Upgrade Wishlist (updated with HD200/250 results)

Alex Bowles · November 29th, 2005, 08:30 PM

Okay, scratch that previous request about pixel perfect monitoring on the camera for focus assist. I just got the camera yesterday, and the focus assist feature is amazingly good. I've been doing head-to-head tests on a CRT monitor, and the results are stunning. Kudos to JVC.

Dave Beaty · November 30th, 2005, 06:14 PM

I was shooting anamorphic DV the other day and looked for a way to display the output letterboxed on our field monitor that's 4:3 only. We can do this in HDV downconvert mode, it would be nice in DV mode as well.

Marc Colemont · December 5th, 2005, 05:38 AM

Firmware request for Waveform and Vector scope.

Currently I'm using succesfully DVRack on my laptop. But still it would be nice to even leave the laptop at home or any other equipment and to be sure about the video levels.

Jiri Bakala · December 5th, 2005, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc Colemont

Firmware request for Waveform and Vector scope.

I was about to request that...:-) If my Nikon D70 can have a histogram, video cameras could have some form of an image analysis too, even if it was available only when in a standby mode.

Tim Dashwood · December 5th, 2005, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jiri Bakala

I was about to request that...:-) If my Nikon D70 can have a histogram, video cameras could have some form of an image analysis too, even if it was available only when in a standby mode.

I agree it would be cool to have waveform and/or histogram overlay in the LCD, but that would require alot of processing power that I doubt the HD100 has. My brain has now been "trained" to think in histogram terms since I bought my D70. The histogram on the D70 can be misleading sometimes though because it only represents the green channel, not RGB.

A second set of zebra would be nice though - maybe a zebra you could set to trigger at levels below 10IRE ! Then you could set one zebra for 100, the other for 10, and have a really good idea of what areas are completely "safe."

James Ewen · December 7th, 2005, 02:14 AM

Having used the camera quite heavily in Africa for a couple of months...

- A solid DC power setup, the mini DC in is not going to last, JVC managed to put a full size Firewire so why not power. Canons setup is way more rugged.

- Ditto the above with the rubber covers for such things, mine have virtually all been broken, detached, repaired and broken again. We use the cameras not stroke them. Sensitive slots like the SD card need protecting from the elements... the technology is available.

- User programmable WB so that you can dial in as many Kelvin as you want.

- 3/8" tripod mount hole

- A sensible rubber eyecup

I am sure that none of this is really very difficult to organise.

James

Alex Bowles · December 7th, 2005, 03:30 PM

[QUOTE=James Ewen]Having used the camera quite heavily in Africa for a couple of months...

- A solid DC power setup, the mini DC in is not going to last, JVC managed to put a full size Firewire so why not power. Canons setup is way more rugged.

Amen. 4-pin XLR would be ideal.

Dave Beaty · December 9th, 2005, 06:25 AM

I was wrong about letterbox NTSC output during shooting. The camera does not do it, everything is anamorphic when shooting 16:9. So for those of us trying to monitor HDV on NTSC reference monitors that are 4:3, the image is sqashed. I want the option to letterbox, crop or show it anamorphic in SD. You would think this would be an important feature for monitoring in the field. The BR-50 deck has it.

I was also looking for a way to access the timecode preset value without having to surf the menus.

Sometimes menu items are so hidden in the manual. I found this helpful item about timecode. Yet it doesn't address setting the hour for tape number: Read the memo.

Zero-resetting the Time Code or User’s
Bit Data
This is performed with the TC or UB PRESET item on the TC/
UB/CLOCK menu screen. (Performed separately for the time
code and the user’s bit data.)
1Rotate the SHUTTER dial to align the cursor (K) with the
TC or UB PRESET item, and then press the SHUTTER
dial.
2Rotate the SHUTTER dial to select ZERO PRESET as the
setting value, and then press the SHUTTER dial.

MEMO
When a menu screen is not being displayed, you can zero
reset the time code data by simultaneously holding down
the USER2 button and the STOP button for about 1 second.

Jiri Bakala · December 9th, 2005, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Beaty

I was wrong about letterbox NTSC output during shooting. The camera does not do it, everything is anamorphic when shooting 16:9.

Actually, it's not anamorphic, it is TRUE (native) 16x9. The difference is that anamorphic images are captured to a 4x3 sensor/film format via an optical adaptor that makes them look vertically elongated. When projected, it needs to be reformatted back either optically again (anamorphic adaptor in movie theatres) or electronically (NLE).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Beaty

So for those of us trying to monitor HDV on NTSC reference monitors that are 4:3, the image is sqashed. I want the option to letterbox, crop or show it anamorphic in SD. You would think this would be an important feature for monitoring in the field.

I agree, it would be nice but I think that the assumption is that most current monitors are either switchable or already moving into native 16x9 format.

