More questions (tech)

[Heath McKnight]

Okay, I didn't see this at JVC's site, but:

Can you manually control the white balance? Focus? Iris/f-stop? Audio? Stupid questions, I know, but the non-manual audio kept a lot of my friends from buying the original GL-1. If I think of any other questions, I'll put them up.

heath

[Steve Mullen]

<<<-- Originally posted by Heath McKnight : Okay, I didn't see this at JVC's site, but:

Can you manually control the white balance? Focus? Iris/f-stop? Audio? Stupid questions, I know, but the non-manual audio kept a lot of my friends from buying the original GL-1. If I think of any other questions, I'll put them up.

heath -->>>

If ANY camera has a good limiter (not AGC) AND you match mic sensitivity to camera sensitivity -- there is, with 16-bit digital audio, NO need to adjust gain.

The limiter keeps the peak level below digital clipping (0dB) while the 16-bit dynamic range handles the entire range of the mic.

[Don Berube]

Hello Heath,

I spent a few lunchbreaks trying out the JVC HD10 last week at the InfoComm Expo in Orlando. I was impressed by the improvements made over the HD1 (based on my last try-out with the HD1 a few months ago at the Camera Company Expo in Boston). Here are some answers to some of your questions, based on my experiences last week and also according to JVC.

It was a pleasure to see Ken Freed at the show! Ken is one very knowledgable and helpful person.

>>> Can you manually control the white balance?

- I believe so. You get one manual white balance preset as far as I can tell.

>>> Focus?

- Yes. If you are monitoring the signal with an external HDTV monitor (via the MPEG-2 encoded output passed through a D-VHS deck and into an HD monitor), there will be approximately a 12-frame delay in the image. This makes "real-time" focusing a bit difficult, as you will most always be "missing a beat" if you will, due to the delay. If you rely on this output, any focus move that you attempt will always be 12 frames behind, making focusing errors quite possible. JVC reccommends that you use the Auto-focus (which seemed quite good) or use the Analog output (Composite or S-VHS). The way to get a real-time image is via the Analog Output or by using the internal LCD panel or color viewfinder.

>>> Iris/f-stop?

- Yes, well, sort of... You CAN control the exposure level via a thumbwheel control. You do not get the standard iris/ aperture control with f-stops that we are all used to with professional-level cameras. Instead, you get an indicator which reads from -10 to +10 in single step increments, much like a consumer camera such as an Optura. That is, the exposure values available are: -10, -9, -8, -7, -6, -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6, +7, +8, +9, +10... Basically, it works... You will just have to get used to "a slightly different way of exposing" with this camera. The process to make a change in exposure level is as follows: change the exposure in single-step increments with the Exposure Wheel until you achieve the desired level, Press and Hold the Exposure Wheel for five (5) seconds to Lock the exposure at that value. The exposure level will now be locked at that value untuil you repeat this process.

NOTE: I noticed a significant improvement in image quality with the HD10 over the HD1 I tried a few months ago. One very interesting feature is that the 10X lens on this camera maintains almost a perfect f1.8 throughout the entire zoom range,,, at full TELE it is an f1.9 - very impressive! That helps considerably when you are using this camera in lower lighting level situations. When you use the manual zoom ring on the lens (versus the zoom rocker switch), you are limited to only the optical 10X zoom range and not the digital zoom - which is fine by me as I do not use digital zoom on any camera.

IMAGE SETUP CONTROL:

(ie: Color Gain, Phase, Sharpness, Detail, Gamma, Setup level, etc...)

There is none. That is, there is no image setup control offered on this camera. You more or less get one look. Think of this camera as a lens, recorder and on/off switch (no image setup control to speak of). Overall, I would prefer to see some form of image setup control in the HD10 - even if it raised the cost of the camera - it would be worth it. The reality is that the image looks significantly better than the HD1 and I feel that people who have a need for low-cost HD acquisition *in the here and now* and cannot wait until next years offerings, then this is a very tangible solution. * * * Hey, if you have a need to shoot 720P right now and cannot afford to use the higher end Panasonic Varicam or Sony Cine-Alta systems or cannot wait until another camera manufacturer offers a different solution, then this camera is the only other alternative as of right now... a viable one at that if used properly.

GAIN CONTROL:

There is no typical Gain Control such as +6, +12, etc that we are used to. You DO get an Auto Gain Control which will adjust the gain level up to +6db as it sees fit in Auto Mode. Again, no *manual* Gain Control. Oh well, that's just the way it is... Plan on using lighting with this camera... No biggie for those that know that lighting is key to any image.

EXTERNAL ZOOM/ FOCUS CONTROL:

None as of yet (as far as I know) but I am sure that *if* external zoom/ focus control is technically possible, then surely VariZoom will have something to offer for this camera.

Steve and Heath, what monitor did you end up going with? I'm thinking of one of the 14" SONY HD production monitors. Guess I will have to get one of the JVC D-VHS decks too.

Ken, thank you for your time and input. I'm curious as to what JVC HD monitor you would reccomend, if any, in the $3000-or-under price point?

Any ideas?

