Would you buy your GY-HM700 again?

[Shannon Shaw]

Talk about freaky deja vu! I have been researching to purchase 2 High Def cameras and media and my top 2 favorites were also the JVC GY-HM700u and the Panasonic HVX-200a!!!

That’s just too weird because I had my eye on the Panasonic HPX-300!! My distaste for P2 cards squashed that one.

I talked with a sales rep from B&H photo for over an hour and I am STILL having to do some more research and maybe even look at other cameras. So, I’m still unsure of what I’ll be doing. AT this exact moment, i’m leaning toward HM700u b/c of the SDHC media!! And the HVX-200a in conjunction with a portable recorder called the CITIDESK-HD-500.
I am only an amateur movie maker, so using the P2 cards right now will not in my accepted budget, maybe in 2 years when prices drop. However, I have to continue to research… spending around $13,000 on cameras and accessories is going to be a HUGE purchase for an AMATEUR MOVIE MAKER. But, might as well, while I can! (Well, those and an xbox 360!)
A Steadicam for the Hm700u and a Brevis35mm kit MAY be in the plans. I have to lock down which the cameras first.

Well, good luck, everyone.

[Charlie Cogar]

Shannon,

Holler when you take delivery of your 700 cams. I’m really pleased with ours, but be sure to read my post dated Nov. 9th regarding Steadicam before you proceed on that portion.

Kind regards,

Charlie Cogar

[Lou Caputo]

Well, I started this thread an we’ve bought two 700’s and a 100, so I guess I can answer my own question now…yes, I would. So far so good.

Regarding your purchase of a 700 as an amateur film maker…you might want to consider the GY-HM100 instead. It’s smaller, lighter and has a shorter learning curve, not to mention that you can use less expensive batteries, tripods and steadicam, etc.

[Shannon Shaw]

I was thinking along the lines of using the HVX-200a as a SECONDARY camera
— for the few times when 2 people are having a (mostly ad-libbed) conversation, 1 camera cu per person = 2 shots, 1 take, and quicker time to accomplish; in lieu of filming the conversation twice for 2nd coverage shot/angle, which pretty much defeats the ad-libbing aspect.
— An added bonus was several dozen people have stated the HVX200a makes green-screen chroma keying a breeze!!
But, alas, as a secondary camera, I thought it would be a quick and small camera to use for such purposes that doesn’t require as much constant manual operation to do such tasks when needed. (Assuming I pull a Tarintino or K. Smith and keep the camera locked down, instead of the always subtly moving Michael Bay techniques).
Whew!, got to babbling there, but back to my main thought:

I wanted to use the HM700 as my primary camera, to be used 90% of the time solo. I’m 80s old school and much prefer/miss the Large SHOULDER-MOUNTED cameras. I also prefer/LOVE the big detachable lenses that have manual rings where I can independently adjust the zoom, focus, and iris myself.
The initial $10 to $15g price range for those 2 cameras doesn’t concern me as much as being sure i’m getting the right camera.
I am currently researching the recording media aspect and have come to find the DVCPRO HD format is my favorite (INTRA-FRAME and 4:2:2 being the key factors!!!!) I’d prefer to work with SDHC cards, but, as in the case of the 200a, i’ll be using the Citidisk Recorder for that cam until the P2 media drops in 2 to 5 years (Panasonic 64 GB E-Series, wishfully, to $150 by then).
Researching the AVC-Intra FORMAT, AVC-Ultra, and others are contenders instead of the DVCOPro HD that I have a rage for.

My Absolute, perfect DREAM camera would be the HVX200a but using SDHC cards instead of P2, and a Shoulder-mounted version of that exact model. 🙂 Well, those and a 2/3″ chip would be nice (albeit raising the price tag, which I would gladly pay for those 3 features). End babbling rant.

[Lou Caputo]

why not use the GY-HM700 as your A camera and the HM100 as your B camera? that way your shooting on the same media and might have a better chance of the cameras somewhat matching.

[Shannon Shaw]

I’ll seriously look into that considering the hm100u is basically the junior version of the hm700u, and, like you said, shooting on same media.
I was a bit worried that, while inter-cuting during editing, the different size chips ( 1/3 for 700u, 1/4 for 100u) would drastically affect the quality of the pictures. But, after some research, it seems to still be a good pairing.
For the JVC pair, I would probably even give up the ease and frame-accurateness of intra-frame editing – 1 of 2 on my vital wish-list, however,…

I am revisited by item 2 of 2 on my vital wish-list: recording at 4:2:2 color sampling. I will be doing a LOT of chroma-key work, some of it no where near a pc or laptop for hd-sdi output.

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I am now seriously looking into Panasonic hvx200a paired with hpx300; hoping against hope that in 5 years, I can get 8 hours of FULL RASTER recording in the $1200 to $2000 ballpark out of (multiple, hi-capacity) P2 cards for each camera (a grand total of 16 hours worth for $2400 to $4000).
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Shesh! If I would’ve spent as much time researching in college as I am on this important purchase, i’m sure I wouldn’t have dropped out!!

[Kevin Dauernheim]

I would buy this camera again in a heartbeat!! It’s solid-reliable and the footage looks amazing especially on Blu-ray. The dual hot swap-able SD cards is what really does it for me. I have a great 17-1 lense and the better viewfinder. I just purchased a fisheye from B&H and I’m lovin’ the camera even more. Everyone is moving to DSLR but it will take a lot of changes with those cameras to make me move over. I’m hoping JVC comes out with a 50MB version of the 700.
Kevin-PM Video,Inc.