JVC HD200/HDV Page

Update 11/10/2007


(GYHD200 f 2.0 40mm, resized, 720p/60 HDV acquisition, captured and edited as 720p/60 HDV transcoded to 8 bit uncompressed 4:2:2 upsampled colorspace on Final Cut Pro)

 

This page is under construction. When finished I'm hoping it will be the ultimate resource for the JVC line of HDV cameras (100/110/200/250) and HDV in general.

I will offer information to help folks improve their knowledge of shooting both in the technical area and the artistic arena. I will also squash all the myths about HDV that exist, some created by what I would consider knowledgeable people which surprises me as I would think they wouldn't allow ignorance let them judge something they have little to no practical experience with. For instance, I saw a review of an HDV camera today in a magazine. Under the 'cons' list in the review was written that if you don't mind the editing problems with HDV, long GOP recording and a 4:2:0 color space then I guess this is a good camera. To me, that statement is pure ignorance and shows any lack of understanding of how to create and edit great pictures.

I have found in my use of HDV that as an acquisition format it fairs no worse than any other HD format in it's price range. It edits well and can even easily be captured as a more robust codec for editing if HDV frightens you (the myth). If you look at what you read about HDV you'll notice no one actually did much testing of HDV recording or editing, rather they based most of their statements on misunderstandings about the format based solely on specs and the myths that are spread on the web by mostly ignorant video hobbyists. I hope to show you that most of what you read has little merit and guide you to what does. I'll do that will real comparisons and examples.

Above and Below: Raw, uncorrected still grabs from a fashion shoot, shot using a JVC HD200 and Focus DR-HD100 Disk Recorder in HDV mode

 

Update: 11/10/07

I've added a little link here to make a demonstration. Again and again I find both amateur and professionals alike, ignorant to HDV. Instead of learning more, they make egregiously incorrect statements based not on experience but perceived myth so absurd as to be laughable. For instance, what I'll call myth number one; you can't edit HDV because if you try to dissolve it, you will get artifacts in the dissolve.

Well, that is about as ignorant as saying your neighbor is a witch because you see strange lights in her house at night. And even then you only say it not because you experienced it, but because a friends friends daughters father told you so. And now, as I will do on this web site in mass shortly; Here is a short movie I threw together showing five dissolves of material captured on HDV. Note that the material is not color corrected, nor does it have audio. It is compressed for the web and cropped to 4x3 to save space. Sorry Windows users but it's encoded using H264 which you may not be able to play. So let's enjoy debunking another HDV myth once and for all. Link here.

 

Update: 10/21/07

I am getting ready to ramp up this page with a number of articles and fantastic demonstrations. In the mean time here is a great article on the JVC HZ-CA13U Cine Optical PL mount Lens Adapter which I will be testing shortly and writing about here. In my mind this lens adapter and others like it that allow you the direct connection of a lens to the camera is the only real way to properly create a cine look. While these spinning screen 35 mm adapters that folks use are popular, they are such a step back in quality as not to be the professional way to go. Far better realized pictures can be accomplished with a true-optical lens adapter. Enjoy and look for my article here soon.

Here is a nice video talking about the adapter and depth of field by Tim Dashwood: http://www.dvinfo.net/prohd/Media/Lenses_and_DoF.mov

Below are some shots from some of my tests.

 

Easy to fix a hot/dead pixel on the HD 100/200/250 (2/1/08)

The problem with CCDs is they have lots of little pixels that get real hot,
can burn out, or just overload. But fear not. If you get a blemish on your
screen while shooting ith the JVC HD100/200/250 there is a simple way to repair it.

On the camera the pixel correction process is provided in an advanced
Menu accessed while in 24p mode by holding the Focus Assist button (the
one on the camera body) when you press and hold the Menu/Status button
for at least 5 seconds. NOTE: You must be in 24p mode for this
operation.

You see an advanced menu where the second line says CAMERA1. Move the
cursor down and push the shutter wheel to enter that menu and now you
have a list with the sixth item being PIXEL COMPEN. Move down to it and
select that item, the word CANCEL blinks. Change it to EXECUTE and push
again. It takes about 10 seconds or so to perform the operation and then
tells you to power off the camera. You are done. Make sure Focus Assist
is now OFF and exit 24p mode if desired.

However there are a few things for you to note about this process:
1. The process only conceals blemishes that show at 0db of gain.
Blemishes that only show at 3dB, 6dB, 9dB or 18dB will not be corrected.
Also there is a threshold that the blemish must be above to be detected.
Over time those blemishes may become greater and then show at 0db and
then will conceal.
2. It is possible that the process can "miss" a blemish. It is
absolutely likely that you might have to run the procedure a few times
to find the blemish and conceal it.
3. Warming the camera makes the blemishes brighter and easier to
correct, so it is recommended that the camcorder be powered for an hour
or two prior to running this process.

More models (2/11/08)

Just a few raw grabs (reduced in size to fit easily here) from an Anne Klein Video I produced. These were not lit with anything other than the still photographers 100 watt bulb he uses to focus.

 



Copyright 2013 by Walter Graff. This article may be circulated and shared as long as the following reference is made: 'This article appears courtesy of Walter Graff- http://www.waltergraff.com'

Please don't hesitate to send me an e-mail if you have any questions or comments please e-mail me at Walter@waltergraff.com