Why SONY FX1 could be better than JVC GY-HD201E

[Kyle Self]

Sounds like a malfunction, it would not be the first piece of equipment to malfunction and I am sure will not be the last. We once had a digibeta which mangled the second tape that went into it and had to go back to Sony 3 days after coming out of the box.

“It’s not meant to be handheld, due to it’s weight. But that’s fine, you can get used to it.”

Not meaning to pick on you personally, but those kind of comments crack me up. I guess I am just ancient but having run up and down a football sidelines with a betacam unit which had a 3 tube front end I can’t relate to any of those cameras as being too heavy for handheld work. I can shoot rock steady with something that has some weight and is balanced on my shoulder. Ask me to do that with something like an FX1 and forget it.

K

[David Timar]

Hello Kyle,

Yep, you are right about the weight. Weight can give you that balance and therefore the steady shots. Unfortunately, in our situations the camera has to be handheld / on shoulder for about 9 hours straight, in a room of around 28 Celsius. 🙂

I am just plain worried about the JVC. We got another one shortly after the first one (before seeing these problems) and it produced 4 very nasty drop-outs in a single 20 minute recording. And this was the same type of camera, hardly used before it arrived from the dealership.

Right now, we are talking to the JVC guys, to see what they have to say about this.

David

[Justin Ferar]

Hey guys,

Thought I would mention one thing regarding dropouts. I hear a lot of stories about dropouts. One thing that people often forget is that the drop outs may be originating from the playback device and are captured during digitizing. Then they go and playback the source tape and find out the drop was never on the recording- just an error during digitizing. I’m not saying you haven’t done this- just putting it our there for others to see.

Regarding hand held- the JVC is the ONLY HDV camera in it’s range that is built for true handheld work. I have never heard a camera operator who makes his/her living as a shooter go to bat for the “handy cam” form factor. I just want to make it clear that I’m talking about professionals, not dabblers.

Anyway, we have 2 HD200’s and after four shoots have seen one dropout using JVC’s Pro HDV tape.

[David Timar]

Hi Justin,

Yep, did that. We got 2 identical JVC GY HD201E models, and tried playing the tapes in both cameras. Tried forwarding to a part on the tape, where the recording all of a sudden was fine, then rewinding, but nothing.

David

[Jurgen Doc.]

If you have to repair your camera be prepared to wait 6-8 weeks. The service of JVC regarding 200/250 is a whole nightmare. It seems that every screw has to be imported from Asia BY SHIP. Absolutely not pro service.

[David Timar]

HELP! DOES ANYBODY HAVE AN EMAIL OR PHONE NUMBER FOR JVC IN EUROPE (NOT A DEALERSHIP)?

This is insane. We took our JVC into the Hungarian Dealership, and after 7 days of exchanging emails with the JVC in Germany, they said that our problems are firmware related, but JVC hasn’t released a new firmware to fix these issues.

I simply cannot believe this. I cannot believe these problems are on our camera ONLY. I know I have seen many posts on forums regarding the same problems. What the heck is wrong with JVC?

What do you guys think? Does JVC know what firmware I have on the camera, from the serial number? If so, does anybody know a contact email or phone number, where I can get a straight answer directly from JVC, saying that the firmware I am running is really the latest.

ANY help is appreciated.

Thanks.
David

[Nik Nastev]

Try this:

Quality Assurance Dept.
JVC Professional Europe Ltd.
Gruener Weg 10 * D 61169 Friedberg/Hessen
fon: 0049 (0) 6031 605163
fax: 0049 (0) 6031 605280

I hope they are the same yet.

[I-video]

I had that problem on a Sony VX2000 once. Much experimentation revealed seriously contaminated video heads. Cleaning tape helped some but I only got it cleared up by using precision cleaning solvent (from Markertek) with a q-tip. “Video Tape and Head Cleaner” (Also Markertek) might be better, mine had evaporated. Alcohol wouldn’t touch it. Kinda tedious. Be careful, it’s delicate in there. Let your tech guy do it if you have one.

[Matt Norton]

I have been doing JVC HDV for three of four years now. The problem is that we are cramming sow much
info into a tiny tape with tiny heads with little if any redundant back up. unlike DV with 4 channels of
audio back up. many times will get a drop out or glitch and not even bat an eye but when you have a
clogged head or a bad tape you lose frames. I found that a high quality tape helps and minimizes drop outs
as does cleaning the heads. also fast forward and rewind all tapes before using them to record and don’t
touch them until you are ready to capture. Don’t blame the machine it may be the tape you are using. the
cheep Sony tapes are terrible. These will help reduce drop outs but really buying a hard drive is not a bad
idea it is cheaper in the long run then putting out $50, $100, or $200/tape for large formats and it is
instantly accessible. Oh and never reuse a tape for anything that is important.

[P. j. Severtson]

You are right. The HD-100/250s are excellent for hand holding. Ask anyone who’s used a 25 lb. camera sholder mounted all day. The HD-100 is a breeze. The little handi-cam form cameras are not usable for fast-moving ENG style shooting, in my view.

Hand holding and getting good shots is a matter of skill and muscle control, mostly isometrics. It’s kinda like marshal arts. There’s no substitute for drilling, drilling and drilling. It can be hard to get good hand held stuff as a “week-end warrior”. The secret professionalism is drilling.

Also, as we know, the HD-100/250s are the only cameras in their class with real pro lenses with pro controls. The Sonys and Panasonics don’t have the same controls. Those little wheelie thingie iris controls just don’t make it for fast moving ENG-style shooting.