What Is The Real Deal With This JVC HD Cam??

[Jose Cavazos]

I own a JY-HD10 and HDTVs at 1080i and 720p. The only two problems for this camera are:
- not enough users
- better editing software

Second generation cameras typically are better than first generation. If that is what stops you from buying one, I'm sorry for you. Some people are still waiting to buy the perfect computer. If you want please join their club and correspond using snail mail with them.

[Tommy Haupfear]

Jose, glad to hear you're happy with the JY-HD10.

Don't feel sorry for me, I'm quite happy waiting for a more polished product with hopefully improved color accuracy (3CCD) and better low light performance. A new storage solution would be appreciated but thats probably pushing it.

Old man SD may have one foot in the grave but hes still very much refined and I'll catch up with Junior when comes into his own.

BTW - I don't buy computers, I build them. :)

[Darren Kelly]

There is no question there will be others, I even got a hint from someone at JVC on the next camera.

The only real question you need to address right now is:

1. Can you make money with this camera?

2. Does it provide the quality level you require?

3. Can you afford it.

4. Do you just want it.

If you answer yes to any of these questions, buy it, have a great time with it, make money or don't.

Waiting for the next big thing, well you'd still be waiting to buy your first colour tv, your first computer, your first......

Get the point?

My message here is tooooooooo many people are commenting on this camera like they own the damn thing. I just want to see a discussion and comments from people who own it, rather than those who lust after it.

DBK

[Glenn Gipson]

>>My message here is tooooooooo many people are commenting on this camera like they own the damn thing. I just want to see a discussion and comments from people who own it, rather than those who lust after it.<<

I really hate to get off topic, but this message board is open to people whom are also thinking about buying it. They are entitled to share their thoughts on a product so that others can challenge them, and therefore help them make a better purchasing decision. If you want to read about comments from HD10 owners, then you are more then welcome to start up your own thread strictly for HD10 owners. Heck, I even did it, go check it out.

[Chris Hurd]

By the way, there was a *lot* of really far-off topic stuff in this thread. I've trimmed out the irrelevant material which brings the number of replies from 63 down to 48, and steers things more or less back on course. Hope this helps,

[Paul Mogg]

Re: weddings and the JVC HD-10

Frank posted earlier that he thought this was a good camera for weddings. I own the HD-10 and have used it as a second camera on 2 weddings, one this past weekend. My first camera is an Ikegami DV7-W (Sony 500WS equivalent) I love this little JVC cam for it's cinematic image and wonderful resolution, and if I were making an indie movie this would be my choice of camera if I couldn't afford higher end HD or film. I would choose it over my IKE or an SDX900, or any SD camera, purely for the resolution, which is so important for large screen blowups.
But for weddings, it is not at all an ideal camera. For weddings you need a camera that can operate in very low light conditions, which are often the case at receptions, if not the norm. You often need to add 9db of gain or more in these situations, and the camera must not add so much grain that it ruins the picture.
You also need a camera where you can accurately and quickly dial in focus and aperture and white balance settings. The JVC is not this camera, it has poor manual controls and it requires sufficent light ( but not too much) for it's very picky CCD, and also time to set up the shots, just like a film camera.
It can however be used as a second camera to hold a wide shot at wedding ceremonies, where lighting is normally plentiful, which is all I use it for. I love the picture it gets in panoramic scenes, which being HD, do not fall apart on blowup as SD DV does. Basically I do not think it is a good run-and-gun or ENG camera, but a great, if not revolutionary, indie film camera that people should embrace for artisic purposes where they have the luxury of time to set up good filming conditions for it.

Just my opinion based on my experiences so far.

[Frank Granovski]

I realize one needs a cam good with lower light, for weddings in general, such as a VX2000/PD150, XL1s or a GL2, etc; it was just a shot in the dark. :)

I was thinking more on the lines of outdoor weddings. Again, this was only a suggestion.

[Peter Moore]

"1. Can you make money with this camera?"

How can anybody make money off of it right now? There is no viable HD-DVD yet. It cannot be used for 24p film transfers. Downconversion for SD DVD looks no better than lower priced 3 CCD cameras. By just about any measure it's a loser when it comes to value.

