Just got this camera about four weeks ago and like someone else who put up a post on their "new" to them camera, I'm also really jazzed!

The first videos I took were in Full HD and they looked absolutely great on the TV. The only problem was the sound which sounded very amateurish. The fix for this was to get a mic and I wound up getting a Sennheiser ME-66 shotgun mic. This worked really great for what it was designed for, but I decided to add a ME-64 to the system because I already had the K6 part. Well, that wasn't enough so for gun-'n-run family stuff I got a Rode Stereo Videomic. Now I've got something that really works.

The next step is to learn how to edit all these files in iMovie HD6.

Just got this camera about four weeks ago and like someone else who put up a post on their "new" to them camera, I'm also really jazzed!

The first videos I took were in Full HD and they looked absolutely great on the TV. The only problem was the sound which sounded very amateurish. The fix for this was to get a mic and I wound up getting a Sennheiser ME-66 shotgun mic. This worked really great for what it was designed for, but I decided to add a ME-64 to the system because I already had the K6 part. Well, that wasn't enough so for gun-'n-run family stuff I got a Rode Stereo Videomic. Now I've got something that really works.

The next step is to learn how to edit all these files in iMovie HD6.

Well come to JVC GZ HD7 world! I am proud owner of HD7 and I am still using it since last 3 years, I purchased very first day from Circuit City, NJ. I am very happy with this camera, I guess you must have seen my videos.

Here are my links:

YouTube - ‪AhmedabadHD's Channel‬‎ (http://www.youtube.com/user/AhmedabadHD)

Kaushik on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/user318721)

If you have time see my videos, I have uploaded some new videos.

Share your work please.

Thanks,
Kaushik

Thanks for the “welcome aboard” and the offer to post some videos. While I’ve take a few videos already they are nowhere near prime time. I’ve been taking mostly test runs while trying to figure out how to use the camera and mics.

And yes, I have seen some of your videos. It was interesting watching the birds in the one in your link Our cat was very interested in them too.

Yesterday I tested the Rode Stereo Videomic (Rode SVM) under three circumstances: In the kitchen/dinette area with someone talking at a distance between approximately 6 and 12 feet. The audio was okay with nothing to complain about. This is probably about optimum for this mic. The next test was with someone playing an accordion at a distance of about 8 feet and this didn’t nearly as good as I had hoped because the treble sounded quite tinny. My third test was outdoors in the back yard where the distance to the subject was in the range of 20 to 30 feet and this was too great of a distance for it. A plane (jet at probably 5,000 feet) flew overhead and the mic picked up it’s sound, perhaps a bit too much.

My previous tests were all with the Sennheiser ME-66 on subjects (a choir on stage) with a distance of perhaps 25 to 35 feet and the audio was quite impressive – picking up the choir while at the same time rejecting small amounts of noise from the audience.

I see the mics being used for audio pretty much like an artist would use his brushes. I think I’ve got enough experience handling the mics now to be dangerous.

There are two main areas where I have to put my effort now: (1) learning how to edit using iMovie HD6, and (2), learning how to make use of the Manual controls. The few times I tried using Manual controls it was a disaster. Even with Automatic there is the Backlight control which I keep forgetting to use.

IMovie HD6: Is there a good forum for learning how to use iMovie? I just got “iMovie 6 & iDVD”, The Missing Manual by David Pogue and it is already very helpful. In fact, at the moment, I am overwhelmed with everything I’m reading. At this point I’m very open to all ideas and suggestions!

Yes I know about Cats.

You should not use this camera in Auto control, always use it in Manual controls, in worst condition like if it is low light situation you can use it.

And one point I would like tell you that always put off "AGC" mean auto gain control, you must not use when you shoot in day or in very bright situation. If you put on when light in good enough then your result would be over expose, unwanted brightness would be there and its annoying!

Best luck.

With regard to low-light situations, I've found out about this the hard way. In Manual, the color balance was terrible and the shutter speed was way too slow - or something. Switching to Automatic cured this problem and I'll re-visit this Manual Mode later.

