JVC Camcorder GY HM700 FDT REVIEW
User Manual: JVC Camcorder GY-HM700
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Apr-Jul 2009
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Craig Yanagi, National Marketing Manager for Creation
Products and his colleagues at JVC Professional Products
Company must have been spending a lot of time in Cuper-
tino and Atsugi this year. Fasten your seatbelts: JVC’s new
GY-HM700 compact shoulder-resting professional camcorder
records directly not only to inexpensive SDHC memory cards
in QuickTime (.mov) format for Final Cut Pro, but also to SxS
media with an add-on accessory for les that are compatible
with Sony’s XDCAM EX format. Yes, you can have it both ways.
Recording in the editing system’s native format eliminates time
consuming transfers and transcoding— dramatically speeding
up post-production time. is is a huge leap forward. e new
GY-HM700 is, quite possibly, the most comfortable lightweight
shoulder-resting camcorder available. Repeat aer me: Shoul-
der-Resting. At 8 lbs. including lens, viewnder, microphone
and battery, the well-balanced GY-HM700 sits on your shoulder
comfortably all day, like the famous black cat in the early Aaton
ads. Even though the camera is resting on your shoulder, for
some reason the process is still called “Handheld,” a curious
anachronism. It dates back to the ARRI 2C and Bell & Howell
Eyemo. You did indeed hand-hold those cameras, and aer a
couple of hours, if you didn’t have the stamina of a cameraman
like the late, great Joe Longo, your arms would ache and your
back would be ready for an appointment with the nearest shiatsu
specialist. We still hand-hold many of the current crop of lm
and digital cameras, which, of course, has been a windfall for the
enormous cottage industry in aermarket accessory shoulder
mounts. Anyway, if you plan to do a lot of handheld shooting, or
any kind of shooting, this camcorder is for you.
e GY-HM700 natively records QuickTime (.mov) les used
by Apple and Final Cut Studio. ere is no need to convert
or rewrap les prior to editing. Post-production can begin
immediately aer shooting; no digitizing of tapes or re-encoding
takes place, and rst generation quality is always maintained. It
is possible to edit directly from the memory card, but to avoid
tempting fate, best practice is to copy the les to hard drives and
store your memory card as an archival master.
e GY-HM700 is the industry’s rst shoulder supported
camcorder to store les on inexpensive SDHC memory cards.
e camera provides 2 memory card slots, for a total of up to
64GB of on-board storage—enough for more than 3 hours of
continuous HD recording at 1080p 35 Mbps, or 6 hours at 720p
19 Mbps. e camera automatically begins recording on the
second card when the rst card lls up. When the second card
lls up, the camera reverts to recording to the rst card slot,
assuming you have inserted a fresh memory card, and didn’t
forget to remove the “exposed” one.
When you attach the optional KA-MR100 dockable media
recorder, it is possible to record Sony XDCAM EX compatible
.MP4 les onto high-speed SxS memory cards, while at the same
time recording the same .MP4 les to inexpensive SDHC cards.
is is a great way to get a simultaneous backup, and we all
know you can never have too many digital backups.
e GY-HM700 uses three ⅓" progressive scan full HD CCDs,
with a standard bayonet mount that accepts a wide range of
lenses, including JVC’s optional 16mm prime lens adapter. e
camcorder can ip the image when these prime lenses are used.
e “stock” HD lens is Canon’s KT14x4.4KRSJ. e high resolu-
tion viewnder is based on a new .45-inch 1.22 million pixel
Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) panel (852 x 480 x 3). is new
all-digital viewnder displays images with more than 5 times the
resolution of typical color viewnders. A 4.3-inch ip-out LCD
monitor displays recording, playback, clip management, and
menu operation.
e GY-HM700 records two channels of uncompressed LPCM
16 bit audio at 48Khz. Levels can be controlled manually, or
automatically using AGC, and an audio meter is provided in the
LCD and viewnder displays for easy adjustment. Balanced XLR
inputs with phantom power are provided on the camera for an
external microphone and/or wireless receiver, and a shotgun
microphone is provided.
JVC GY-HM700 ProHD 1/3" Camcorder
31
Apr-Jul 2009
JVC’s GY-HM700 is a compact shoul-
der-resting camcorder for mainstream
shows, documentaries, news, sports,
wildlife, reality, independent and
dramatic production. It natively records
Quicktime .mov files for Apple’s Final
Cut Studio directly to SDHC Memory
Cards, or XDCAM EX files to SxS Cards.
Comfortable, adjustable Shoulder pad•
3-• ⅓" CCDs: full HD
Industry standard bayonet lens mount•
wide range of lenses and accessories•
New HD Canon 14:1 lens included•
Wider angle•
Higher resolution•
Minimal chromatic aberration•
Records to dual hot swappable SDHC •
memory cards and/or optional SxS
adapter
Pre Rec (retro cache) function prevents •
“missed shots”
Professional recording with selectable •
data rates up to 35Mbps
1920 x 1080 (1080p24/p25/p30, •
1080i60/i50)
1280 x 720P (p60/p50/p30/p25/p24)•
Native file recording: XDCAM EX (.MP4 •
file format).
Native Final Cut Studio .mov format•
Edit immediately without conversion or •
transcoding
Available with optional SxS Media •
Recorder
Variable frame rate recording (over crank, •
under crank)
HDSDI output•
Can also provide downconverted SDI •
output—live or playback.
Downconverted SD output (DV via •
IEEE-1394)
New high resolution (1.22 million pixel) •
Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) viewfinder
New large (4.3-inch) flip-out LCD monitor•
Patented Focus Assist function•
Built-in clip viewer and management •
system
Image customization modes (gamma, •
matrix, knee, detail, etc.)
Uncompressed LPCM audio (2ch) •
recording
Manual level controls with audio meter•
XLR inputs with phantom power•
