Further revelations, and I’m reaching into my pocket to see how deep it goes…
JVC finally came out and revealed a few things that I think have finally pushed me to upgrade my 111 at almost any cost. The GY-HD200UB finally adds something that many people have been pining for – 1080i shooting (ok, so it actually came a few weeks ago in the form of a 201 + Firestore promotion). For me though, the camera has won me over on one big thing: the new SDHC/HDD recorder. Permanently mounting on the battery connector, this allows the HD200UB to shoot 1080i50/60 or 720p24/50/60 direct to SDHC card or HDD. The only thing missing here are TC/genlock and HD-SDI and this camera would be perfect. I am anticipating an updated 251 later this year.
So with this revelation, it may be that I’ll be looking to swap out my 111 for a 201UB, and grab myself an order for RED Scarlet. *phew* this is all BIG news. My personal plan is to continue producing projects such as the football show on the JVC, using its ENG-style run and gun design to cover theater, the football show and things like that, and use Scarlet to start really getting into cinematic projects.
I’m anticipating spending at least ten grand on Scarlet over the next year, which is going to be a fair amount on a camera which will essentially and very realistically be a camera for ‘personal projects only’. There may be some use for it with clients, especially with 120fps shooting, but the post workflow is something I’m really going to want to get my head around before jumping right in there with it. I’m anticipating a 35mm or 16mm lens adapter to be released for Scarlet in the very near future, and I think that’ll be a vitally important piece of the puzzle. I’ll probably grab some glass from RP Lens for the time being, especially because this would give me a great chance to practice focus pulling and getting used to shooting with such a shallow DOF.
In fact, for the budget film-maker/low-end studio AV guy, I can’t think of a better combo than the 200UB and Scarlet. Use the 200UB for shooting sports, events, smaller projects, and crank out Scarlet and a tiny crew for creative projects, including ads and creative projects. Basically, a combo of doco camera and cine camera.
I also want to apologise to Panasonic, their offerings initially basically left me saying ’so what’ and moving on, especially in the shadow of the EX3 and RED Scarlet and RED Epic. However, I notice that I overlooked a few key pointers which give both of their announced cameras better than expected. I’ve already been giving the HMC150 love, so I don’t think there’s much to say for the little guy, but I am pleased that they included XLR audio – some of the competing low-end HDV cameras are conspicuously missing XLRs and its extraordinarily frustrating. The HPX170 as a HVX without a tape transport is nice, especially with the inclusion of SD recording formats. Would’ve been nice to see 1080p, although that may be either the DVCPROHD CODEC, or the data rate of P2. I thought I read somewhere that it had 1080 native CCDs (the HVX200 only has 960×540 or something, and takes skewed samples or something). If it has 1080 native or even 720 native CCDs, then all the more power to it. The peaking and waveform meters in the viewfinder are certainly a welcome addition – when will they add CAC to the lens though?
Canon’s presence was small, but I think their update to the XL-H1 was loooong deserved (as I have already said). I’m happy with what JVC showed – not much different but they’ve basically filled the only gap I felt they had. Now that they’re American owned, we’ll probably see the Victor Company of Japan become a bit more competitive. Like RED, JVC now probably have little interest in the polite yet cut-throat way the Japanese do business. Sony…EX3, looks like a nightmare to use, will produce very nice pictures, and the interchangeable lens mount makes it a winner – as far as I’m concerned this camera makes me lose any and all interest in the HVR-S270. I think for Sony HDV is only a step away from dead. Canon and JVC are the only players still in the HDV game at the top end, and the Canon in my opinion has too little too late on JVCs new offering.
So, am I a JVC fanboy? Probably, but there’s just too much to like, and not enough to like in the competition. Personally, I was initially afraid of the JVC, not really seeing them as a reputable brand. After all – all I ever saw around me were Panasonic, Sony and Canon cameras. JVC seemed like a newcomer, and I initially wrote them off as such. A year later after buying my HD-GY111E, I’m in love with the design and the camera – still has a few shortcomings (I’d LOVE better low light, peaking meters and waveform meters, and 5 white balance presets) but otherwise I think it is the king of the 1/3″ CCD cameras. Combined with an AB or IDX battery, its a hard working, lightweight camera and its in for the long haul.
Now…where’s more info on Scarlet??