- don

[Heath McKnight]

Thanks, Don! I think you are one of the firsts to post a solid semi-review!

And it looks like we were all right--the HD10 would have a better picture than the HD1!

heath

THANKS THANKS THANKS!

<<<-- Originally posted by Don Berube : Hello Heath,

I spent a few lunchbreaks trying out the JVC HD10 last week at the InfoComm Expo in Orlando. I was impressed by the improvements made over the HD1 (based on my last try-out with the HD1 a few months ago at the Camera Company Expo in Boston). Here are some answers to some of your questions, based on my experiences last week and also according to JVC.

It was a pleasure to see Ken Freed at the show! Ken is one very knowledgable and helpful person.

>>> Can you manually control the white balance?

- I believe so. You get one manual white balance preset as far as I can tell.

>>> Focus?

- Yes. If you are monitoring the signal with an external HDTV monitor (via the MPEG-2 encoded output passed through a D-VHS deck and into an HD monitor), there will be approximately a 12-frame delay in the image. This makes "real-time" focusing a bit difficult, as you will most always be "missing a beat" if you will, due to the delay. If you rely on this output, any focus move that you attempt will always be 12 frames behind, making focusing errors quite possible. JVC reccommends that you use the Auto-focus (which seemed quite good) or use the Analog output (Composite or S-VHS). The way to get a real-time image is via the Analog Output or by using the internal LCD panel or color viewfinder.

>>> Iris/f-stop?

- Yes, well, sort of... You CAN control the exposure level via a thumbwheel control. You do not get the standard iris/ aperture control with f-stops that we are all used to with professional-level cameras. Instead, you get an indicator which reads from -10 to +10 in single step increments, much like a consumer camera such as an Optura. That is, the exposure values available are: -10, -9, -8, -7, -6, -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6, +7, +8, +9, +10... Basically, it works... You will just have to get used to "a slightly different way of exposing" with this camera. The process to make a change in exposure level is as follows: change the exposure in single-step increments with the Exposure Wheel until you achieve the desired level, Press and Hold the Exposure Wheel for five (5) seconds to Lock the exposure at that value. The exposure level will now be locked at that value untuil you repeat this process.

NOTE: I noticed a significant improvement in image quality with the HD10 over the HD1 I tried a few months ago. One very interesting feature is that the 10X lens on this camera maintains almost a perfect f1.8 throughout the entire zoom range,,, at full TELE it is an f1.9 - very impressive! That helps considerably when you are using this camera in lower lighting level situations. When you use the manual zoom ring on the lens (versus the zoom rocker switch), you are limited to only the optical 10X zoom range and not the digital zoom - which is fine by me as I do not use digital zoom on any camera.

IMAGE SETUP CONTROL:

(ie: Color Gain, Phase, Sharpness, Detail, Gamma, Setup level, etc...)

There is none. That is, there is no image setup control offered on this camera. You more or less get one look. Think of this camera as a lens, recorder and on/off switch (no image setup control to speak of). Overall, I would prefer to see some form of image setup control in the HD10 - even if it raised the cost of the camera - it would be worth it. The reality is that the image looks significantly better than the HD1 and I feel that people who have a need for low-cost HD acquisition *in the here and now* and cannot wait until next years offerings, then this is a very tangible solution. * * * Hey, if you have a need to shoot 720P right now and cannot afford to use the higher end Panasonic Varicam or Sony Cine-Alta systems or cannot wait until another camera manufacturer offers a different solution, then this camera is the only other alternative as of right now... a viable one at that if used properly.

GAIN CONTROL:

There is no typical Gain Control such as +6, +12, etc that we are used to. You DO get an Auto Gain Control which will adjust the gain level up to +6db as it sees fit in Auto Mode. Again, no *manual* Gain Control. Oh well, that's just the way it is... Plan on using lighting with this camera... No biggie for those that know that lighting is key to any image.

EXTERNAL ZOOM/ FOCUS CONTROL:

None as of yet (as far as I know) but I am sure that *if* external zoom/ focus control is technically possible, then surely VariZoom will have something to offer for this camera.

Steve and Heath, what monitor did you end up going with? I'm thinking of one of the 14" SONY HD production monitors. Guess I will have to get one of the JVC D-VHS decks too.

Ken, thank you for your time and input. I'm curious as to what JVC HD monitor you would reccomend, if any, in the $3000-or-under price point?

Any ideas?

- don -->>>

[Steve Mullen]

<<<-- Originally posted by Don Berube -->>>

Thanks Don!

I'm not unhappy about the lack of image adjustments for 2 reasons: although I sell my DVX100 Tutorial because folks need to learn how to this -- today with real-time color corrections I'd rather do it in post.

And, though I love available light shooting, 99% of the pros use lighting (as they must with the DVX100 in progressive mode) so as you say nothing unusual here.

I too found video AGC worked great -- with no additional noise.

I have a Sony 16:9 projector. I'll be reviewing 16:9 HD projector that matches the HD10 rez. It's only $1,500 so it matches the camcorder well. If I could afford it, a Panasonic 300 projector would be great.