Well guys if anyone out there has been waiting for a truly "tapeless" solution to high def videos- JVC has the answer by April 07-
(the kicker is it uses native FULL HD res and has a progressive sensor!!)

http://www.jvc.com/press/index.jsp?item=544&pageID

but, unfortunately, it isn't capturing at full HD res (it only saves in full HD res)...

" Each of the three CCDs measures 1/5" with a gross pixel count of only 570K (1016 x 558). "

Is that sensor size? Because the HVX's sensor size is 960x540 and uses, I believe, pixel shift, to go to 720p and 1080i cleanly.

Heath

from the article...

"This translates to an effective pixel count of approximately 530K (976 x 548)."

while it may do it cleanly, it's still doubling (shifting, whatever) and not as high res as a native HD sensor (lower res than the canon XL/XH, for example). but, this probably accounts for the "low" price

Interesting. I'd like to see this camera. Canon's http://hdvinfo.net/articles/canon/hv10overview.php HV10 apparently has a true 1920x1080 CMOS sensor! That would make it the largest sensor in the sub-$10,000 HD camera line-up.

hwm

Did you guys notice it shoots to a modified mpeg-2 stream with a higher data rate than HDV! This camera is exactly what I've been looking for- of course JVC pioneers these things then Canon & Panasonic eclipse it with their versions......I'll get one the minute it's in stock........goodbye bulky Firestore FS4 HD and Canon XH-A1!

(Of course when Canon or Panasonic brings out their versions- I'll switch~LOL)

<Let's hope there are no issues with highlight clipping which seems to be a JVC issue with all their cams- to a degree>

yes, I agree - the canon hv10, writing to full HD res would be pretty nice... :-)

Did you guys notice it shoots to a modified mpeg-2 stream with a higher data rate than HDV! This camera is exactly what I've been looking for- of course JVC pioneers these things then Canon & Panasonic eclipse it with their versions......I'll get one the minute it's in stock........goodbye bulky Firestore FS4 HD and Canon XH-A1!

(Of course when Canon or Panasonic brings out their versions- I'll switch~LOL)

it's 'only' 5mbps more (30mpbs vs 25mbps) - I wonder if they had to bump the rate up due to the the extra resolution it's writing to (1920x1080 vs 1440x1080 for HDV) versus getting better motion from it...

I'm wondering if it shoots to m2t files or m2v for demuxing.....it's also slated for use with a BluRay buner for video archival- interesting setup JVC is going to put out- can't wait to see what it shoots like!

(The lens is supposedly of specs from their broadcast div)

Some high res shots of it are here...

http://www.jvc.com/Resources/DocumentImages/00/00/04/62.JPG

http://www.jvc.com/Resources/DocumentImages/00/00/04/63.JPG
I wonder if a "mic-in jack" will be present?

This already kicks the HD1/10's butt, so I'm kind of excited about it. Good behind-the-scenes camera, or a good primary camera.

heath

Can anyone find the price point?

$1799 Msrp

Probably street lower, and over time, much lower. The HD1 still has an MSRP of $3100 or so, but you can pick one up for half that or so.

hwm

The HC1 finally gets a worthy replacement even though it’s from a different company. We still have yet to see other camcorders such as from Sony and Panasonic.

Paulo,

I'm guessing the AVCHD cameras will be it, though I wonder if there will be a new HDV Sony consumer camera. This thread talks about the disappearance of the HC3 at www.sonystyle.com, which Paulo pointed out that CES may have something:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=83024

heath

Heath, let's hope no clipping problems.....I don't think it'll do 720p30- although 720p30 seems to be left behind with all the current 1080 cams coming out. I haven't been so excited about a cam since the XH A1!

This could be a great POV and backup cam for event work. There are a few important questions. What is the recording format? If AVCHD, does it include software to allow that to be editing with HDV material in an application like Vegas? Also important - does it have an external microphone jack? Sony nixed this on its C3 and Canon nixed it on their HV10.

Mark- I believe I read somewhere JVC is not part of the consortium that supports cams that use the AVCHD format- so I'm pretty sure it wont shoot to that format.

"and an HDV Compatible mode with a resolution of 1440 x 1080i"

So it doesn't really matter what other formats it can record in as you can always use this mode and import into any NLE that suppors native HDV.

What concerns me the most with this camera is:

Sensitivity (1/5" gona suk)
Mic in ability
Battery life (always a concern with JVC)
Manual control abilities
10x zoom isn't the greatest (& how wide is 3.3mm on a 1/5" 16:9 sensor)?

"Because the pixel-shift system uses progressive scan CCDs, signals are processed first as 1920 x 1080p progressive signals, then converted to 1920 x 1080i interlace signals for recording."

