Phil's Camcorder Research Report

Just a little research on some of my favorite camcorders.

I've been nosing around the internet checking out all I can find about the JVC Everio-G GZ-HD7US Hard Disk HD Camcorder. I found some interesting things about it to share with you.

JVC Everio

$1000 - $1700

The camera's hard drive can store nearly five hours of footage at its highest- quality setting, gathering video with three CCDs and laying it down at a full 1920x1080i.

It's got a color viewfinder which is cool. It can also be switched to Black and White so you can fine tune contrast and detail.

It uses something electronic pixel shifting to spread out it's pixels and, according to what I read, the result is ultra-high quality video. But, the video is still not up to the standards of professional-level 3-CCD camcorders.

I had to find out what Pixel Shifting or Pixel Shift Technology was. Here it is in a nutshell:

Pixel shifting technology is used to apply a movement process to the frame buffer. Basically creating a buffer of the image PRIOR to recording to tape (or taking a still), which in turn optimizes the picture quality.

Okay, I guess that feature is cool.

As I continued to read on, I found this:

The camcorder's image quality does contain compression artifacts. The picture doesn't look as buttery smooth as uncompressed HD, nor is it quite as good as HDV video. The colors tend to be vibrant and true without being overbearing, and the overall impression is that this camera is definitely shooting in HD, and its sharpness is impressive. It's not quite up to professional standards, but for amateur work, it's good enough to be considered overkill.

So, ultimately, it appears that this camera is going to capture good looking video when compared to Consumer Grade camcorders. But when compared to Pro-sumer camcorders with 3CCD technology and Pro camcorders with 3CCD, the picture clarity falls very short.

My biggest concern when contemplating what type of camera to use is, How will the footage be edited? Especially since this is a tapeless camera. What is the camera's native recording format and can my NLE software read it?

Editing raw footage is a big concern. Probably my chief determining factor. I use Final Cut Pro primarily and use AVID and Adobe Premiere as backups. iMovie and Windows Movie Maker are my fall backs.

I did some more research and found that the Camcorder records video and audio to its internal hard drive as .tod files. .tod files are MPEG files contained in a wrapper. It seems that all of my favorite softwares will have a problem with this type of file. Here's what I found:

To edit the footage with Final Cut Pro you have to download a free utility from the internet (freeware MPEG StreamClip for format conversion). Plus, if you are using an Apple Mac, the computer must have at least 2GBs of Ram and a processor outputting at least 1.25 Gigahertz or be a G4 or higher. That puts me out. My Mac is a G3 with barely 1GB of Ram.

For editing on the PC, some user's recommend using Ulead 11 Plus Video Editing software (eventhough I went to the Ulead website and there is no mention of .tod file support). But, some people say it reads .tod files natively. You have to copy the .tod files to the computer's hard driver thru the USB port, then open the files (this process converts the files into MPG-2 files) and edit. The edited final result can be exported to an MPG file or to DVD.

The camera saves files in .tod format instead of .mpeg which is unrecognizable to most every video editing software forcing you to pay to download conversion software and codecs.

Gizmodo.com says: What about editing this footage? It outputs regular MPEG-2 in a wrapper called .tod that can be edited far and wide using the included Cyberlink software, iMovie and most HDV editing apps. We'd rather just see a capture/edit/output workflow like we've become accustomed to with DV.

For the DV-like workflow, the Camcorder lets you record in a format called "1440 Constant Bit Rate" mode, and then output that video using the FireWire interface. The resulting video is an HDV compatible format, and can be easily edited by many editing software applications.

If you are using Final Cut Pro or other professional non-linear editing programs on the Mac, you cannot use the camera's native .TOD format, which is basically an MPEG inside the .TOD container. Forget about following JVC's instructions: they are too time-consuming and don't allow batch processing. The easiest conversion method requires two freeware programs: The VLC media player, and MPEG Streamclip, both available on the Apple Website (and elsewhere). You'll first need to use the VLC player to convert the .TOD into a .TS file, which takes seconds (you are only changing the container format to MPEG TS, not actually changing compression). Once you've changed the .TOD file to a .TS file, you can use MPEG Streamclip to change to a variety of file formats that Final Cut Pro can recognize. Of course since you are recompressing the file at this point, expect this to take far longer than the first step.

