My JVC HM200 loaner arrived :-)

[Paul Anderegg]

OMG, this thing produces ugly dark video!

On the plus side, it has much better, spades more ergonomical happiness factor......hehe, I sound like a bad Japanese translation. At wide angle f1.2 max 24db gain, the HM200 is brighter than the X70 at f2.8 33db gain. When you zoom to max telephoto though, the JVC is more than a stop darker, and much, much, much, much uglier, no colors to speak of.

4K mode? Forget it, you loose another couple of stops and loose the 24x digital zoom function. f1.2 is also very, very, very blurry, cannot find focus. By very blurry, I mean $30 eBay no name "DSLR" zoom through wide converter soft/blurred, it really is that bad.

Comparing gain quality to other JVC cameras, this one beats them hands down. Apparently, they fogo any severe noise reduction and simply use the excess UHD pixels to reduce grain, similar to the X70. Make no mistake, the X70 looks like an F55 compared to the HM200, but this has one of the better low light pictures of any JVC, which is like saying finger cancer is one of the better cancers. :)

So I will post some comparo video tests later when I have time. I know people say you can't compare a 1/2.3 camera to a 1" camera, but these are directly comparable models. The HM200 is definitelly an ENG ONLY camera,a nd only for those who would be happy with other ProHD JVC oelections.

Paul

[Noa Put]

Jvc has never been known to produce light sensitive camera's, their ls300 is also not very good in low light and looses color information quickly in shadow areas at higher gains and the noise pattern is not very nice to look at. I have to say the ax100, which should perform similar to the x70 is not a good low light camera either, it produces a lot of noise even at 21db, it's so noisy that it is the only camera in my gear bag that needs neatvideo treatment, even my cx730 produces better results at similar gain levels.

[Paul Anderegg]

I would have to disagree a bit with the low light gain noise of the Sony. I find my X70 extremely clean given the gain I typically use it at, 24db+. I also run full +7 black stretch, which as you know simply raises gain on the shadow areas. Once the 10 bit XAVC footage is edited out for broadcast, with a lot more compression, you are looking at a much cleaner image. For broadcast use, clean, but if you are staring at your high end calibrated ultrasharp HDTV monitor, then yes, you will see fine grain nosie all over the raw XAVC files. :)

The main reasons I am looking to switch to the JVC is for compatibility with my stationds new Zixi live streaming server, and FCPX workflow (instant exporting on ingest!) with avaioable MOV files. My station cares less about quality and more about efficiency...........they will not wait for a prettier product, nor replace a shaky export with a full stabilized version if i send the replacement in. The JVC is fun to operate though, really wish the Sony 1" chip was up front!

Paul

[Noa Put]

Probably the x70 deals better with the noise then the ax100 does, I have had several occasions this year at darker ceremonies where I had to gain up to 21db and it doesn't look pretty, especially when the groom has a darker blue costume and you see the noise crawling all over him. My tv has a noise reduction setting so it doesn't notice that much but when I view it on a computer monitor it can be very distracting. I also think a chip size would not matter that much because the ls300 with it's s35 sensor is not a good low light performer either, my cx730 has a tiny sensor yet outperforms my ax100 when it comes to noise handing at equal gains and exposure.

[Noa Put]

The JVC GY-HM650 might also be a better option for the type of work you do and from the low light comparisons I have seen it looks like it does a quite good job.

[Kevin Balling]

Paul. Wondering what your thoughts are about the camera under normal light levels. I don't need a camera that shoots night news like you do. I am tempted by the JVC GY HM170 (same camera with no wi-fi and SDI out). It is $1295 right now. Quite a deal.
The footage I have seen under decent light levels has been OK, so I am curious about your thoughts when you can get around to it. Thanks.

[Paul Anderegg]

Would you happen to have a few extra sun's to loan me? :-D

Seriously though, most JVC's look rather decent at 0db with enough light and the ability to stop the iris down a bit, and given this cameras cleaner than most JVC gain noise, I think $1300 is a pretty good deal for a 4K camera out the door, with handle and shotgun included free for that price. Used non 4K X70's are going for the same price on eBay currently, something to think about. If I can get 150Mbps 4K to work on my Sony UHS-I 64GB SDXC card, I will see what the JVC is capable of in proper daylight with the iris closed down. I can tell you without a doubt, I would never admit to being the shooter of any HM200 footage seen aired on my station (looks so horrid!), while I would brag about and link to X70 footage shot even in AVCHD!

Will I be buying an HM200? Absolutely..........and while JVC will not win any awards for image quality, they still make bank selling these little live streaming devices. :)

Paul

[Tom Grushka]

Funny, Noa... I was torn between the HM650 and X70 and went with the X70 partly for its size and partly based on Paul's feedback (I think he disliked a few things about it... Paul?).

[Paul Anderegg]

The HM650 has the same chips as the 890 I use at work, and they DO NOT handle gain well at all. Will they produce 100IRE video levels in low light? YES! Will those 100IRE levels consist of something akin to a 360x240 image with weird fixed pattern silk screening across the entire picture when in HD mode? YES!

The JVC series of cameras go for "high sensitivity" through all out gross signal amplification, of the type you may remember from say a Sony DXC 537 in TurboGain mode, only the JVC's look that bad at merely 12-18db. The X70 produces broadcast quality images, the HM200 will not, but the HM200 will make my workflow quicker, and in the end, that is what the bosses notice. I may end up turning my X70 into a dash cam, assuming I can find a mount to clamp it to the instrument shield of a Toyota Prius V.

I look forward to a day when the picture quality of the Sony, with the ergonomics of the JVC, meet to produce the low light sensitivity of the A7sII. :)

Paul

[Paul Anderegg]

Here is some scene footage shot at night on the HM200. I have put it back in it's case and will not be testing it further, nor trading my X70 for one. Look at the footage and you will not have to ask why........and this was a well lit scene, several 1K HMI's.

YouTube (Short URL)