I have made international trips with the XH-A1 and HV-30 and I am looking forward to the JVC HM-100.

I carry-on the cameras (with a DSLR) and the XH-A1 is at the limit. The wide angle further adds to the weight.

The HM-100 needs a computer and disks for off-loading files, but I take a 12" laptop anyway. And 2-1/2" USB powered hard disks aren't much any more bother than a box of tapes.

Since the HM-100 has PCM audio, it can double as an extra audio recorder as necessary.

One accessory I would like to see for the HM-100 is a neoprene, fit-like-a-glove cover for the body of the camera (with the audio handle removed). Perhaps a separate cover for the handle. this would make the HM-100 very easy to safely back in smaller size carry-ons or bags for transport during rough transit to a shooting location or situation.

Perhaps an after-market specialist could come up with the "Ultimate Guerilla Kit" for the HM-100. Everything needed to get there, shoot in the most demanding situations in the midst of chaos, then run while being chased.

For the high-end shooter, there also needs to be a satellite upload module/transmitter to upload video off the SDHC card to the home base.

Question for anyone who knows: Do solid state cameras get better battery life than tape-based cameras?

When I get the HM100 I definitely want to have a WA lens for indoor shots. Was there any mention of it being zoom through and/or having front threads for filters? Hopefully it will released at the same time when the HM100 is released.

I guess that the price will be somewhere between $150 and $350 then if it's relative to the Canon lenses.

The WA at the show was zoom-through as near as I could tell (so that makes a a converter). I didn't notice if the WA had threads on the end, though it is small enough that a filter adapter of some kind should be available.

The WA threaded into the camera and did not use the bayonet mount that holds the shade. It appeared that the lens may not have been coated, so it's not clear if this was a finished product, a prototype or an adaption from an existing product. It seems to be exactly right for the HM-100, and it afforded a very wide-angle view compared to the built-in lens.

I think the list price I heard may have been in the high 300s, which would potentially make a street price around $300-325, but this is a complete guess. It is wider than the Canon, but it is much smaller than the Canon (for the XH-A1) It could be higher. (The Canon XH-A1 WA -- which is only .8x -- is $350.) The Canon WA converters seem to be aggressively priced, so who knows what JVC will offer. There is also the good possibility that Schneider/Century will have something by the time the camera is out.

Just to restate: I do not know the spec details on the WA I saw, other than to say it was very effective on the camera, was not a huge addition to the camera (like the Canon WA is on the XH-A1).

With the new brochure on the GY-HM100 that recently became available, some more details come to light:
http://pro.jvc.com/pro/attributes/CA...00_kcs8409.pdf

First, the wide angle converter (and tele converter)for the HM100 is appropriated from an existing converter for consumer/discontinued existing cameras, those that had the hard drive, it seems:
JVC Accessory Store

And as a note, the WA converter is .7x,not .5x. The list price $249.00, so the observation that it might be uncoated is probably right.

Also, for both new cameras, the brochures seem to confirm as pointed out by Steve Mullen in another post, the encoding done in the new cameras has no relation to the Sony camera encoding. JVC uses its own new encoder using its own encoding process. The similiarity to the Sony Codec would be only that the encoded information is of a compatible type, but this has nothing to do with how the image is encoded.

I don't think there will be any concrete information on the quality of the video with the new JVC camcorders until the production cameras are out and are used by experienced professionals.

To state the obvious, sales people know and give out sales-type information, but often that is a bit askew of reality.

I pre-ordered a GY-HM100, but there's still time, and I may opt out to wait for the "GY-HM110"--but who knows.

Personally I don't like converters, I wish this lens was 28mm (35mm equivalent) out of the box. 46mm thread is the same as for GZ7, so there should be plenty of converters out there. 58 seems to be also a popular size, so there should be plenty of these with an adopter ring. Unfortunately adding these things also adds weight.
Btw 0.7x brings the lens down to 28mm, which is a quite good wide angle without barrel distortion.

Yes, the picture looked good with little distortion, one reason it didn't seem like a .5x as we were told.

Yes, a 58mm converter is too big and defeats the purpose of this camera.

I agree it would be preferable to have a wider stock lens, especially considering the purpose of this camera is handheld, and there isn't even a lanc or other connection for a remote zoom controller.

This camera is ideal for the Merlin, and it would be even better with a slightly wider stock lens, though the converter is lightweight enough that it shouldn't be a big issue for this use.

I think the production cameras have to tell the story. The prototype I saw had a couple of things about the zooming I didn't like, but this was with the converter on and could possibly have been due to the way the camera was mounted on the plate.

On the monitors there, when pointing the camera into the dark areas of the setup, the picture did not look great, but I don't think that means anything until the final camera comes out. I would guess that the camera is still being worked on extensively, and that is why there is no video available. Small adjustments make big differences, so I would expect on release the camera will be within the parameters advertised.

If the controls work well and the picture is as advertised, this camera is very comfortable to operate. It is comfortable handheld, and it is perfect to quickly plop on a small beanbag in tight quarters. And so on.

If the video matches (or surpasses?) the XH cameras, it should be a winner.

Workflow for Vegas Pro 8c
 

I just read through the new pdf for the GY-HM100 http://pro.jvc.com/pro/attributes/CA...00_kcs8409.pdf and it says that there will be
"direct file access" to FCP but that the MP4 file workflow will have an import and
ingest process to the "major" NLE systems. My question is what is the difference between the two is it just a matter of upload speed to the NLE? Do you think Vegas will support in the near future some kind of direct access like FCP via version upgrade? I'm currently using Vegas Pro 8c.

Vegas (or any other NLE) will use the exact same workflow for the HM100/700 MP4 files as it would for Sony EX1 or EX3 MP4 files. The files are identical.

Sony Vegas and HM700 XDCAM files
 

If you have the Calibrated{Q}XD codec (there's a trial version available, full version costs $80) as well as Quicktime then Vegas Pro 8 will read the .mov files directly, without needing to go through the MXF/MP4 conversion.

Calibrated{Q} XD Decode for Windows

I have tried this using the XDCAM demo file from Andy Shipsides, the trial version of the Calibrated decoder and Vegas 8 on a Vista laptop, worked fine.

Regards
Dave

I figured there would be some kind of 3rd party support, thanks for the link.
Who knows maybe the next Vegas update will be capable of performing this task.