And speaking of Manual Mode, there are a lot of settings that can be adjusted:
Program AE
Aperture Priority
Shutter Speed
Brightness
Focus
Nightalive
Backlight
Spot Exposure
White Balance
Effect
Tele & Macro
Zebra
Custom: Sharpness and Color Bar

The problem is there are so many settings to consider and it takes so long to go through the Camera Manual to read up on these and make the settings. What I'm thinking of doing is making a Cheat-Sheet to have available when video recording. Something I can laminate in plastic and clip with a nylon tie to part of the camera, maybe.

What would be useful is to come up with a prioritized list of settings. What do others do when dealing with editing or seting Manual settings?

Thanks for the comment about the AGC setting. I just checked and found it was set to "ON" so I disabled it and switched it to "OFF". I was wondering what I could do with the colors of the outdoor shots which were looked too saturated or bleached out depending on the brightness situation.

I've started to make my own "Index" for the JVC HD7 Manual so hopefully I won't have to spend so much time looking for things. This will obviously be a Work-in-Progress" for some time to come.

If you put shutter speed 1/30, your images would be blurry, you must use tripod. In dark light do not put shutter speed less than 1/60, else you can't move your camera. This camera is outstanding for outdoor shooting with manual mode. I always try to keep aperture 1.8 and shutter speed 1/500, and if it is more bright than 1/1000, so than we can catch fast movement very well, with good light. I mean I do in that settings.

Kaushik

Thanks again for the additional information. With regard to the shutter speed and apature settings, I don't know, yet, how to change this without causing a problem. I tried twice or three times with "normal" indoor light but got jerky and pixilated pictures. Since then I've reverted to the "Auto" mode as I concentrate on other things, like audio, for example. Up until now I just wanted to get something "decent" that can I can watch and can also be shown to others.

This morning I started doing some Internet search for information about iMovie HD6 and using it for editing. I have a lot of video clips that are in need of serious editing and I want to get the files off my hard drives. They're filling up space at a fantastic rate. I also have iMovie 09 but I don't think this works with the HD7 files and I'm basically shooting in Full HD. I don't want to convert the files because I don't want to create even larger files, or, loose any of the high-definition quality.

I'm beginning to feel comfortable taking new clips with this camera so pretty soon I'll explore the Manual mode and see what happens.

Yes, indeed it will take time, but try to learn everyday, nothing will happen. I wish you all the best. Once you will have command you will then less using Auto, or maybe you will never use Auto, like me, I use Auto in worst condition.

I will give you example why you need to lock shutter speed & aperture, for say you need to shoot some landscape in that contain images of clouds, pure blue or mix kind of and then it will not keep steady, brightness and shutter speed will change on images, it will be more brighter, sky will not be steady blue but it will show some time bright while you move camera, because keep change lights accordingly, and you know it annoying! More of time we will get over expose images, so if you need steady lights then use manual controls and lock aperture & shutter speed, so then images will be steady.

Kaushik

It is true that one has to start using Manual controls to learn how they work. But it's hard when one doesn't want to ruin the shots!

What you mentioned about the sky and clouds I think I have experienced with similar lighting situations where the camera couldn't figure out what it wanted to do. I will be on the lookout for this situation in the future and now I will know that this is an issue.

I really need to learn how to edit before I can take many more videos because the files are starting to accumulate and they are taking up storage.

iMovie HD6 is what I'm going to be using for editing. I have iMovie 09 but apparently it is not useable for the HD7 file type format.

This is the iMovie web site I plan to be using for support:
Apple web site for iMovie HD 6: Apple - Support - Discussions - iMovie HD 6 (http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1115)

If anyone has some other ideas I'm open for suggestions.

How does one delete a duplicate post?

Its good you understand my point and you will be ok when you start browse all button on back side of camera. Double press on Shutter speed & Aperture button will take camera in Auto mode, yes it is possible you can put Auto in manual control too! Just set shutter speed and aperture accordingly, you can see in LCD screen, the changes, see whether picture gets good exposer or not it should not be over expose, for example guy is wearing plain white shirt with some design, strips or anything, it must be clearly visible! Then you let open both buttons if you want your cam to see more light accordingly, you can then put it on, and by holding about three or four second it will be go on lock mode, display will change color of words, so you will understand, if you want to unlock press same for twice and it will be come auto. If your picture is showing too darling in LCD preview you should not worry, it will be bright when you see on big TVs, and on CRT it will be perfect, so that is the reason in professional work they use expensive external monitors!

