JVC GR-HD1 & NAB HDV cameras

bakerbud9 wrote on 4/21/2004, 7:29 PM
Just got back from NAB earlier today. While in Vegas I had a chance to get hands-on with all the new JVC HD cameras and speak with several of the JVC people.

Turns out I was wrong about the GR-HD1. It does actually shoot 30p in HD mode.

The 30p modes of both the GR-HD1 and JY-HD10 do have a "stutter" look to them, though. Even the JVC people admit this. One JVC tech, in a candid moment, said that in the future a 720 60p mode would be more desireable for most purposes. However, the 30p effect can be desireable if you are looking for the "filmic" look.

Otherwise, NAB was a bust on the HDV front. Cannon, Sharp and Panasonic had absolutely nothing to show in terms of affordable HD cameras. Sony had a prototype HDV camcorder that shoots 1080i, but it was under a big plastic capsule, and in the live demo, it appeared that a woman running a master control computer was simulating the camcorders playback as opposed to the footage coming directly off the prototype camera.

-nate

Comments

riredale wrote on 4/22/2004, 9:48 AM
At first I thought the Sony HDV camera was just a plastic mockup, but then I saw how panicky the presenter was when the "mockup" apparently stopped working. They tried replacing the battery, and jiggled the connectors.

So I suspect that the prototype actually produced real video, but then failed during the show. The presentation you and I saw was probably Plan B.
bakerbud9 wrote on 4/22/2004, 11:54 AM
Ah, that may be.
-nate
InterceptPoint wrote on 4/22/2004, 1:26 PM
I saw the demo of the new 3 CCD Sony HD prototype at NAB. It was disappointing to me because of the very limited amount of footage that they actually showed. All I saw was two long shots of a beach scene with very little motion. They looked great but I wanted to see some live video. No soap.

I also heard on the floor (but not from Sony) that even the limited footage that was shown was actually shot with another camera and converted to HDV. Just a rumor but possibly true. I''m really interested in this camera at $5K but I think it is a ways off. Maybe Christmas. Keeping my fingers crossed on price and availability.