HD110 or XL H1?

[Greg Milneck]

If money were no object, which would you buy?

[Daniel Patton]

Money no object?

Both. Throw in the HVX while your at it for good measure.

[Stephan Ahonen]

JVC for true progressive scan and fully manual lens.

[Tim Dashwood]

Originally Posted by Greg Milneck

If money were no object, which would you buy?

This is probably the wrong forum to ask this question because it will be hard to get an unbiased opinion.

If money was no object though, I would go for the HD250 and the 13x3.5 lens.

[Shaun Wilson]

Ok assuming money is no object and you have to buy either a HD110 or a XL H1...

I recently bought a HD101 (nice and cheap thanks to the HD111 being about to appear) after having used a XL1s for about four years. I haven't had too much chance to put my new HD101 fully through its paces, but beforehand I had the same choice. I wanted a shoulder mounted camera so the XL H1 and HD101 were basically my only options. The price of the XL H1 was a factor for me, but even if it wasn't, I probably still would have gone with the HD101.

Why?
-HD101 comes with a real fully manual lens unlike the XL H1's servo based lens. Give you better, more responsive control, repeatable focus pulls etc.
-While I bought my HD101 to use as a SD camera for now, I will want to start working which HDV eventually, and 720p25 appeals to me more than 1080i50, I'm sick of having to deal with interlaced footage and its problems
-The HD101 is laid out more like a professional camera than the XL H1 which does give you almost all the same control but in a manner that is a bit of a holdover from lower end cameras. HD101 is the child of fully proffessional cameras

And I know we weren't meant to talk price but it is a factor... The XL H1's main advantage over other cameras is the "jackpack" (SDI, timecode, genlock) which is completely irrelevant for my workflow. So take that out of the equation and the JVC is just as good (and better in some areas as I've mentioned).

[Steve Benner]

If you can get the HD100. It comes with a free Anton Bauer Battery System. The features of the HD110 are nice, but I would rather get the free battery system.

I posted this in the Canon Forum:

Battery Life - JVC by far at this point. It comes with the Anton Bauer Battery Setup Now (I got mine in about 3 weeks! Over 400 Min Runtime).

Comfort - I haven't had a Canon to test, but the JVC is EXTREMELY comfortable on the shoulder, and in the Texas Shootout, it won at being the most stable of the HD Cameras. It is setup VERY Professionally.

Slow-Mo - The HD100 also has SD-50/60 HDV (A Rather Awesome and unknown feature) that can get Upconverted to HD with great results and can be converted to a 24P/30P timeline for overcranking.

Tapless - The Focus DR-HD100 is awesome and is available now. They are also making one for the Canon, but it is not out yet.

FOCUS-ASSIST!!!!!!! Since you are not using a monitor (neither can I), this is a MUST! In every shootout, the JVC ALWAYS wins when it comes to the Focus Assist out of the HD Bunch. It turns the viewfinder black and white, and outlines what is in focus by colored lines. It is VERY accurate. NONE of the HD Cams have enough Pixels in the viewfinder or LCD to Focus HD properly.

1080i vs. 720P - After shooting progressive, I NEVER want to go back to Interlaced again. If you plan to shoot in the 30f or 24f, they lose Resolution. The Canon does have a crisper picture, but the JVC does better with skin tones. The JVC usually comes in second out of the 4 (just under the Canon), but it is a Native 1280x720 3-CCD that does not use pixel conversions.

[Adam Letch]

And even though I'm still for progressive 720p, one would have to ask,if form factor didn't come into it, is the new Canon a serious contender depending on what your use will be. Pricing is pretty close!

[Stephen L. Noe]

Have they developed a deck for Canon yet? I've lost track of the H1 lately.

[K. Forman]

HD100- They are holding over the Anton Bauer power promo. That's over $1000 worth of reliable juice, something you never seem to have enough of. I went ahead and bought a spare Dionic 90 for around $400, and a spare JVC,,, just in case. I love it... at least until fatigue starts setting in.

[David Ziegelheim]

While talking about the H1, is Canon going to offer the 6x3.4mm lens for the JVC HD series cameras? it apparently lists for $3k.

[Chris Hurd]

Not in its present form, no. Not only is the Canon XL lens mount incompatible with the JVC camera, but you'd have no practical way to control it. There's no hand grip on that lens; all you have are the manual control rings. Since the Canon XL lens mount interface isn't compatible with the JVC front lens mount, that means there's no way for power to get from the camera body to the lens. Plus... there's no remote control either, as the Canon lens is remotely controlled by LANC and there is no LANC jack on the JVC camera body.

If this lens design is *specifically adapted* for the JVC (to include a hand grip, plus a compatible lens mount) then I would image that $3,000 price would probably double.

[Mel Namnama]

Hello All,
I have had the JVC HD100 for almost a year and
it has taken me that long to become proficient with using it, a steep but enjoyable learning curve. The 720p images are awesome ...I just purchased an XL H1 and am not too impressed with with its body (alot of plastic) or its 1080 60i images. I have yet to tweak the Canon...we'll see.

[Greg Milneck]

Thanks for the input. I already own the HD100 (didnt get the battery promo though). I also have an XL2 and several Digital Betacams, but am considering another lowcost HD camera.

My original question was about the HD110 vs XL H1, I am considering the Canon because I need HD SDI out to feed our edit systems (Avid Adrenaline and Smoke 2K).

We will also add a Mini35 adapter to the new camera package.

[Greg Milneck]

Originally Posted by Tim Dashwood

This is probably the wrong forum to ask this question because it will be hard to get an unbiased opinion.

If money was no object though, I would go for the HD250 and the 13x3.5 lens.

When is this shipping? Cost?

[David Ziegelheim]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Not in its present form, no. Not only is the Canon XL lens mount incompatible with the JVC camera, but you'd have no practical way to control it. There's no hand grip on that lens; all you have are the manual control rings. Since the Canon XL lens mount interface isn't compatible with the JVC front lens mount, that means there's no way for power to get from the camera body to the lens. Plus... there's no remote control either, as the Canon lens is remotely controlled by LANC and there is no LANC jack on the JVC camera body.

If this lens design is *specifically adapted* for the JVC (to include a hand grip, plus a compatible lens mount) then I would image that $3,000 price would probably double.

Other Canon lenses don't have a premium for JVC cameras, do they? Maybe a slight premium over the equivalent Fujinon.