While you can use a variety of compressions, files compressed using DVCPRO60 can be viewed in Final Cut immediately without a need to render. The quality of the final DVC PRO .MOV file seems identical to the original .TOD file.

Sounds like a process to me. I like being able to plug my camcorder into the computer and have my NLE software recognize it and control the entire digitizing process. But I use MiniDV tape camcorders. The hard drive feature would be cool, if my computer would recognize the camcorder as an external drive and see the files as .mov, or .avi, or .hdv, or mpeg.

Some other quick little things to note about this camera are:

Trying to zoom all the way into its full 10x length made for some really shaky looking shots. Everio's image stabilization leaves much to be desired.

According to JVC the image stabilization that comes with the camera does not work and will be fixed in the next generation of the cam.

The video tends to stutter and jitter and the image stabilization system under performs.

The video generally looks pretty good--but you can get much better HD video from tape-based models such as the Canon HV10 or HV20 for far less money.

Some of the problems with the HD7's video include severe interlace artifacts, horizontal jitter and stutter, and blown-out highlights. Video looks far sharper when shot using a tripod, with very little motion in the scene, but even then you can see interlace artifacts while zooming and on moving objects.

The battery lasted for only 20 to 30 minutes of field testing, despite the fact that the LCD viewfinder was closed and the less power-hungry eye-level viewfinder was being used.

The optical image stabilizer seemed completely ineffectual.

I also read a post where one guy said, "Would I buy it? If you want a camera to shoot your kids outdoors and take still pictures, fine. Pro application? Definitely not! 15 Lux rating? I would have a serious issue with that."

Cnet had this to say about the JVC Everio GZHD7

The good:
Nice manual features; attractive design; high-quality audio; low-noise, low-light video.

The bad:
Ineffectual optical stabilizer; needs a built-in ND filter; some horizontal jitter and stuttering during playback; low-resolution video; sad battery life.

The bottom line:
If this camcorder cost $500, we'd give it a much higher rating. But for its quadruple-digit price, we expect far better performance and video quality from the JVC Everio GZ-HD7.

One other thing for me is a camera's ability to record audio. Capturing good video is one thing, but only presents Half the Picture. Good sound is what makes Great Video.

This camera has no XLR input for capturing quality sound (that's a feature found mainly on Pro and some Pro-sumer cameras). Perhaps the most glaring feature with this camera is - There is no headphone jack to monitor your incoming audio. Nor are there any controls to adjust the incoming audio.

That's a problem for me, but this can be overcome by purchasing an adapter.

.

Here's a list of accessories I highly recommend. I would consider this stuff to be essential to any videographer's tool kit using this particular camera.

Tiffen 46mm UV Protection Filter

$10.00

JVC Everio GL-VO746U Wide Conversion Lens

$200

JVC BN-VF823U 2190-mAh Rechargeable battery

4.5 hours

$95.00

JVC BN-VF815U

2.5 hours

$80.00

JVC BN-VF808U

1.5 hours

$55.00

JVC AA-VF8US Battery Charger

$105.00

The JVC MA-V8U Stereo Microphone

$130.00

Similar Camcorders

The Canon HV20 HD Camcorder - $654.00 - $1579.00

The camera features 24 frames per second recording. That's the speed 35mm film cameras record video!

The good: The Canon HV20 high-definition camcorder has excellent video quality, nice features, HDMI output, and an accessory shoe.

The bad: Can't change white balance while shooting; night mode doesn't help poor low-light performance.

The bottom line: Canon's HV20 camcorder is a great choice for HD-happy amateurs, but its low-light performance could have been better.

Sony Handycam HDR-CX 7- $739.00 - $1230.00

The good: Excellent video and performance; impressive still photos for a camcorder; adequate manual controls; docking station included.

The bad: No wind filter; USB on dock only, not on camcorder; doesn't include Mini HDMI cable; no viewfinder.

The bottom line: As the flash-memory-based equivalent of the HDR-SR7, the Sony Handycam HDR-CX7 serves up the same pleasing performance and quality as its hard-drive cousin.

