JVC GY-HM100U Hands-on

Cameraman Bill Miller finds the light weight of the JVC GY-HM100U allows him to balance easily on a fence railing, which would be much more difficult with a 25lb. camera.

I made a pledge to myself a number of years ago that when the 25lb. camera I lugged around all day on handheld assignments got to be too much, I'd throw in the towel. Maybe retire to my editing chair. Sure, there are lots of little cameras coming along, but none with the professional punch I needed. Then along comes the JVC GY-HM100U, sporting great HD image quality and a sleek profile, and weighing in at less than 4lbs. with microphone. There goes my early retirement.

Miller can maneuver easily in the rodeo arena with the lightweight camera, making sure he can get out of the way quickly.

I was one of the first kids on the block to get the new mini-monster, just in time for our summer rodeo, the New England Wild West Fest, for which I am creative and video director. It's a down-and-dirty assignment that has me behind the bucking shoots, chasing high-kicking horses around the dusty arena, and working in tight and often dangerous situations. It's not an assignment for the faint of heart. My little camera matched my every move. At just more than 3lbs., it let me stick my lens in crevices only a beetle might have explored before. Not only at arm's length, but the light camera lends itself to being fastened to the end of a monopod for even more access into what had been inaccessible areas. And what the hey, if I dropped the unit in front of a raging bull and he stomped his 2000lbs. on the camera, I'm only out $3,995.

The HM100 is not ideal in really low-light situations because it uses a 1/4in. 3CCD system, but the overall results are phenomenal. Format options include 1080p, 1080i, and 720p. You also have the option of shooting 24fps, 30fps, or 60fps. My favorite is 30fps, which gives me just enough jitter to look like film. All of the information is stored on tiny, inexpensive SDHC cards for which there are two slots built into the camera. This gives you nearly 2 hours of continuous recording. Since the camera records in the QuickTime format native to Apple Final Cut Pro, you can pop the cards out, drop them into a $30 card reader, and you're ready to edit—no encoding necessary. This is groundbreaking.

I buy new SDHC cards for each client since they're so cheap, around $45 a card. (I like cards made by Transcend, but that's a personal choice, and I haven't tested many different brands.) The card makers claim they'll last for 100,000 start-ups, unless that bull steps on them. Make sure you get class 6 cards for the speed; they're rated to transfer at 6MBps.

The camera also has XLR audio inputs, so you can use your professional audio equipment without adapters. This, along with phantom power for the XLRs and switchable line/mic inputs, most clearly separates the HM100 from its smaller competitors. Professional image settings such as gamma and skin detail do the same.

Onscreen information allows the operator a number of different adjustment including manual or automatic settings, just like the bigger, more expensive cameras.

Since the rodeo, I've had the opportunity to use the HM100 in many different situations, even as a second unit on shoots primarily using Panasonic AJ-HDX900 cameras (2/3in. 3CCD, DVCPRO HD format). The footage intercut beautifully, and while it's not up to the HDX900's quality, it was darn close.

One of the problems I found with the HM100, as with most lightweight units, is that you have to be very steady or shoot on a tripod for the best results. Since it's not shoulder-mountable, the slightest miscue leads to funky footage. When handholding, I found looking through the viewfinder as opposed to shooting with the built-in LCD screen provided the best results.

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I continue to find oddball uses for the camera. I was directing and shooting for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Radio City Rockettes. It was a three-camera shoot using Panasonic HDX900 cameras. They were loaded down with rear focus and zoom, field monitors, and heavy-duty tripods. During the first act, Santa Claus makes an appearance in the audience. Rather than breaking down the HDX900, I grabbed the HM100, ran through the audience, and nailed the shot just as the follow-spot illuminated Mr. Claus. I was low-profile, and could have been just a member of the audience with my little camera. Not knowing what the exposure might be, I put the JVC totally on automatic for focus, f/stop, and shutter speed. The results were amazing, and the footage cut beautifully with that of the bigger camera.

There are a number of other features that I really like that are usually found only in more expensive units. For instance, focus assist is great if you have aging eyes like yours truly. It uses a single color superimposed over a black-and-white image that lets you know when you are in focus. That's saved my career on more than one occasion. I like the fact that you can preset timecode to either free run or record run. When shooting multiple cameras, I like to use military time of day to sync all of the cameras.

Autofocus is not something I recommend unless you're desperate. The HM100 in autofocus mode will often search for the right focus point, shuttling back and forth. This is often not detectable on the 2.8in. LCD viewing screen, and it bites you on the you-know-where once you're in the edit room.

Switching between formats requires rebooting the camera. It does this automatically, but it takes several seconds to achieve. Also, if you have recorded different formats on the same SDHC card and you haven't kept a detailed log of same, it can be confusing when trying to play back scenes. A bothersome note pops up on the playback screen that only says, "Other." It means those scenes were recorded in a different format. Then you manually have to go through all the format changes to find the one you recorded in.

The HM100 is equipped with a fixed 10X Fujinon lens (f=3.7mm-37mm) that is not interchangeable. I find that while adequate, it's really not wide enough on one end and not tight enough on the other end. But give me a break; this camera is only a few thousand dollars. Its big brother, the JVC GY-HM700U, has an interchangeable lens, but you'll pay $7,500 for it.

To sum it up, this little guy is a great camera for the money, especially for difficult situations or for low-budget projects. It's also great if you need to keep a low profile. Take off the audio unit that sits on top, and you just look like a tourist. For its diminutive size and affordable price, it captures high-def MPEG-2 files (at up to 35Mbps) that are truly at a professional level of quality.

Bill Miller is owner of Bill Miller Video Productions. He has been producing films and video for more than four decades. He can be reached at bill@billmillerfilm.com.