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Model
|
| JVC GZ-HM1 | Sony HDR-HC3 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | JVC 
| Sony 
|
| Name | GZ-HM1 | HDR-HC3 |
| European name ? | GZ-HM1 | HDR-HC3E |
| US name ? | GZ-HM1 | HDRHC3 |
| lowest US price | 779 $ | 911 $ |
| On the market since | April 2010 | March 2006 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to JVC | link to Sony |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM1 | Sony HDR-HC3 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Sufficient
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | |  |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | |  |
Video
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM1 | Sony HDR-HC3 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| MiniDV HDV
|
| Recording Medium | SDHC card built-in flash memory
| MiniDV/HDV-Cassette
|
| video resolutions EU ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
| HDV 1440 x 1080/50i MiniDV 720 x 576/50i
|
| video resolutions US ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
| HDV 1440 x 1080/60i MiniDV 720 x 480/60i
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 24 Mbit/s | 25 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| DV MPEG2
|
| on-board memory ? | 64 GB | |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | JVC HD
| Carl Zeiss
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 10 x | 10 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 48 mm | 41,3 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 46 mm | 30 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | optically and electronically
| electronical
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| No
|
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 1 | 1 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/2,33 inch | 1/3 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 5650000 Pixel | 1434000 Pixel |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CMOS
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto manual presets
| auto manual presets WB-Shift
|
| Focus ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/4000 | 1/auto
|
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/2 | auto
|
| Apperture control ? | auto manual
| auto AE-Shift
|
| Infrared recording ? | No
| Yes
|
| Expanded Focus ? | No
| |
| Peaking ? | Yes
| |
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | Off 70% 100%
| Off 70% 100%
|
| Histogram ? | No
| Yes
|
| adjustable sharpness ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Adjustable color ? | No
| Yes
|
| Cinegamma ? | No
| No
|
| Black Strech ? | No
| No
|
| Knee ? | No
| No
|
| Colorbars ? | No
| Yes
|
| Misc. |
| Shot Transition ? | No
| No
|
| Custom Presets ? | No
| No
|
| Set Time Code ? | No
| No
|
Configuration
|
| Connections |
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM1 | Sony HDR-HC3 |
FBAS ? synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| Out
|
YC ? synonymous: S-Video | No
| No
|
YUV ? synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| Out
|
| HDMI ? | Out
| Out
|
DV / HDV (FireWire) ? synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | - | In Out
|
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| USB 2.0
|
| Microphone / Audio input ? | Mini-jack
| No
|
| Headphones ? | 3.5 mm mini-jack
| No
|
| Lanc ? | | Yes
|
| Time-code interface ? | No
| No
|
| Genlock ? | No
| No
|
| Accessory shoe ? | Standard
| AI
|
| HD-SDI ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 400 g | 500 g |
| Weight (with battery) | 485 g | 600 g |
| Battery type | JVC BNVF815U
| Sony NP-FP60
|
| Battery capacity | 1460 mAh | 1000 mAh |
| Charger ? | internal
| internal
|
| Remote control | Yes
| Yes
|
| Size |
| Height | 67 mm | 82 mm |
| Width | 72 mm | 78 mm |
| Depth | 141 mm | 139 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 6 | 8 |
| Viewfinder |
| Viewfinder available ? | No
| Yes
|
| Color Viewfinder ? | - | Color
|
| Viewfinder format ? | - | 16:9 |
| Viewfinder pixels ? | | 123200 Pixel |
| Display |
| Display available ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Color display ? | Color
| Color
|
| Display size | 2,8 Inch | 2,7 Inch |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Display pixels ? | 207000 Pixel | 211200 Pixel |
| Touch Screen ? | No
| Yes
|
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker
| Rocker
|
| Manual Focus ? | bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
|
| Manual Aperture ? | bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
|
| Focus switcher ? | No
| Yes
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| No
|
| Exp Lock ? | No
| No
|
| Gain ? | No
| No
|
| White balance ? | No
| No
|
| Push AF ? | Yes
| No
|
| Audio Levels ? | No
| No
|
Custom Keys ? synonymous: User buttons | 1 | |
Audio
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM1 | Sony HDR-HC3 |
| Audio Formats ? | | MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1
|
| Microphone ? | Stereo internal Mini-jack external
| Stereo internal
|
| Audio Control ? | auto manual
| auto
|
| Audio levels ? | Screen
| No
|
Still
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM1 | Sony HDR-HC3 |
| Recording Medium ? | built-in flash memory SDHC card
| Memory Stick Duo
|
| Medium included ? | No
| No
|
| Effective pixels ? | | 1991000 Pixel |
| Resolutions ? | 3648 x 2736 max
| 2304x1728 2304x1296 |
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | Yes
| Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM1 | Sony HDR-HC3 |
| Specials | | &"Smooth Slow Record" slow motion mode: 3 seconds are recorded with 200 half frames/sec., resulting in a 4-fold slow motion.However, the recording is without sound and in poorer image quality. |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM1 | Sony HDR-HC3 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM1 | Sony HDR-HC3 |
| luminance resolution | | |
| chrominance resolution | | |
| lens distortion | | |
| test small ISO image | | |
| noise / internal microphone | | |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode ? | | |
| Test image 12 lux optimized ? | | |
| slashCAM rating |
| Lowlight ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Resolution ? | Excellent | Sufficient |
| Color performance ? | Good | Sufficient |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Optical Zoom ? | Sufficient | Sufficient |
| Wide Angle ? | Poor | Sufficient |
| Configuration / image ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | Poor |
| Handling ? | Good | Sufficient |
| Portability ? | Very good | Very good |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Optics ? | Good | Good |
| Dynamics ? | Good | Good |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Sufficient
 |
Total score ? (maximal 570) | 354 | 264 |
| Pros | -Sharpness -Good low light behavior - External buttons for focus, shutter, aperture + custom key
| HDMI out + Cheap price
|
| Cons | - small wide-angle - strong, non-adjustable colors
| - bad color resolution - DV-quality only average - poorly equipped
|
| Conclusion | The GZ-HM1 is leading in the race for sharpness in its 1000 Euro range of 2010 camcorders.Also in low light conditions the camera makes a good impression.In spite of its price tag it is not possible to adjust the colors, which is unfortunate because they remain a matter of taste and are sometimes even on the verge of being critical.The external controls will be interesting for people who like to manually adjust things and be in control.In addition to the inertia of the parameters, the user must decide if a fast white balance or the focus aids should be assigned to the custom key.Because for the other it means diving into the menue via laser touch.Also, the small wide angle is not very inspiring. | The Sony HDR-HC3 offers only average brightness resolution in HDV, the color resolution is beneath SD-level.Occasionally significant (colored) moirees can be seen on fine details.The subjective picture impression is barely good, in part thanks to the good dynamics behavior with little noise and few smear-effects.Color-wise the HC3 is pleasantly warm.The wide angle is very limited for indoors, but on the other hand there are only few lens errors.In low light situations the HC3 performs satisfactory. |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM1 | Sony HDR-HC3 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | | www.camcorder-test.com
|
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