[Ken Hodson]

"Downconversion for SD DVD looks no better than lower priced 3 CCD cameras"
Wrong.

[David Newman]

<<<-- Originally posted by Peter Moore : "Downconversion for SD DVD looks no better than lower priced 3 CCD cameras" -->>>

<<<-- Originally posted by Ken Hodson : "Wrong." -->>>

I agree with Ken. The down converted DVD from HD looks better than from any native SD source. Here the resolution acts as oversampling way above that of any DV competitor (3CCD or not.) The resulting anamorphic progressive scanned DVD also holds up very well when scaled back up to an HD display with a progressive-scan DVD player. Yes it is poor-mans HD-DVD, but you can do that today (plus add HD WM9 tracks for PC users.) I have tested this will booth GR-HD1 and the JY-HD10.

An additional advantage of the resolution oversampling (for DVD production), is you can now crop, pan, zoom and rotate your HD source without any loss in definition in the target DVD output. This can't be done using any DV camera -- certainly interlaced sources kills any sizing, but even progressive sources get soft as there is no oversampling. I have also done this on a demo reel DVD, with zooms up to 180% without any perceived quality drop. Basically like doing camera motions in post.

A professional can make good money today using this camera.

[Chris Hurd]

Agree with the above; I've seen the output from this thing downconverted to standard def and it looks absolutely stunning; right on par with any current 3-CCD camcorder. Now if only it had full manual control...

[John Eriksson]

** OK, this is the camera for me. **
First off: The great hi res moving images. And I do like the pan&scan zoom and post camera moves that I am going to be able to do without quality loss!

And second: I may get the SD mode to preform full slowmotion shots (shooting at double speed) with this cam too!!!!
How??
SEE THIS POST: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13870


+ It is more filmlike picture quality than SD DV!

YES! Thats all an poor prosumer filmmaker like me needs!

By the way David:
Do you have some footage from your demo reel that maybe you could put out on the web so we could see it? I would sure like to see the 180% zoomed pan&scans!!

[David Newman]

John,

remind me for that demo in 8 days. I'm on a holiday until next Wednesday.

[John Eriksson]

ok, I will!

[Raymond Krystof]

Kevin,

Although a slightly dated input, I thought I’d offer my 2cents since I believe your interest in the camera is similar to mine. I am a consumer/hobbyist who was interested in shooting HD for display on my personal HD display. To start with I’ll quote a post I made on this forum shortly after I first hooked up my HD10 to my HD projector.

“Holy..$@#%*. I do believe what I’m seeing actually exceeds my expectations. The picture from the HD10 on that 94-inch wide screen comes very close to the best HD cable feed I get and is actually better than some signals that are compromised with interference etc. I think the image could be projected considerably larger and still be very pleasing.”

“I ended up purchasing the HD10 while in the market for something better than my previous DV instamatic (JVC GR-DVP3). That camera is a pocket DV with a 680K pixel CCD and a small lens. Although I love the camera because of it’s pocket size, it certainly doesn’t have the resolution to stand up to a large projection screen. I was originally in the market for a quality 3CCD camera to supplement the pocket cam, but decided on the HD10 instead. Absolutely glade I did. I’m not looking back on my decision to go HD. In fact, I’m looking forward to getting far more serious in shooting and editing video as a hobby and, well… who knows. I do thank all of you who have contributed on this forum. Much of what I learned probably eased some potential early frustrations. I look forward to reading and posting more in the future.”

That post was on August 10th and I haven’t changed my mind since. I purchased the HD10 for personal use with my HDTV projector. I was disappointed at how my previous DV, HI8 and SVHS material looked on a large (94-inch) screen. I truly believe that this is the market that JVC is after. Just view their consumer web site and I think most people will agree. The bottom line for me is that I’ve chosen to be an early adopter because I’m capturing in HD now. I realize that editing, etc is in a “catch-up” mode, but I’m capturing in HD now. I can work out the rest as things develop. I find it exciting that so many professionals are using or considering using these cameras. I suspect their philosophy is much like mine. Dispite all the noted deficiencies of features generally required by professionals at least they can start capturing in HD now.