Entry-Level Pro Camcorder Will Ship in May
Pushing for more cost-effective HD acquisition, JVC today announced the GY-HM70, a shoulder-mount HD camcorder that shoots at resolutions up to 1080/60p and records AVC HD footage to dual SDHC/SDXC memory cards at up to 28 Mbps. The camera lists for $1995 and is expected to ship in May.
The camera's imager is a 1/2.3-inch 12-megapixel CMOS that records 1080/60p, 1080/60i, and 480/60i footage at a variety of bit rates, starting at 3 Mbps for SD and 5 Mbps for 1080/60i HD. It will also shoot at 300 fps, but only at 720×480 (PAL versions shoot 250 fps at 720×576). The camera will also capture still images at 12 megapixels of resolution. JVC reps tell us this is the same sensor used in the company's GY-HMQ10 4K compact handheld camcorder.
The glass is a 29.5mm (35mm-equivalent) wide-angle GT lens with 10x optical zoom and 16x "dynamic zoom." It has manual focus, iris, and shutter controls and a choice of manual or automatic white balance. Optical image stabilization, auto focus, and focus assist are also featured.
For viewfinding while the camera is shoulder-mounted, a .24-inch LCOS color viewfinder is available, as well as a flip-out three-inch LCD for viewing while the camera is tripod-mounted. (There is also an HDMI Mini connector and RCA video and audio outs, should you need them for monitoring or playback.) A mic, 3.5mm mic input, and 3.5mm headphone jack are all on board.
A hot-swappable dual battery system lets shooters keep the camera running for hours. With one battery attached, it weighs about 6.7 pounds (3.0 kg).
It's aimed at traditionally low-budget market segments like education and event videography.
For more information, see the spec list at JVC's website.
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Too bad no XLRs…
It seems to me that this will sell extremely well; it is cheap, the feature set has a corresponding price point, yet it is big, and looks like a $5k professional Sony. Wedding shooters will eat this up, no doubt. There is nothing more annoying when a shooter shows up with a $3000 compact Panasonic (or Sony), and the bride gives the video guy a suspicious look, saying “you claim to be a pro, yet THAT is what you brought to film us? My dad has a better camcorder…”.
The killer on this one is no XLR. What were they thinking? Otherwise a great inexpensive camera but now you have to have an audio field recorder to complete it.
The picture says it has a 16x lens, but the description says 10x What gives?
Sorry about the confusion, Marco. The camera has a 10x “optical zoom.” We opted to list that spec in the article as opposed to the 16x “dynamic zoom” on the assumption that JVC’s “dynamic zoom” technology compromises image quality to some degree. It would have been less confusing — especially given the “16x” label that’s visible in the image — to list both specs and let readers draw their own conclusions.
Without XLR inputs, we can’t incorporate this into our facility. There’s just no reasonable excuse for failing to supply balanced audio inputs.