Dave Beaty · December 11th, 2005, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jiri Bakala

Actually, it's not anamorphic, it is TRUE (native) 16x9. The difference is that anamorphic images are captured to a 4x3 sensor/film format via an optical adaptor that makes them look vertically elongated. When projected, it needs to be reformatted back either optically again (anamorphic adaptor in movie theatres) or electronically (NLE).

What I meant was the NTSC output is squashed on a 4 x 3 monitor...what's it called when 16:9 is recorded to NTSC? We have 3 nice Sony 8020 field monitors without a 16:9 switch setting. It would be very useful for people to be able to view the image letterboxed to 4 X 3.

Dave B

Jiri Bakala · December 11th, 2005, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Beaty

...what's it called when 16:9 is recorded to NTSC?

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'.

Giuseppe Pugliese · December 17th, 2005, 07:07 AM

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

Jiri Bakala · January 6th, 2006, 02:15 PM

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!

Paul Jefferies · January 20th, 2006, 12:37 PM

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...

David Kirlew · February 19th, 2006, 10:23 AM

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.

November 29th, 2005, 08:30 PM	#31
Alex Bowles Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 49	Focus Assist Okay, scratch that previous request about pixel perfect monitoring on the camera for focus assist. I just got the camera yesterday, and the focus assist feature is amazingly good. I've been doing head-to-head tests on a CRT monitor, and the results are stunning. Kudos to JVC.

November 30th, 2005, 06:14 PM	#32
Dave Beaty Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ft. Myers, FL Posts: 240	16:9 Letterbox on output during DV shooting I was shooting anamorphic DV the other day and looked for a way to display the output letterboxed on our field monitor that's 4:3 only. We can do this in HDV downconvert mode, it would be nice in DV mode as well.

December 7th, 2005, 02:14 AM	#36
James Ewen Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 91	Simple Things Having used the camera quite heavily in Africa for a couple of months... - A solid DC power setup, the mini DC in is not going to last, JVC managed to put a full size Firewire so why not power. Canons setup is way more rugged. - Ditto the above with the rubber covers for such things, mine have virtually all been broken, detached, repaired and broken again. We use the cameras not stroke them. Sensitive slots like the SD card need protecting from the elements... the technology is available. - User programmable WB so that you can dial in as many Kelvin as you want. - 3/8" tripod mount hole - A sensible rubber eyecup I am sure that none of this is really very difficult to organise. James __________________ Natural History Cameraman Earthmedia Film, Oslo, Norway

January 6th, 2006, 02:15 PM	#43
Jiri Bakala Major Player Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Kelowna BC Canada Posts: 706	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! __________________ www.ascentfilms.com

February 19th, 2006, 10:23 AM	#45
David Kirlew Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 25	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. __________________ David Kirlew

December 5th, 2005, 05:38 AM	#33
Marc Colemont Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Belgium Posts: 695	Firmware request for Waveform and Vector scope. Currently I'm using succesfully DVRack on my laptop. But still it would be nice to even leave the laptop at home or any other equipment and to be sure about the video levels.

December 7th, 2005, 03:30 PM	#37
Alex Bowles Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 49	[QUOTE=James Ewen]Having used the camera quite heavily in Africa for a couple of months... - A solid DC power setup, the mini DC in is not going to last, JVC managed to put a full size Firewire so why not power. Canons setup is way more rugged. Amen. 4-pin XLR would be ideal.

December 9th, 2005, 06:25 AM	#38
Dave Beaty Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ft. Myers, FL Posts: 240	I was wrong about letterbox NTSC output during shooting. The camera does not do it, everything is anamorphic when shooting 16:9. So for those of us trying to monitor HDV on NTSC reference monitors that are 4:3, the image is sqashed. I want the option to letterbox, crop or show it anamorphic in SD. You would think this would be an important feature for monitoring in the field. The BR-50 deck has it. I was also looking for a way to access the timecode preset value without having to surf the menus. Sometimes menu items are so hidden in the manual. I found this helpful item about timecode. Yet it doesn't address setting the hour for tape number: Read the memo. Zero-resetting the Time Code or User’s Bit Data This is performed with the TC or UB PRESET item on the TC/ UB/CLOCK menu screen. (Performed separately for the time code and the user’s bit data.) 1Rotate the SHUTTER dial to align the cursor (K) with the TC or UB PRESET item, and then press the SHUTTER dial. 2Rotate the SHUTTER dial to select ZERO PRESET as the setting value, and then press the SHUTTER dial. MEMO When a menu screen is not being displayed, you can zero reset the time code data by simultaneously holding down the USER2 button and the STOP button for about 1 second.

December 17th, 2005, 07:07 AM	#42
Giuseppe Pugliese Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York Posts: 392	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

January 20th, 2006, 12:37 PM	#44
Paul Jefferies Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Croydon, England Posts: 277	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...