Do not worry you will learning everything by using it! Same happen with me.

See this clip, you will understand why manual is important, I kept open shutter speed and aperture for some time for some scenes.

See this it has nice color with manual and auto settings.

YouTube - Atira After Rain 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGR2HNxp6Dk)

Kaushik

You should not use this camera in Auto control, always use it in Manual controls,

i think that is ONLY true in low light, if you're outside on a sunny day, you really can't go too wrong with auto. Ive shot hundreds of hours of published material from this camera onto youtube (mightcarmods.com) and although we aren't going to motion picture quality awards, it all looks pretty decent.

the beauty of this camera is how FAST it is to work with

i've now got its big brother (hm100) as my main cam but i still love cracking out the HD7 with a light tripod and wide angle, set to auto, forget and just shoot shoot shoot!

If you are enjoying Auto control nothing bad, it is absolute fine. But this camera works wonder in Manual mode. If you would like to share your uploaded videos here, would be great.

By "fast" do you mean fast in being able to take videos without having to do a lot of settings in order to shoot a video?

The past couple days I've been working hard on trying to make my first video using iMovie HD6. I managed to get it all together, complete with titles, and went to burn it to a DVD-R but it wouldn't burn because there was no "Theme".

The Theme "window" only had a couple "blank" little video-looking folders which are apparently empty. The Theme section doesn't have any Theme - but - the computer has a Theme folder that includes several dozen Theme-named sub-folders, each of which has two files.

I spent the whole day on the Internet researching this problem to no avail. Now I have a question posted on the apple iMovieHD web site so hopefully some kind person will help me out of this dilema.

I'm really anxious to start shooting more video! This is a great camera and I know I can have lots of fun with it.

I am using this: HD Video Editing and Movie Making Software ? PowerDirector 8 (http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector/overview_en_US.html)

It is very easy to use, try it, and its support .TOD files too, you can direct drop in timeline!

Kaushik

First, thanks, Kaushik, for the offer to help with using the video editing software. Right now I'd like to try and stay with iMovie HD 6 for a while and see how that works out.

Update: Just made my very first iMovie HD6 DVD and the video more-or-less came out good, from a story line point of view.

Technically, however, it was a bit of a flub. All my video was recorded in FULL HD. The DVD video turned out, shall we say, a bit on the low-resolution end of the spectrum. What I may have done was select the wrong setting for burning - the one which optimizes how much video you can put on a DVD. I'm going to try and repeat the process but using what I think is a different setting for burning.

This is a learning process.

In the last few days I recorded about another 45 minutes of FDV which is really filling up my camera hard drive. Really need to get some of this edited and burned to a DVD or I'm going to run out of room.

Why you are making DVDs? Do you want to store your footage in Full HD version? If you are creating DVDs of your Full HD files then you will only have SD resolution 720x480. I advise you to make AVCHD DVDs or maybe Blue-ray Disk of your videos, it will give you Full HD resolution. Make sure while making SD DVDs you need to make it in HQ mode which will give you 8MB/s selection.

I guess these days you should not go for DVDs, then it is useless to use Full HD cameras. make AVCHD files or DIVX files or maybe Blue-ray disk, all these will give you option for Full HD version.

And one more advise, I bought two 500GB external HDD so I am fine, I have lots of space, you can buy external hard-disk, it is must now days, just my suggestions.

Kaushik

Answer: Yes. I want to store/save the video files in Full HD. I'll have to review the options for saving the video files and find a way to avoid saving them in the format I saved them in last time. Unfortunately, I didn't write down what I did. What ever it was, the result was very disappointing to say the least.

I'm not sure if AVCHD is a format my software, iMovie HD6, will handle - I'll have to research that.

Thanks for the heads up about the different options and the results.

The video recording on the boat last week was basically a failure. I'd rate it somewhere around a "D".

