There are a number of videographers who don't like the output from that camera. You should make sure you can return the lens if you don't like it. You may also want to check out rentals.

John

RS: Yes, I can wait. I HATE waiting because I'm a spoiled little kid (Ok... I'm really 40, but I get excited easily, and really want to improve my output). Please send me your suggestions either here or to my home address - mjr@matthewroddy.com
Craftech; you're killin' me! That's not what I wanted to hear! I wanted to hear, "With a new lense, you'll have better footage than the $30K BetaSP camera you use at Work."
...Yup... I'm an optimist. But thanks for being honest and keeping my expectations realistic.

You may or may not like what comes out of the cam, but I think it's pretty good with a different lens on it. Tim Kolb won an Emmy with that cam...so...
The place that we regularly do work with has a few of these, and they've got Fuji 18x on them, I think they look great.

I'll do it first thing tomorrow morning Matthew, both here and to your home email. BTW, it's generally not a good idea to spell out your email the way you did, primarily because of spam harvesters. The preferred way is to use "at" instead of "@" and "dot" instead of "."

The other issue with this (for that matter, any) camera is good lighting. It's a skill that takes a short time to learn (the basics, that is) and a lifetime to master :-(

I might be wrong but I think Craftech was referring to the poor quality of the stock lens and not the camera output itself. My greatest compliment for it was when a DP said that a video I had done "had that film look to it". Made me feel very good about my work :-)

Mike

I'm actually pretty excited about getting new glass for the cam. I know it won't be looking as good as the Iki that I use where I work, but if I can get the best I can from this camera, I'll be a happy guy - until I can afford HDV (maybe next year).
RS; thanks for the advice re the name spelling and lense. I put my name/e-address up the way I did so it's easy to cut'n'paste. I didn't know about harvesters. Thanks for the heads up.
As for lighting, I'm definately no expert. I've been doing this (videography) for about 12 years (GADS! So long now?), but consider my lighting skills "low." That's partly because I'm such a perfectionist, and partly because I still want to learn forever. I know I'll never be as good as a real DP (too many masters to serve doing this solo), but that's the standard I wish to compare myslef to.
Thanks again. I look forward to the lense info (well, all info, for that matter).

Matthew, I finally got around to checking for you. The lens we have here is a Canon YH19x6.7(Internal Focus). I checked on the Canon site and the closest I could come was this link. Because mine is 2 years old though, it doesn't thave the "Shuttle Shot" feature :-(

There is a (technical more than anything else) forum for DV-500 users but it's down right now. Keep checking back though as I hope it's only temporary.

I've got a full service manual if you ever have any technical questions.

I do have one tip for you relating to the white clip level. The factory default is 108 IRE which, IMO, is too high. To set it to 100 IRE, turn on the power while holding the white balance switch on. This brings up a "White Clip" adjustment in the viewfinder. Set this to 100 and you're done.

BTW, you mentioned using an Ike at work. I'm very jealous :-) What kind of work do you do that you use that kind of gear?

Mike

Thanks again Mike.
I've replied to you outside the forum on your other topics.
I was honestly hoping to find a solution less expensive than 3-$6000. I was on a shoot and saw a really good shooter using standard 35mm lenses on the front of his DVCPro cam. I thought that this would be a great way to get really good glass for thousands less than a full zoom setup.
Now I'm a bit confused by it all.
If I'm headed toward spending that much $'s for a lense, I think I'd rather spend a bit more and get HDV, rather than upgrade the JVC.
Again, all suggestions are most welcome and appreciated.

As much as I love HDV, the lenses on the cameras are nothing like the $6K glass you could put on the 500. If you want to improve the res of your images and use good glass I think Sony have something in the works. If you / we had more information you may be able to get a lens for the 500 that you could also use on the yet to be released HDV / BluRay camera.
Bob.