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MillimeterJVC GY-HM100U Hands-on
Jan 21, 2010 12:00 PM, By Bill Miller
A veteran camera operator takes the JVC GY-HM100U for a spin.
Cameraman Bill Miller finds the light weight of the JVC GY-HM100U allows him to balance easily on a fence railing, which would be much more difficult with a 25lb. camera.
I made a pledge to myself a number of years ago that when the 25lb. camera I lugged around all day on handheld assignments got to be too much, I'd throw in the towel. Maybe retire to my editing chair. Sure, there are lots of little cameras coming along, but none with the professional punch I needed. Then along comes the JVC GY-HM100U, sporting great HD image quality and a sleek profile, and weighing in at less than 4lbs. with microphone. There goes my early retirement.
Miller can maneuver easily in the rodeo arena with the lightweight camera, making sure he can get out of the way quickly.
I was one of the first kids on the block to get the new mini-monster, just in time for our summer rodeo, the New England Wild West Fest, for which I am creative and video director. It's a down-and-dirty assignment that has me behind the bucking shoots, chasing high-kicking horses around the dusty arena, and working in tight and often dangerous situations. It's not an assignment for the faint of heart. My little camera matched my every move. At just more than 3lbs., it let me stick my lens in crevices only a beetle might have explored before. Not only at arm's length, but the light camera lends itself to being fastened to the end of a monopod for even more access into what had been inaccessible areas. And what the hey, if I dropped the unit in front of a raging bull and he stomped his 2000lbs. on the camera, I'm only out $3,995.
The HM100 is not ideal in really low-light situations because it uses a 1/4in. 3CCD system, but the overall results are phenomenal. Format options include 1080p, 1080i, and 720p. You also have the option of shooting 24fps, 30fps, or 60fps. My favorite is 30fps, which gives me just enough jitter to look like film. All of the information is stored on tiny, inexpensive SDHC cards for which there are two slots built into the camera. This gives you nearly 2 hours of continuous recording. Since the camera records in the QuickTime format native to Apple Final Cut Pro, you can pop the cards out, drop them into a $30 card reader, and you're ready to edit—no encoding necessary. This is groundbreaking.
I buy new SDHC cards for each client since they're so cheap, around $45 a card. (I like cards made by Transcend, but that's a personal choice, and I haven't tested many different brands.) The card makers claim they'll last for 100,000 start-ups, unless that bull steps on them. Make sure you get class 6 cards for the speed; they're rated to transfer at 6MBps.
The camera also has XLR audio inputs, so you can use your professional audio equipment without adapters. This, along with phantom power for the XLRs and switchable line/mic inputs, most clearly separates the HM100 from its smaller competitors. Professional image settings such as gamma and skin detail do the same.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.