Newbie Questions...
 

Hey guys so here are a list of questions I have after going through the manual of my new 110U.

1)What are user bits and what do they have to do with timecode, if anything?

2)The camera comes with these core filters that manual says 'reduces unwanted electromagnetic emission,' what the hell is that? Should I worry about it, use it?

3)In the manual it says when you press the 'display' buttong which is small and next to the playback buttons, you are supposed to be able to see different characters on the LCD monitor, when I press the display button I get nothing, if I hold it down a little then the LCD monitor goes to black an pressing down on it again brings the LCD back. Any ideas about this one?

4)Can someone give me a detailed explanation or point me in the direction of one, of how and what the zebra setting does, and what it means to 'clip.' I'm sure this is a dumb question.

Thanks gius.

No such thing as a dumb question when asked in or around your level of experience. ;)

I found Steve Mullen's JVC GY-HD100 Handbook worth the money. I feel it's a very good place to start.

If the moderators prefer I not direct a user this way please feel free to remove this link. Otherwise... http://www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c/

Zerbra is a function which assists you in exposing your image properly. Areas of the picture in a certain range of brightness (usually user-defined, but sometimes hardcoded to be one stop below 100% white) will show "zebra stripes" across them. Most cameras are set up such that shooting a white piece of paper, exposing so it gets stripes, then opening the iris until the stripes disappear will result in proper exposure.

Clipping means you've reached the limit of intensity of light/sound that the camera will record without losing information. If you clip the highlights on a bright object, you will end up with a large patch of white instead of a smooth highlight. If you clip audio you will hear audible distortion.

hayk, i just got my new hd100, and learning how to use it too. i bought steve mullen's book as well, and found it very usefull.

i had trouble too with the display button. can't recall exactly what the manual says about it, but, to get info to show up on the display, you have to turn the specific displays "on" with the menu settings (holding down the STATUS button and scrolling to the LCD/VF screen), like AUDIO levels, TC etc set to ON.

then, when you just hit the status button (don't hold it down) while viewing the LCD or VF, it will toggle between showing the info you turned ON in the menu settings.

hope that makes sense.

as far as zebra, i've always set it to 100%, then, when setting up my exposure, i open the iris 'til i only get zebra on unimportant brights that have no detail (like light bulbs, reflections etc.), and it has worked well for me. i'm sure there are many who use zebra in better and different ways. steve mullen's mensions several ways to use it at different % to get good exposures.

so far, i love this camera. for some reason, i have yet to figure out how to set the iris manually. anyone?

There's an iris auto/manual switch near your zoom rocker. Once on M just twist the iris ring.

Should I buy Steve Mullen's book even though I have the 110, although when I think about it the differences are negligable, I just mean is there any update for the 110 or not?

iris
 

ah for chris'sake. i thought i tried that but didn't allow me to twist the ring. but, yep, that's it all right. thanks!

If you are new to HDV the book is well worth it... and yes, the HD100 and HD110 are basically the same camera.

The book covers the whole field of HDV in addition to the camera, and this info is necessary to begin the kind of understanding one needs just to know what he or she doesn't know so one can start to ask the right questions.

The book connects all the dots and enables you to understand what you are dealing with in a coherent way.

In the USA and Canada (not sure about other countries), our respective regulators (FCC and CRTC) mandate that electronic equipment cannot generate electromagnetic emissions that may interfere with radio-based transmissions and/or the operation of other electronic equipment. Manufacturers do a great job of reducing emissions inside the equipment (as certified by a FCC/CRTC sticker) but cabling, which is external to the equipment and can be interchanged or altered, is sometimes a weak point for emissions. Thus, these cores help reduce that.

It's primarily a regulatory requirement (i.e. if your equipment is "caught" creating interference, you may get fined), but you will likely want to ensure these are in place so your HD100 is not causing interference with your other equipment.

but as anyone experiences any problems with these emissions where they needed to use the filters, i haven't heard of anyone using them.

Hi Paul. Normally, these are ferrite cores that are fitted to wires to prevent conduction of high frequency signals that would either disturb other equipment, or allow other equipment to interfere with the camera. You do not have an option on whether to "use" them or not, they are just part of the camera design and you don't need to worry about them in normal operation.

Richard

I've noticed that the large core filters included with the HD100 are not large enough to hold a Firewire cord (6-pin) that is looped around the core filter as per the instructions in the HD100 manual. What are people doing about this? Do you guys just pass the cord through once? Do you just not use the cord at all? Does anyone care?

You only have to loop the power cable. You can use the larger "clamp" filter on your firewire cable, which does not need to be looped.

Yeah-- I don't loop the Firewire cable either, but only because I can't. And, since it's NOT looped, the clamp filter fits the cord a little loosely.

On page 54, "Using External Components", in the HD100 - HD101 manual it does have a drawing that clearly shows the Firewire cord being wound around the clamp filter. It even says "wind once" next to the drawing. That's why I was a little concerned about the clamp being too small to wind the cord around.

But if it's not necessary to follow the manufacturer's instructions in this area, that's ok with me. I just try to do what the manual tells me because I am not much of an electronics/engineer type of guy.

Thanks for your help.