out on the HD-100 gives incredible results.

thanks stephen - i've updated it...

Great Ram.

I have another few updates for your chart. The HD-100 uses the same 384 audio as the other two. Timecode is written to tape and DTE on the HD-100 as well. JVC targeted the HD-100 for HDTV production primarily.

comparison chart
 

Hi Ram,

Thank for putting together the chart. Here's a few comments / corrections / additions:

The GY-HD250 will also have image invert. And, it will have time code in / out, and full CCU control.

Also: The included battery system with the GY-HD100 is not intended to be a permanent solution for a professional user - rather it’s a “starter battery.” Professional battery systems have been available for some time now for the GYHD100, so how about removing the “poor battery” part on your sentence at the top of the chart?

Also: The included 16X lens is an “entry level” HD lens,and it has proven in independant tests to be as good or better than the included lens on any other HD camera in this price range. Thousands of customers are making their living with this lens everyday. Because it uses an industry-standard bayonet mount, you can easily upgrade to a “high-end” HD lens. So, how about removing the “bad lens” part at the top of the chart?

Regards, Carl

Unless that system comes as a standard feature I agree with the comment. The problem isn't the battery mount, its the batteries you can buy. I have created a 12,000mAH battery for the JVC mount. That capacity will last about the same as a 80WH Vmount. The problem is that JVC don't make or sell such a battery so you are forced to make your own or buy a thrid party system.

A high end lens costs over US$10K. Maybe you are more fortunate but I do not find it "easy" to earn that amount of money to buy the lens to upgrade too, and that is the reality of the camera. An upgrade is only as 'easy' as the affordability of the upgrade. Same goes for the battery system. Over AU$800 for the VMount adaptor without any batteries.

Guy,

I wish you would have jumped on board last year. The HD-100 (and subsequent camera's) are a huge step from the the DV5100. It's like night and day between HD and SD. Are you considering any of the new camera's or are you holding out for a bigger CCD?

S.Noe

I really wish I could have too, but alas children came first....

In the end I think it will work out better for me in the long term. We are still waiting for a HD delivery format to establish itself, more cameras and better options are becomming avaliable and I havn't lost any business due to lack of HD capabilities yet (I do list it as an option as I can always rent equipment).

It is also making me get closer to my 5 years life out of my DV500 I origonally wanted. Low light sensitivity with HD is also a problem for me.

At the moment I am more interested in something like a Sony A1 or even a H3, if only JVC had an equivalent. If I get something like an A1 or even H3 it probably means I end up going the Sony equipment route rather than JVC. As much as I want progressive, I also need a range of viable cameras to pick from, including cheap little cameras like the H3 to use as B roll, static cam etc and even to just play tapes for capture.

Hence why I am also dissapointed that there are no new JVC handycams at NAB even if it not the best show for such a release.

I tell you what though, if XDCAM HD supported a better quality SD mode (DVCPro 50 or better quality) and 50/60p capture in HD with a native 1440x1080 1/2" progressive block I'd start saving for it tonight.

I'm not sure where I will head. I am pretty sure I know what I want, when I will want it and what I will be able to pay. Unfortunately I know these will not meet nicely in the middle and I will have to compromise somewhere (time, money of features). One thing I do know is that I will levitate heavily to any camera that has native tapeless operations (excludes P2 due to cost). XDCAM and HDD are my preference.