Various posts concerning GR-HD1U and JY-HD10U

[Christopher C. Murphy]

Here are my recommendations:

Tripods?
Bogen, but looking for better one. recommendations?

Preferred Tape Stock?
Panasonic (Sony gums up)

Extra Batteries?
recommendations?

Lenses and Filters?
Tiffen 52mm "clear filter", 52mm SR "polarizer" - need more recommendations?

Shotgun Mic and boom poles?
looking to get M66?? recommendations?

Wireless Mics (lavs, handheld)?
Azden (the cheap ones, but looking to upgrade? recommendations?)

Audio capturing devices?
ProTools with MBOX on a Powerbook

Travel Cases?
recommendations?

Cleaning Materials for Lenses?
recommendations?

Matte Boxes?
recommendations?

Video Editing Software preferred (both PC and Mac solutions)?
FCP4 with latest solution posted on this forum - search for it.

Audio Editing Software preferred? (PC and Mac)?
ProTools 6.2 on Mac (Windows, I think CoolEdit is cool. It's now called Audition from Adobe)

Lighting Kits (or specific lights used)?
Home Depot (homemade) with Gels etc.

Stedicam or similar products?
recommendations??

Extreme conditions products (like underwater gear)?
recommendations?

Video and Audio Cables preferred?
Audio cables are Monster, the best I can afford...video are mid-range professional.

Memory sticks?
recommendations?

Misc and "must have" gear?
My opinion is to make sure you buy the best audio equipment possible...it's all about good audio!

[Dustin Cross]

<<<-- Originally posted by Christopher C. Murphy : Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Tripods?
I really like my Vinten Vision 3. I have tried others in the same $1500 price range, but they didn't compare

Preferred Tape Stock?
I have been using Panasonic Pro tapes (M-DV60PRO) but I have heard that Panasonic MQ tapes are the best and once I finish off the 30 JVC tapes I have left I will switch. B&H has good prices on both.

Extra Batteries?
This place makes a mount for using matte box with the camera, but also a power supply that uses standard 4 pin XLR power input, so you can use a battery belt. http://www.digitalproduction.info/hd10uMatteBox.htm

Lenses and Filters?
ND FIlters! ND Filters! ND FIlters!I am also thinking about playing with some anamorphic adapters on the HD10U to get a 2.35:1 image. I have seen awebsite where a guy talked about doing this with standard DV and the images looked good. Sounded like a 16:9 anamorphic adatper on top of a 16:9 image gave you basically a 2.35:1 image. The big problem then become how best to project it since 30p to film is questionable and 2.35:1 on an SD TV isn't the best.

Shotgun Mic and boom poles?
I have been very happy with my Azden SMG-2X shotgun. I have a paintbrush holder that I have screwed my Azden shockmount to and then attach that to a 16' painters pole for a boom. $30 for a 16' boom isn't bad. My sound guy says it is too heavy, but it works.

Wireless Mics (lavs, handheld)?
I am still looking here. Got a set of AudioTechna lavs from B&H, but I didn't like the sound, so I returned them.

Preferred Audio capturing equipement (like a DAT, ProTools etc.)?
I just capture to the camera. Is it not good to capture to the HD10U? Does the MPEG mess up the audio?

Travel Cases?
Good question?

Cleaning Materials for Lenses?
Do people use somehting other than basic still camera cleaning supplies?

Matte Boxes?
I have a CAvision mattebox and follow focus and it is pretty nice. Much less $ than other options. I am looking at getting the HD10U adapter from CAvision or the HD10U universal mount from http://www.digitalproduction.info/hd10uMatteBox.htm. The universal mount also have a wireless video feed, which I think will speed up set-ups. I always use a monitor.

Video Editing Software preferred (both PC and Mac solutions)?
I am using Vegas to convert t2s files to quicktime.

Audio Editing Software preferred? (both PC and Mac)?
Good question?

Lighting Kits (or specific lights used)?
I have a Lowel DP Remote light kit with 3 1K tungsten lights. I have 500 watt bulds also. I need to get a couple soft chimera (sp?) style lights.

Stedicam or similar products?
I am looking for something like this!

Extreme conditions products (like underwater gear)?
Interesting. Underwater housing would be cool!

Video and Audio Cables preferred?
Good Question?

Memory sticks?
Good Question?