Does this mean that it is actually recording 1920x1080P? and just using an interlaced recording format to put it to disk (where two interlaced field can be used to form a single progressive frame).
I wonder if there will be a Pro version of this to come at NAB 2007?

Guy Barwood,

In that press release, it mentions this:

“JVC’s newly developed Gigabrid engine improves picture quality throughout the line-up by integrating various noise reduction technologies to increase the signal-to-noise ratio by about 30 percent (3dB) over previous models. All 2007 Everio models feature shooting sensitivity equal to or better than previous models. CCD image sensors in the line-up range from 680k pixels to 5.37megapixels, tailored for various shooting needs.”

They still should have tried making the CCDs a little bit bigger considering the Panasonic SD1 has ¼” CCDs.

Not to mention that JVC cameras are notoriously noisy in gain so this improvement 'may' get them at least closer to a level playing field with the likes of Sony. It certainly won't put them ahead though.

If at the very least it eclipses the performance of the HD1/HD10U series- they'd be on the right track, 1/5" sensors are indeed small!

Once again, we can't get the best of both the worlds of 1920x1080 CCD/CMOS chips and the world of square pixel 1920x1080 recording...

Hopefully later on this year a camera will come out in the under $10,000 range that provides all that AND a mic in.

No one knows if this cam has "mic in" yet- but the original high end Everio MC500 3CCD camera did NOT have a mic in yet the newer revised 505 DOES- and it is a VERY similar form factor to this HD version- so we might be all surprised to find this HD version does have a mic in (surprised if it didn't).....we'll have to wait and see.

(If anyone here is going to the CES show- might you look into this apect??)

While this looks like it will be a great little cam, even sensitivity might not be 'too' bad with a not too high pixel count CCD using offset for resolution and improved gain performance I am hoping this is showing the possibility of something like a Pro version of this at NAB which is only 3 months away.

I have to admit though I should not hold my breath, its not like JVC really have any other Pro version of a consumer cam. Pro & consumer don't seem to interact at all at JVC. The 10U and 1U both came from the Pro department didn't they? The Pro department have been pretty busy as well with the HD200 and HD250.

One can live in hope though.

Guy- if I recall correctly- the HD10U was considered a "pro" model and handled via JVC's "pro" division as where the HD1U was considered a consumer camcorder and handled by the "consumer" division....I'd check with the forum dedicated to them- but I think they were different dept cams!

(I have owned both and still have a HD1U)

Agreed that was the way they were marketed and maybe even distributed but I seriously doubt the consumer devision developed the 1U.

I'd rather see the Pro department make a consumer version of a Pro camera (like I think happened with the 10U/1U) than the consumer department try to make a "Pro" version of one of their models.

Its all speculation of course.

Mic input confirmed.

http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/11950/jvc_gzhd7_camcorder/

Should be a nice little camera. Hopefully the picture quality is up to snuff. Sounds like they're being fairly conscious of the avg. consumer and throwing in a complete software editing solution with the package. Not that a video camera manufacturer would ever sell you a camera with an uneditable video format heh.

would be nice:)

April 2007 for $1,799.95 RRP

Seeing as to this cameras progressive scan CCD's- it'd be awesome if it offered some sort of "frame" mode or "progressive" mode......I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this one!!

Latest word is that this JVC will NOT have an "HDV" rec type format- this leaves us with NO native video type to use in our NLE's!!!!

I recall Chris Hurd saying HDV was developed as a "Tape" only format and I was indeed surprised JVC was able to encode on the fly to that format on the internal HD- I guess now we know this JVC can't do this ( I was hoping it would.)

So this sorta leaves us with raw video likely in M2T format that will have to be recoded to a NLE native format- meaning allot of time spent in conversions. This is the same scenario the Everio camcorders currently available leave us with as they record to a .mod file format which is a muxed mpeg2 stream with Dolby 5.1 audio. Mpegstreamclip is the encoder of choice for Mac users- I'm sure JVC will include a Windows solution.

This is a big thumbs down for ease of use as the files wont be able to be used right off the internal HD.

I'm still interested in the camcorder as it's the only 60GB HD HiDef camera and I'd rather convert video files than shoot to tape and capture etc.

If you guys learn anything new, please post your findings.

I figured when they said it was going to a drive or memory stick, or whatever. HDV/.m2t MUST be on minidv tape to be called HDV. Not to say you can't record it onto a drive, but then it technically isn't HDV.

heath

Whats wrong with M2T?

HDV is a tape only format so the camera, without a tape drive can not claim to be HDV but it can still record to disk a stream of video with the same codec specs as HDV records to tape. This is the same as you would get if you capture to your NLE without an intermediate codec.

