My Jvc 101 Experience

[Mick Doyle]

HI ALL,
IVE BEEN USING THE HD101 FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS NOW. IVE BEEN SHOOTING 25P USING THE WIDE ANGLE CONVERTER AND HAVE A BATTERY SOLUTION FROM DSM IN THE UK. FIRST THINGS TO SAY IS THAT MY OVERALL VIEW IS POSITIVE AND IM PRETTY HAPPY WITH MOST ASPECTS OF THE CAMERA BUT I DO HAVE A FEW PROBLEMS WITH IT.
THE FIRST THING TO SAY IS THAT I LIKE THE OVERALL LAYOUT AS IM USED TO USING DIGIBETAS ETC AND IM REALLY PLEASED BY THE HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES THAT I GET.THE BATTERIES I USE WORK WELL AND 2 WILL NORMALLY COVER A DAYS SHOOTING. THE STANDARD LENS IS FAR TOO NARROW AND EVEN WITH THE .82 WIDE IT IS STILL VERY MUCH ON THE NARROW SIDE.THE RECORD BUTTON IS A PROBLEM FOR ME AND SOMETIMES I FIND IM ROLLING WHEN I SHOULD NOT BE AND VISAVERSA, WHICH IS A MAJOR PROBLEM.I DONT KNOW WHY THIS HAPPENS AS IT DOES NOT WITH OTHER PRO CAMERAS. THE COLOUR IS ANOTHER ISSUE FOR ME AND I HAVE USED PAOLO'S COLOUR MATCH 3(THANK YOU VERY MUCH PAOLO).WITHOUT THESES SETTINGS I FIND THE COLOUR A BIT WASHED OUT. THE WHITE BALANCE IS ALSO AN ISSUE AND I FIND THAT SOMETIMES, PARTICULARLY ON A SUNNY DAY THAT THE BALANCE DOSNT QUITE GET IT RIGHT WITH THE SKY BLUE BEING A BIT ON THE GREEN SIDE. i LIVE IN A CLOUDY CITY AND I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THE ND'S ARE NOT STRONGER AS THE IRIS IS NEARLY FULLY CLOSED ON A SUNNY DAY.

OVERALL AS I SAY IM VERY HAPPY AND HAVE ENJOYED THE FORUM ALOT AS WELL.
IVE PUT SOME FOOTAGE ON http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O5RDUVEJ
BUT IM NOT SURE IF IVE CONFIGURED IT RIGHT.ITS ABOUT 50M SO WATCH OUT.

[Werner Wesp]

No need to shout that...

Anyhow, I'm having my 101 for about a year now and very happy with it, just as you are. The ND filters might be a bit stronger ineed, but obviously there's also shutter speed (according to the subject you're shooting).

The lens is what it is. You probably find it narrow because you're used to 2/3 inch broadcast optics that tend to be a lot wider. Amongs 1/3 inch (hdv) competitors it is about normal. I like the upcoming 18x4.2, but it seems pricy. I thinks the wider angle of the 17x5 won't be such a big deal to bother.

I have the same problem with the record button. It is too bad they haven't integrated a red flashing LED in the viewfinder cup as with some broadcast camcorders. It would be harder to miss is the camcorder is recording then...

(Oh, and no problem with the colours here...)