Misc and "must have" gear?
I only shoot indie films, so a field mixer is a requirment for me. I had an Azden FMX-2 and wasn't happy with it. I now have a Sound Devices 302 and it is awesome. The Shure mixers are realy good too. A good field monitor is also a must have. Right now I only use a portable TV, but I need to get a real field monitor.

[Louis Grimaldo]

I just caught the last 15 minutes of the Alan Cumming show on the Oxygen channel. There is an interview Alan Cumming is conducting with Liv Tyler at an amusement park where the highlights were blown and there were times when you could see the exposure changing to compensate for the change in lighting. And although there was a problem with the lighting some of the video looked very filmlike. I could have sworn I saw a glimpse of the HD10u during the interview but i am not sure.

[Heath McKnight]

On quick glance, esp. when it's seen from the front view, it looks like a lot of cameras!

heath

[Gordon Lupien Jr.]

I received my HD1 yesterday and just started using it.

I couldn't get myself to spend the extra $1,000 on the HD10 and I thought having a "free" 30000U would be nice too. THe differences I have read about don't exactly add up to $1000 more for the HD1... Maybe I'm mistaken... The edge enhancement on the HD1 is quite noticeable, especially when projecting the image on a very large screen.

I noticed that the edge enhancement seems to be more pronounced when the exposure is not properly set (too low), and/or when the lighting is too dim. I imagine that this results from the shadows going black, causing a harsher transition to enhance?

I read a long thread on exposure control, but it covered a mix of HD1 and HD10 information. There was no indication to which camera the posts referred to. I'm currently at the point where I believe you can lock in an exposure offset with the exposure setting (dial, click thingy?) and then either select aperature (iris) or shutter priority.

If I lock exposure offset and then use the S/A button, does the exposure lock unlock? It looks to me like you want to select the exposure offset first and lock it, then go into S/A and set your shutter speed and let the aperature (iris) compensate. Sucks for depth of field control, but allowing the shutter speed to change is far more noticeable (at least to me). Especially when it transitions from 60 fps to 30 fps. I need to experiment more, obviously.

Can anyone provide their input for exposure control on the HD1 ONLY? (or at least, make a note that you're talking about the HD10).

There isn't just a lack of latitude... I'd call it no latitude! It looks like you either have to have your lighting and exposure set just perfect, or you will get all kinds of color noise and super edge enhancement. I noticed the noise on reds especially.


The LCD may indeed be useful because it shows artificial false colors when the exposure is too high or too low. It seems like you need to watch for over exposure at the same time you try and get the colors in the LCD to look right and then you end up with some good footage.

Anyone have a method for checking HD1 exposure they can describe?

Some comments: The camera is not that bad to use. I read some horror stories on other forums. There are some really bad ergonomic issues though. Those dials (like the menu and exposure dials) are TERRIBLE. You keep on entering the menu when trying to adjust shutter speed or F-stop. The selector/record knob/switch is also not too cool. I can switch modes on my TRV900 with my thumb. Can't do this on this camera without a whole lot of trouble. I imagine it gets easier... I've also almost dropped it a few times by grabbing the "handle" incorrectly.

Overall, I'm excited about it. The ergonomics can be dealt with, and the video quality (even with the obvious edge enhancement) is WORLDS better than standard DV from my TRV900. The video takes some getting used to as it is so much sharper. Maybe this is the EE problem...

As others have stated, you have to get your lighting (or exposure settings) just right, or forget it. If you're not lit enough, your color goes to heck in a handbasket, as does the sharpness. The image becomes a bunch of fake grey and white edges.

Thanks for this EXCELLENT forum!!! I was prepared to accept what I received and I received what I expected.

- GLupien

[Heath McKnight]

Thanks, Gordon, glad you're here.

heath

[Josef Crow]

probably a stupid question, but...

what's the frame rate of the HD10u if i choose the aperature instead of holding the frame rate to 30fps. Seems the video stutters more - does it go as low as 15fps?

