JVC GY-HM100
While most still photojournalists are fawning over the wonderful DSLR/video hybrid Canon 5D Mk. II, JVC quietly unveiled a new tapeless ProHD camcorder that shakes things up a bit in the news-video world. The soon to be released (April 2009) JVC GY-HM100U has some killer features that I have been waiting years for.
First and foremost, JVC built this camera to record in native Final Cut Pro’s QuickTime file format. Its files need no ingesting/transcoding like an AVCHD files do. Nor does it re-wrap the file to an editable format like my Sony XDCAM EX-1. What this means is you can start editing video from the camera immediately. The GY-HM100U is built to work seamlessly with Final Cut Pro 6. I’m not sure if Final Cut Express 4 is supported with this camera yet.
Second, it records to cheap SDHC media cards. Instead of having to buy Sony $800 dollar 16 gig SxS cards or Panasonic’s P2 media, 40 bucks will get you a 16 gig SDHC card for the GY-HM100. It has two card slots for a combined total 64 gigs of storage space.
Third, the GY-HM100U has a small form factor. It weighs just three pounds. My wrist sometimes hurts when I shoot with my much heavier Sony XDCAM EX-1, so this full-featured, but light weight camera would be a welcome relief.
The GY-HM100U seems to have all the bells and whistles I’d expect from a pro camera: A decent HD lens, dual channel balanced audio inputs, full manual controls, for focus, white balance, shutter, iris etc.
Finally cost. JVC says it will be priced below $4000.00. That is right in the price point of the popular tape-based Canon XH A1.
High fives to the JVC engineering team for listening to their customers. This is a shot fired over the bow of Canon who has yet to produce a tapeless pro camcorder. Codec’s like AVCHD are fine for consumers who have the time wait for the files to be converted, but not so in deadline environments newspapers work in. Lets hope this is the beginning of a new generation of video cameras that will make transcoding and file rewrapping a thing of the past.
Here a couple of links for more info on the JVC GY-HM100U:
19 Comments
January 30, 2009 at 10:37 am
I agree! I read a review on this just after it was introduced – and like the same things you’ve seen, including lighter weight, QT format and true HD on SD cards. Nice! But alas, don’t think I can justify any new cameras any time soon
May be if you get one, you can have an open house and we can all come and fondle it
January 30, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Colin, add to that the camera shoots XDCAM EX footage as an alternative to the native QT and you’ve got yourself one helluva package! Or at least a sweet second camera to match your EX-1 to!
BTW, thanks to Sony’s latest EX-1 firmware update you can now use third-party ExpressCard adapters to use the very same SDHC cards in the EX-1! Check out DVInfo’s thread with all the details here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/138485-summary-sdhc-substitute-sxs-cards.html
Only down side is no over/under cranking with the SD cards, so those SxS cards will come in handy once in a while.
January 31, 2009 at 5:30 am
this JVC is a great camera, but as a Cannon XHA1 user, I can’t and wont say it replaces it.. Just sits nicely along side it
January 31, 2009 at 8:22 pm
[...] other new piece of hardware is the JVC GY-HM100U. This might be called an affordable prosumer video camera with video features that cost in the tens [...]
August 9, 2009 at 5:35 am
good article on the hm100…However to call it a Prosumer camera is in my opinion totally incorrect. I own one and also a hm-700. They are both absolutely incredible.
Thanks and keep writing.
February 2, 2009 at 8:08 am
prosumer jvc cams don’t have the best track record for being good cameras. but they may change the game with this camera. only time will tell. but putting this cam up to the hmc150 or A1, i think it will fail. it has chips almost half the size. and for HD, i think that will make a big difference. your depth of field will not be as shallow and it will probably suffer greatly in low lighting conditions. but the native fcp workflow will be a very attractive feature. but for me, i’m sticking with my HMC150.
March 1, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Since I am going to have a hard time convincing my newspaper to spend 3K for this camera or the Panasonic AG-HMC150 – does anyone have any recommendations for a solid video camera which writes to a SD card and has both a mic input and a head-phone jack?Any help would be appreciated.
March 2, 2009 at 1:49 pm
to “Todd”:
The JVC is nice, but go with the HMC-150. it’s a solid camera, and it’s out and available most everywhere.
plus it’s panasonic, so that should say it all.
the only thing that’s a chore with this is the AVCHD garbage… if you don’t mind converting, then go for it. the JVC GY-HM100u and it’s brother, the 700 look like they’ll both be good cameras, but the ambiguous “Quicktime” format scares me.
“Quicktime” what?
March 2, 2009 at 5:11 pm
The lines of this camera follow a predecessor – the GY-DV300u. I purchased one in 2002 after mulling over the Sonys and Panasonics and Canons.
It had two XLR inputs, a focus ring, and easily accessible manual iris, white balance and audio controls.
My only complaints have been the short (10x) tele lens and plastic feel to the body.
But the camera is still running strong six years later, so I guess it could be considered a classic.
March 9, 2009 at 11:16 am
[...] About Colin Mulvany Colin Mulvany is a multimedia producer at The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. A still photographer for the first 18 years of his career, Mulvany transitioned to shooting video and audio slide shows for his newspaper’s online site Spokesmanreview.com in 2005. He doesn’t claim to be an expert on multimedia. Like everyone else in the newspaper biz, he’s just trying to find a comfy spot in the online world. I can be reached at colinm[at]spokesman.com Are newspapers losing their multimedia mojo? « Mastering Multimedia 11:52am Source: masteringmultimedia.wordpress.com A young girl’s death brings a community together JVC GY-HM100U and Final Cut Pro–A match made in heaven [...]
March 17, 2009 at 12:11 pm
From what I understand, the new JVC cameras are using the XDCam EX codec, and wrapping it in a Quicktime format. There are only two benefits I can see with the HM100U over the HMC-150:
1. Quicktime wrapped files (start editing sooner, not that big-a-deal for me)
2. 35Mbs vs. 24Mbs (higher bit rate means less compression, but not always a better image)
Until we can see side by side footage, it will be hard to tell if the JVC will compare with the Panasonic. The HMC-150 has proven to be a pretty rad camera.
March 22, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Any more info as to it being supported by Final Cut Express?
Thanks
May 9, 2009 at 1:57 am
i have the same question, hoping that it can be answered. thanks!
May 27, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Unfortunately, the file format is not currently supported by Final Cut Express (or iMovie).
See:
http://www.usjvc.com/faq/index.php?action=artikel&cat=15&id=125&artlang=en
April 22, 2009 at 12:47 pm
have you switched from EX to GY-HM100U yet?
July 5, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Hi
Does anybody know if there is a way to transfer video files without the camera?
Smart card reader? I use a mac.
Thx,
PT
July 6, 2009 at 2:26 am
Sorry, to be clear I was referring to the GY-HM100U for transferring video files.
Thx,
PT
October 3, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I think i’m going to invest in this camera.
October 15, 2009 at 5:41 pm
I know this is for the JVC GY-HM 100u camcorder, but is anyone familiar with JVC GY-HD 100u and the import settings with FCP? It would be very helpful. Thank You