JVC Professional Demo

Aaron J. Keyes

Spencer Cable Access hosted a live demonstration of two of JVC’s new HD professional video cameras on Tuesday.

JVC GY-HM750UJVC GY-HM150UKen Freed, JVC Northeast District Sales Manager, paid us a visit and brought two of his close friends – the JVC GY-HM750U and little brother JVC GY-HM150U.

Ken’s presentation was excellent – as expected. He’s been with JVC for more than 12 years and has built a reputation for having more knowledge than one knows what to do with. These cameras have many technical features which he easily translated into benefits for shooters. Nicely done, Ken!

Now – the cameras. The feature set for each makes these cameras perfect for cable access stations, video journalists, and even film hobbyists. The 750U is a full-size shoulder mount unit which provides for excellent stability and reduces fatigue.

Both units record in multiple formats and frame rate combinations. This flexibility allows the shooter the convenience and freedom to shoot what they need or what they’re most comfortable with. The cameras even shoot in SD mode. I find this feature particularly useful since most small production facilities (local access stations) are not equipped with other HD gear.

That said – it’s still advisable to shoot in HD if you have a Final Cut, Avid, or Premiere editing system. The cameras record to standard SDHC (class 6 or 10) cards. Each camera has two (2) card slots which can be exchanged on the fly, while recording. So – if card A gets full, the camera automatically, and seamlessly switches to card B. When card B is recording, the shooter can remove card A, and insert a blank card. When card B is full, it will go back to slot A and continue recording. No break.

The shooter may also set the camera to record to both cards simultaneously. This is useful if it’s important to have a back-up card in case one fails, or if you need to give one to a producer and one to an editor. Very convenient.

By the way – when you’re finished shooting, you are able to add the clips directly to the timeline in your NLE without transcoding or ingesting. It’s immediately editable right from the camera. No waiting. Brilliant!

The image quality on both cameras was superb. The 750U uses 3 1/3 inch CCDs which rival most ¾ inch units on the market. I took some test shots in 1080p and was very impressed. The 150U uses quarter inch CCD’s. I did say CCD’s. Not CMOS chips. JVC did not cut corners here.

Both cameras come standard with 2 XLR inputs. Audio is uncompressed on both units.

SCA is purchasing 2 150U’s and 1 750U in January.

For more information on these excellent cameras, visit JVC’s HD camera section online.