I am planning on buying the JVC GR-HD1 next week. I have a limited amount of money, so I was wondering what you guys thought of that camera? Would it be efficient for good quality, sound, etc. I am planning on making a series of short films this year and eventually a feature.

I have never worked with HD before or cassettes for that matter so I am way behind. How does everything work..like getting the footage from cassette to computer. Is there a specific codec I need to install in the computer (windows XP)?

Any help would be appreciated.

This is the camera:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Searc...dedTroughType=search



-Conrad
www.conrad-studios.com
www.myspace.com/conradstudios

I think I remember doing a little reading about this camera (when I was shopping around) and saw that it didn't hold up well at all in low-light. That was kinda a deciding factor for me in not going with it. But, guess it depends on if you're going to be in that situation much.

I would personally suggest purchasing a camera that has three CCDs instead of one because of the color reproduction, but in that price range you may not be able to find a camera with three chips. Panasonic makes a camera, the AG-DVC30, which is not HD but it has three chips instead of the one (something I personally value above HD, because the colors in a one chip camera and a three chip camera cannot be compared).

As to the question referring to trasferring tape to a computer, it depends on what the camera shoots. What seems to be the case is that the camera (in HD mode) shoots HDV which is easily trasfered over firewire through some kind of NLE. Most editors need some sort of plugin, unless they are already HDV native. I use a mac (and FCP), so I'm not sure which windows editors are HDV native and which are not. This is something to check into. I believe some version of Avid or Premier should support HDV editing.

And yes, the camera's lowlight performance (from what I've read) is rather poor, but whether or not that is a factor is up to you. Color reproduction is another thing that you want to look into. A single chip camera will not be able to hold its own against a three chip camera in the accuracy of colors and the quality of colors. HD will not have alot of effect on this. Also, the camera does not have XLR inputs for a mic (something I also hold in high regard), but this may be a personal preference that does not attain to you.

If you do opt for the camera, be ready to upgrade any software you are currently running or in the worst case fully overhaul your system to efficiently edit HDV. What editing software do you currently use (or plan to use)? How powerful a computer to you have? What style of film to you want to make (ie. Documentary or Narrative)? Is this a hobby or a lifestyle?

Hopefully in this long ramble of adjacent words there was something of use.

Good luck.

I use Sony Vegas 6.0 which can be used to edit HD video. And this is a die-hard hobby of mine. Soon to be a lifestyle. I am planning on making shorts and soon enough some features.

Oh, well then, it's really easy to get footage into Vegas (as I'm sure you have come to realize, you know, owning it and all). So, I wish you luck.

I owned that camera for a while. And realized it was the worst mistake of my life. One chip CCD gives bleeding saturation, absolutely horrendous low-light performance and grotesque color reproduction. Don't touch it. Luckily I bought it and sold it for the same price.

Here's my words of wisdom, and read them carefully: You get what you pay for. You want a good camera? Work a job and save money, then splurge. Here's some more: Lights, lights, lights. Buy a mediocre camera, and two or three good, strong lights, and you get some really fantastic images. You're probably going to ignore that. Don't. Lights. I'm telling you.

Agreed!

An image is nothing but light afterall.

I guess I'll have to buy some lights! I already have a huge 1000 watt light that my dad bought last year. The only problem would be it needs to be plugged in. Is there a way of taking this around places? Maybe a portable power generator?

About the generator, yes...but for the camera that's a little low for the type of films you make....you'd rather save up and get a DVX so it can kinda be on a higher level as your stories. But if you think saving but be a holdup just get the JVC there's nothing wrong with it...and plus you'd get to work with HD...make the decision...wateva it is dont let it keep you from storytelling

You can buy a Used DVX100 for roughly $1,500+ depending on how many hours it has, DVXUser.com has a lot of people selling Used DVX's at very reasonable prices and even a DVX100 with 300+ Hours still works great (although anything over 500+ is too much).

There is one on there right now I think for $1,500 check it out