Sony Handycam HDR-SR7 - $869.00 - $1400.00

The good: Excellent video and performance; satisfying photo quality; a decent set of manual controls for the target audience; bundled dock.

The bad: No wind filter; no USB port on camcorder, just on bundled dock; annoying touch screen interface; cables not ubiquitous yet for mini-HDMI connector.

The bottom line: The hard-drive-based analog of the HDR-HC7, the Sony Handycam HDR-SR7 finally delivers a cutting-edge HD video experience, complete with great video and compatibility frustrations.

Sony Handycam HDR-HC7 - $860.00 - $2190.00

The good: Excellent video and performance; satisfying photo quality; a decent set of manual controls for the target audience; bundled FireWire cable.
The bad: Annoying touch screen interface.
The bottom line: A great HD camcorder for deep-pocketed leisure shooters, as long as you like the Sony Handycam HDR-HC7's touch screen interface.

Sony DCR-SR82 60GB - $550.00 - $638.00

Strengths: 1) 1.0 Megapixel Advanced HAD; 2) One Touch Wide Angle Shooting; 3) One Touch Disc Burn 4) Super NightShot Plus Infrared System; 5) Multi-Language Menu; 6) Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens.

Weaknesses: Battery needs to be attached to camera to get charged, no viewfinder, speed of zoom hard to keep controlled, a lot of wind noise, 1 megapixel still images a waste of time, a bit dark in some shots.

HDV - $1900.00 - $2500.00

(My Favorite out of the bunch)

What's hot? CineGamma, Black Stretch, small size, great audio package for the price of a lower-end DV camcorder. Dual viewfinder and LCD screen are nice as well.

What's not? Bottom load tape mechanism plus small size make it less than tripod friendly.

Panasonic Pro AG-DVC7 MiniDV Proline Camcorder - $700.00 - $1800

The AG-DVC20 DV camcorder delivers highly professional results with easy operation. The shoulder-held design keeps it stable when recording sports, weddings or other events. The 3CCD camera system, Advanced Color Pure Engine, and 10x optical zoom lens deliver professional-level, high-quality images. And the navigation menu makes operation one-touch easy. The AG-DVC20 has the competitive advantage of being a highly affordable shoulder mounted camera with no competition at its price level.

Canon GL2 MiniDV Digital Camcorder - $800.00 - $1600.00

With the GL2, Canon has created a camcorder with a wealth of features, each selected to elevate further the standard against which other camcorders are judged. The GL2 is a must-have for the person looking for the very best video-making experience. The GL2's excellence begins with its outstanding Fluorite lens and includes pro-level picture adjustment features found only in Canon's top-of-the-line, trend-setting XL1S camcorder.
Sony HVR-HD1000U MiniDV 1080i High Definition Camcorder - $1050.00 - $1600.00

The Sony HVR-HD1000U is an HDV camcorder specifically designed for videographers looking for an affordable shoulder-mounted camera. Ideal for event work and wedding videography, the camera is equipped with a ClearVid CMOS sensor, capable of recording 1080i high definition footage on a standard MiniDV tape. Additionally, the HVR-HD1000U comes fitted with a 10x Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens with Super SteadyShot image stabilization, ensuring operators get the perfect shot every time. These features make the HVR-HD1000U a welcome addition to the already proven line of Sony professional HDV products.

Canon Vixia HV30 - $1000.00

The good: Generally excellent video quality; solid feature set for its class; well designed

The bad: Tape housing feels a little flimsy; fixed eye-level viewfinder needs a better eye cup; manual focus dial a bit loose

The bottom line: An extremely minor upgrade from the HV20, the Canon Vixia HV30 remains a quality HDV camcorder with a couple of performance issues.

CANON XHA1 XH A1 DIGITAL HDV 1080I CAMCORDER

$2000

The good: Excellent video quality; extremely customizable; great lens and optical stabilizer; fast focus.

The bad: No 720p recording capability; coarse, low-resolution LCD.

The bottom line: Canon's XH A1 and XH G1 are excellent camcorders for entry-level professionals and independent filmmakers, with hard-to-beat prices for what they offer.

That's my report! Hope it was helpful! The next step is to go to B&H and check all the cameras out up close and personal.