Although I am not an owner I have a couple of questions for you early adapters.

1. What do you intend to use your camera for. Are you professionals who want to produce programming for a market or are you hobbyists who love new technological gizzmos.

2. Why did you buy so early. I have always thought that a product needs a couple of months in the market place before one can determine if it is worthwhile and if it has problems.

3. How are you editing with this camera? Do you have any kind of flexbility with the JVC NLE?


Thanks.

I doubt I'm typical of those here but I bought mine for underwater use and needed it early to encourage and assist the housing manufacturers. As soon as someone needs it I'll ship it off. Once I get a housing I'll buy a second one but it will probably be the HD10 version.

I've done just enough shooting and editing to understand how it would be done. The trick as of today is not loading and editing but rather what you do with the result. Both VV4 and Premiere 6 had no trouble with the source footage. I tried the JVC NLE but wouldn't consider using it.

Premiere is getting the Cineform plugin that's specifically designed for the job, but I suspect it won't be necessary to use and it's expensive. Some people are reporting success editing in VV4 and converting the output into a transport stream using a 3rd party tool.

David, to answer your questions:

I bought the HD1 because I was in the market for the best camcorder available for under 3k. After really comparing the current crop of DV 3 chippers to the JVC, there was no question which camcorder produced the most amazing images. I intend to use it for weddings and for hobby/personal use.

I bought it early because I had some weddings coming up and didn't want to spend another 2-3k too soon down the line. I realized after seeing the stunning HD output from this camera that the DV format just got a whole lot less relevant. It had nice color, no noticible compression artifacts, and little noise with HD resolution. Although I realized that second generation HD cameras will no doubt be more refined, I'd rather wait longer between camera purchases. (btw- who's to say sony and canon's first generation products are going to be heads and tails better than JVC's anyways?)

As for the editing, I haven't tried JVC's software yet. Since premiere is compatible now, I expect to use that. For the weddings, I intend to give out 2 copies of the wedding, one in DVD format, and another in the HD source which they can watch on their computers. In the future, when comercial HD DVD writing becomes affordable, they will have the option of remastering the source to that format.

If you had the option of archiving your wedding in HD format for later use, wouldn't you?

For the many doubters out there, can I ask how many of you own HDTVs? If you do, why did you shell out the big bucks for it? For a slight improvement in color saturation? Or because it produces a gorgeous lifelike image when connected a native HD source. Before dismissing the HD1 as having a "few more pixels", go to your local store and check it out. It's hard not to be impressed by it.

I guess it will take time for people to understand the significance of this product. It really is quite revolutionary.

I'm like Michael--My XL-1 is four years old and I didn't feel like buying DV again. Sure, I could've waited a while for another generation, but I needed a camera ASAP, and this was my option. And now that I have the iris issues under control, I'm happy.

I haven't been able to get the JVC serial number in for the software. It's a pain in the arse! I'm still trying to figure out the Apple thing to edit on FCP. Premiere is no longer supporting Apple (and people thought they'd announce an Apple version of the new Premiere next week at the Macworld Expo), so to me, it's worthless. I never did like Premiere, personally. I used it before Final Cut Pro, and it didn't work well for me. Just a personal choice.

I'll be using the camera for some freelance, but mostly to make uber low budget films. Most of my films will be shot with a CineAlta, not this camera. Or an XL-1, for that matter.

heath

Hey thanks for the quick replies. It was interesting to read about intended usage for the camera.