1. The audio wasn't good. I used the Rode stereo mic and it picked up too much undesirable noise from things like the engine, in particular, plus a number of other noises. Should probably have used the Sennheiser ME-66 shotgun to block out the undesirable noise.

2. Too much camera shake due to waves and wakes hitting the boat and causing uneven jerks and movements.

3. Un-level horizon due to the cameraman not keeping the camera level.

Solution: after doing some research, it seems one should get a steady cam. After checking eBay and Amazon plus some other web sites for prices I found a used Glidecam outfit which included a Glidecam 2000 Pro, Arm Brace (or Forearm Brace, they call it by both names), extra weights, and a Manfrotto 701HDV "Rapid Connect Adapter".

The good part about this is the Adapter will work with my tripod so now I won't have to do any messing around when switching from the tripod to the Glidecam. The Arm Brace is handy because it's my understanding that the wrist will become tired after a certain amount of Glidecam use. And last but not least, being a used package I was able to save quite a bit over buying new.

While this is a discontinued model, and it's replacement, the HD 2000, has two nice features: easier plate adjustment and better weight bolting so they don't become loose so easy, this is something I can learn on for much less. We'll see how it goes. For the boat I'd say it is a must-have, but can also be used in a lot of other situations.

On the board here, in the steady cam section, they basically say one will be "learning" to use this thing most of one's life. Well, hopefully the videos will become reasonably acceptable before the end comes!

Answer: Yes. I want to store/save the video files in Full HD. I'll have to review the options for saving the video files and find a way to avoid saving them in the format I saved them in last time. Unfortunately, I didn't write down what I did. What ever it was, the result was very disappointing to say the least.

I'm not sure if AVCHD is a format my software, iMovie HD6, will handle - I'll have to research that.

Thanks for the heads up about the different options and the results.

Well, if you want to just save your RAW files then just drag & drop in your empty DVDs, use 8GB disk and burn it.

If you want to save edited version then you can not save it in Full HD in DVDs. Either you need to save it on AVCHD or Blue-ray.

If your videos are shaky I advise you to put OIS off from your camera. And you can use Image Stabilizer from your software.

You can see I made one comparison on stabilized movie.

YouTube - Video stabilizer test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8vUu-hDwUM)

See this clips in 720p mode, you will see how software can help to reduce shake from the video, it really works!

Kaushik

Go here,

http://www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c/

or do a google search on Steve Mullen.



and purchase Steve Mullen's E-book on the HD7. You will learn amazing things.

I've been using the HD7 for three years now, and find it produces really good images. I has major drawbacks in regard to the way one must control exposure settings while shooting, but that is to be expected when using a camera designed for consumer use. One just has to learn the work-arounds.

I can't say for sure, but I believe this camera was the basis for JVC's small pro camera that was released a year or so ago.

Kaushik, thanks for the list of file saving options. *I think* :)

I say this because the AVCHD isn't one of the options I can use - yet. And, ditto with BluRay. There has to be another way, somehow, but I just haven't come across it yet. I'm definitely going to be using the old version of iMovie, HD 6, which has high definition capability but how to do this with the HD7 is another matter.

Right now I don't see that there are many video movie file options available for my system because of the way it is currently configured.

With regard to saving video raw files, I'll probably have to start doing this in order to free up my camera and computer hard drive space. I've got a couple Passport drives which, same as you, is good for dumping a lot of these massive files on.

That was a good side-by-side video of image stabilization you made. Really good comparison.

Shortly after I got the HD7 there was a problem I had with making a video and in another area I had a post. Steve Mullen posted a reply that was really helpful but didn't "advertise" his "book". While doing some searching on this side I came across a few more posts of his where he did mention his web site and his book and after reading it I'm sure I'll wind up getting it. Thanks, Waldemar, for the Mullen book suggestion.

Currently, however, I just want to get past the "road block de jour" which is saving my iMovie in a high-definition format. Once I do this then I've got a lot of video to edit and burn to a disk which will allow me to start taking more video and exploring all the capabilities of the camer system.

The HD7 has a lot of settings one can adjust to improve the video quality and I'm just starting to learn my way around some of them, including the frequently mentioned OIS on/off. Exposure is another one I've started experimenting with.