Liquid imports M2T without the need for any conversions.

If this is indeed the case- this is great news as a native type video is necessary to make NLE editing possible w/o re-encoding.

Here's a video showcasing it by a JVC rep

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1586994789220018918&q=jvc+hd7

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/ces2007/jvc-hd-everio-handson-with-true-consumer-hd-227549.php

HDV is great; we shot my newest feature film on HDV, with the Z1u.

heath

Paulo- good find!!!!

These next few months are gonna go real slowwwwwww.

Steve Nunez,
At least you showed us a video of the unit. All we need now is the impress.watch site to get a hold of one and post video clips. In the bright side, since this is Mpeg2, anybody without a powerful computer will be able to view the footage naturally unlike AVCHD.

Looks very good, and very compact. It actually reminds me of a Fujinon lens before it gets attached to a camera body. Nice form factor. The Gizmodo guy did sound a bit biased at first, but he straightened out towards the end and gave some fair descriptions. If this baby shoots as well as my Z1U with better color fidelity than standard HDV, a 5-hour runtime before dumping the HDD, and a simple means of getting it into FCP, well...

Don't get me wrong but there are still some issues to consider:

Battery life: Typically for JVC, battery life sux. 80min with the largest battery.

Don't forget the resolution is somewhat faked. Much of it comes from pixel offset, not a native 1920x1080 block, or even a 1280x720 block.it is a 1016x558 block with 976x548 effective pixels. This block isn't much more than a 16:9 SD (PAL) block using pixel offset to up the res (actually a PAL SD block has 576 vs this unit 548).

Other cameras that use pixel offset, such as the Panasonic HVX200 have shown to be softer in 1080 mode than the HD100 with its native 1280x720 CCD block.

Size: You couldn't use this camera for anything but consumer users, or semi-pro second camera (in a wedding for example), or as a POV. I understand it is all it is really designed for so that is fine, but its no HD replacement to the GY-DV300.

True- the native res isn't as high as one would hope for in a HD cam- but, considering it's reputable broadcast quality Fujinon lens- the pixel shifting might work out to be fine in the end (assuming it's native video is good to begin with.)

Small web samples simply wont do unless they're at 1440 or better- it's gonna be a long wait!

For my use this camera is perfect- let's hope JVC doesn't let us down with sub-par video performance.

(JVC if you're listening- provide som Mac software for once with these cams!)

This thing is meant to have a progressive block right? Yet there is no mention of it supporting 720p. At least with a decent 720p it could be a great cheapish little POV or second unit to match a much bigger brother 100/200 series.

Anyone knows what battery type it uses? If it is compatible with the 428 or 438 then you could possibly even use the AB/V-Mount adaptor for the HD100 on it for ample power. I have quite a bit of JVC batteries and adaptors for their higher end JVC mount, it would be a shame to not to be able to recycle it on such a unit as well. 80 min from the biggest battery (ie the 438) tells me it either using a smaller consumer JVC battery or is one hell of a power hog.

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=26080

Hi


I've read somewere that it would record 1080p and 720p, but would output 1080i (over wires). If you were to trasnfer the files to you system it would be what ever you set the cam to (1080p or 720p) I got this info from a Japanies site. don't hold me to it. I guess we want have any true info until the paper works shows up on the website at JVC. I can't wait, I'm getting one ! How about you ?


Len

Um, that's news to me. JVC is 720p, and when I think of JVC HDV, I think of 720p.

heath

Hi

I really like the 720p, I hope it will do both, only time will tell.
If the system on the cam is like the MC500,555 or the 505 it should have some nice controls. I have the 505 3ccd and the GR-HD1 cant wait..
the 505 controls smoke the GR-HD1 controls. ma.. and auto mode. very nice system..



Len

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/JVC-GZ-HD7-First-Impressions-Review.htm

"With tantalizing options such as 1080i and 720p recording modes, a 60GB HDD, full manual control over many image controls, a manual focus ring, and a microphone jack..."

So, it DOES 720p? 720p/what? 24? 25? 30?

How about a headphones jack?

HOW DO YOU CONTROL THE EXPOSURE??? Can you use the ring for that or do you have to go in the menu?

Grrr! A lot of questions...

Thanasis

I had to modify this post as I have learned this camera will indeed have a 720p mode- this thing is just looking better all the time- I hope they can keep the price point as promised (or lower.)

<And it seems they WILL be including some sort of software for Intel Mac users!!!)

This has got to be the sleeper hit of early 2007!!!!

I predict tons of "used" hd cams on the classifieds when this thing comes out.