GZ-HD3

[dlevanchuk]

After playing around with the cameras at my school, i begin to eyeball with my sinful eyes towards amazon for a camera purchase... DUh DUh DAAAAhhh! its time for camera porn.

What I want is 3CCD and HD. Bumped into JVC GZ-HD3.

Does anybody have any experience with it? Ease of use, durability, battery..

It doesn't have mic input, but thats ok, because I'd like to record sound on separate eq.

oh and the budget is $800. Like to shoot action, so rolling shutter on cmos is an issue..

Opinion? Suggestions?

 

[chilipie]

I've had a quick look at some reviews for it… the two things that put me off most are the funny codec it uses for recording and built in HDD, which (after mini DVDs) is probably my least favourite thing to record to - you can't quickly swap it out when it gets full, it makes the camera more expensive, and knocks during recording can corrupt files/break mechanical parts.

Out of interest, have you seen much footage of rolling shutter problems on newer cameras? It's a lot better than it was on older CMOS cameras, and it's barely noticeable on most small-chip ones.

 

[Cracker Funk]

chilipie is right -- the rolling shutter effect isn't so extreme anymore. Nevertheless, I understand your logic, in not wanting DSLR.

My main concern for this camera you're interested in is that I don't see a focus ring. That's a must-have, in my opinion. How much more expensive is the HD7 (which does have a focus ring)?

 

[dlevanchuk]

I wonder at what cmos size the rolling shutter is not an issue anymore... I ll have to do a bit more digging on that..

Funk: I checked out hd7 and loved it! Got everything I wanted.

 

[Cracker Funk]

I wonder at what cmos size the rolling shutter is not an issue anymore... I ll have to do a bit more digging on that..

Funk: I checked out hd7 and loved it! Got everything I wanted.

Sweet.

Rolling shutter, as I understand it, has not so much to do with the size of the chip, but in how the lines are scanned. When shooting video, each progressive shot is not gathered at once, but line-by-line, from the top down. So, maybe a larger chip actually means worse rolling shutter effect???

 

[David.rhsc]

Re: Shooting action. You'll be more jacked over by a camera's autofocus than you will by rolling shutter, and that's from a guy that doesn't like the "jello" look to the movement. (Some folks have said that they prefer it to classic 24fps motion blur on film, for example.) Without the ability to focus manually in an ergonimically efficient way, your camera is going to hunt all over the place during fast paced action. Just a thought.

 

[dlevanchuk]

Funk: size of the chip does affect on rollding shutter. I wonder at what chip size the effect becomes unnoticable?

David. I agree. I turn the auto focus off, but my current camera has only little buttons to adjust the focus, no focus ring..

Here is a completely noobish question.......
if the case around lens on the camera has little threads infront of the lens, I could put on additional lens/focus ring ot it?? I never dealt with lenses or anything fancy like that.... just point and shot lol

 

[chilipie]

Here is a completely noobish question.......
if the case around lens on the camera has little threads infront of the lens, I could put on additional lens/focus ring ot it?? I never dealt with lenses or anything fancy like that.... just point and shot lol

You'll be able to put filters and wide angle and telephoto lenses on it - I don't see how you could control focus off-camera unless you add a 35mm adapter and pull focus with the lens on that.

 

[David.rhsc]

Funk: size of the chip does affect on rollding shutter. I wonder at what chip size the effect becomes unnoticable?

I'm not certain that necessarily follows. Perhaps there's an inherent logic to it, but processing between the sensor and saving the data is a factor as well.

For example, my Samsung Galaxy is a CMOS camera with a very tiny sensor, and rolling shutter on it is unacceptably horrible.

Epic sensors are huge, and just getting bigger (also CMOS), and no way people would accept substantial rolling shutter on a camera of that price.

I'm no engineer, but I imagine there's a lot more to reducing the artifact than just sensor size.

As far as focus - that's why I said an "ergonomic" way to pull. Without it, action shots will be pretty difficult. As mentioned, a ground glass lens adapter is the only way to add a "focus ring" that I can think of as well.