I found this original video by JVC, this was recorded by JVC GZ-HD7.

JVC GZ HD7 Demo Video on Vimeo

Kaushik

That was a great video. A really GREAT video!

Lots of good points like good color, depth of field, and obviously done by someone who knows how to shoot video.

Wish I could do something like that.

Oh, the gal and her sax playing..... well, that was good too!

I've got another "little" roadblock. I've misplaced (I think actually lost) my JVC/iMovie binder. :-(
It has EVERYTHING in it. All my notes, printouts, step-by-step instructions, everything. I'm totally bumed out. I've tried retracing my steps and calling people to see if they may have found it but, so far, no binder.

And this one is preloaded in JVC HD7, I found this video in my HD7:

JVC GZ HD7 Demo Video on Vimeo

For 2:20 the video carried a lot of information. Liked the pictures of the camera and the lens system with the receptors. The CU-VD40 Disk Burner caught my attention as it has a lot of RCA inputs and outputs which my VD20 doesn't have. Not sure that I need them, though.

The early part had a boquet of flowers with the gal holding an umbrella and the detail of the flowers was super. Later there were white downe fluffs floating down and they were really white while the other colors looked really true to form.

Went and checked prices for the VD40 and it was a surprise - they can be had used in the $89 range (Amazon). The customer reviews were really bad - average of only two stars! There were a lot of one star ratings. When I read the reviews I found out why - the customers thought it would burn DVDs and they found out it would only archive the HD7 files which can't be read by a regular DVD player. I guess I'd be unhappy too if I was led to believe it would.

Speaking of *.tod files, the JVC engineers did a marvelous job on the camera so why couldn't management have provided for an easier path to go from *.tod to something everybody could use? It's like they put the thing out on the street and abandoned it. I don't get it.

Besides having lost my JVCiMovie binder with all my notes and information, I've now been having problems with my laptop dropping the WiFi connection. Won't it ever end?

This is the second time I wrote something like this because the first one was "lost" in cyber space and never got posted. This time I'm going to at least save what I wrote.

Thanks for the video, Kaushik! It was a great one!

I got the fancy silver one (Jap model) as I prefered the look of it to the black one.

I've jazzed mine up a bit with a Canon WD-H58 Wide angle lens (works great and zoom thru) using a step down lens adapter.

Also added the Audio Technica AT897 shotgun mic with the Rode SM-3 mount.

I tried to add pics as attachements but it will not let me. (Is there some ruling on this?)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/Grassface/_MG_12251.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/Grassface/_MG_12291.jpg

I found this original video by JVC, this was recorded by JVC GZ-HD7.

JVC GZ HD7 Demo Video on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/14787822)

Kaushik

Wow she is gorgeous!

I got the fancy silver one (Jap model) as I prefered the look of it to the black one.

I've jazzed mine up a bit with a Canon WD-H58 Wide angle lens (works great and zoom thru) using a step down lens adapter.

Also added the Audio Technica AT897 shotgun mic with the Rode SM-3 mount.

I tried to add pics as attachements but it will not let me. (Is there some ruling on this?)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/Grassface/_MG_12251.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/Grassface/_MG_12291.jpg

I know in Japan this silver was available. But I bought it from USA and only black was available, but I guess black looks more pro kind, this is my view.

In USA also so many people bought it from eBay, direct from Japan, and that too when it was not launched in USA! And some days back it was available in USA, but only black one.

And yes, that gorgeous woman in also available in your HD7's HDD, if yo have formated your HDD then it will be there. The Demo video was preloaded in each HD7.

See my You Tube channel here:

YouTube - AhmedabadHD's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/AhmedabadHD?feature=mhum)

All videos done with JVC GZ-HD7.

Gan - that's an impressive camera setup. One thing I noticed, besides the Canon lens of course, was the Rode mic mount. One of the problems I have with the shotgun mic mounted on the top of the camera is the end of the mic hits me in the forehead. With your mount being higher I was wondering if you have any problem with this?

If someone would make a right-angle adaptor for the wire connector that would have a stub of an extension then this would really help.

Nice camera pictures.