And if 30fps is the lowest frame rate, would i end up with 30fps by default when importing into Aspect? (which seems only to work with 30fps)

thanks

[Louis Grimaldo]

Well I received my HD10u from B&H. I read the manual first and I am sure I am not the first one to be confused by the whole issue of whether to use the exposure wheel or to use the manual shutter speed or manual iris. I owned a Sony VX2000 which was a breeze to use and could almost pull it out of the box and get some nice images. Locking the shutter speed means you let the Iris do it's own thing and i didn't like the way the exposure changes as the light changes. The way I am using the camera is to shuttle back and forth between the shutter speed and the iris exposure until i get 1/60 and F4 or f6. I then quit Shutter/aperture and go to the exposure wheel and press the wheel until the "L" appears and lock the image. i then point the camera at a dark source and then a light source to make sure the exposure is not changing on me which it doesn't. What i don't know is the camera locking at 1/60 and f4? Could someone help me out with this?
The LCD on this camera rocks. On my VX2000 you would never use the LCD or the viewfinder to get an accurate idea of your exposure. I find with the HD10u the LCD gives me a very accurate idea of my exposure. This was a pleasant surprise indeed. i could even see the dreaded chroma noise in the LCD when the lighting was bad.
One of the reasons I came close to buying the DVX100 instead of the HD10u was because of the chroma noise that I had seen from stills and footage that I had seen posted on this site. Do not make a judement on this camera by viewing stills. People who post stills are doing a disservice to this camera. I was not able to see my footage on my MAC because I don't know how to download onto my computer. I watched the footage on my HDTV projection TV. The chroma noise is only noticeable on very badly lit shots. Most of the time it was not noticeable and if you light well it is a nonissue. Maybe on computer the chroma noise is more apparent. I am shooting a feature starting in January so utmost care will be taken in lighting and i don't think chroma noise will be a problem.
The lattitude on this camera is really bad. You have to watch the highlights from blowing but again your LCD will give you a good idea if your highlights are clipping. I have ordered some Neutral density filters which are a must with this camera. I heard someone mention that you need a lot of light with this camera but i found that lighting with 2 500w Coollux Soft lights was more than sufficient. It seems to me that this camera does not do well with too much light. I find that if you bias the exposure wheel to -5 and above you get a nice contrasty image. Another surprise since I was under the impression that this camera does not handle a high contrast image well.
Some footage that I shot outside was absolutely gorgeous. Especially some footage I took as the sun was behind the clouds. This camera has a look all it's own. The camera takes more of a desaturated image than my VX2000 which I like. I always desaturate in color correction. i do find when the lighting is really low the colors are so desaturated that it becomes almost B&W.
Now all we need is a editing solution for MAC and I am hoping to build my own version fo the Agus 35mm adaptor without the spinning frosted CD and i will be in Camera heaven. Has anyone tried to build their own homemade 35mm adapter for the HD10u?

[Alex Raskin]

"What i don't know is the camera locking at 1/60 and f4? Could someone help me out with this?"

Unfortunately, after pressing "L", both shutter and iris may still drift as the camera locks "exposure" but not any individual shutter/iris settings.

This is one most annoying and unprofessional "feature" of HD10, which must be fixed, hopefully, in any new versions.

JVC (and others), if nothing else, we at least do need independently controlled shutter and iris!

[Christopher C. Murphy]

Hey, look up "editing on mac" under the HDV sections on this site. You'll find what you need, but warning...it's not going to be nice. No one has a cheap solution for editing JVC footage correctly. It's a thrown together solution from people on this board...we came up with it.

Otherwise, get ready to spend more money for a PC and a card.

Murph

[Josef Crow]

anyone??

[David Newman]

The camera does seem to set the shutter as low as 1/15th with aperature priority. That is why is it best to use shutter priority then use ND filters to manipulate the aperature for your desired depth of field. When the camera does uses a shutter lower than 1/30th the frame is still 30fps (it always is in 720p mode.) The 1/15th second motion is simply repeating across two 1/30th second frames. Aspect HD uses only 30fps to match the only HD mode of the camera.

[Som Xai]

I want to get JY-HD10U and want to make sure I am getting the right one (Professional) and not the consumer version. The camera look the alike, how can I tell which one is which?.

Will JY-H10U be on the body of the camera to identify or some kind of menu inside the camera can tell, the model?.

Please help

[Heath McKnight]

Go with the HD10 (pro); a friend of a friend bought the HD1 and said the edge enhancement really stinks.

But the HD10's lack of TRUE manual controls makes it more of a consumer than a prosumer camera.

To ensure you are buying the right camera, go to B&H and buy the JY-HD10U.

heath

[Paul Deras]

I am having trouble mounting my new Raynox DCR-FE180PRO on my HD1. I have attached the 52mm step down ring to the camera but the lens doesn't want to thread into the adapter. I wonder if I need a lens holder tube to properly mount the lens.

Anyone have this combo? Thanks for any feedback!

Best regards,
Paul