/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

JVC

Sony

Name

GS-TD1BE (3D-Modus)

HVR-HD1000

European name ?

GS-TD1BE

HVR-HD1000E

US name ?

GS-TD1

HVR-HD1000U

lowest US price

1299 $

1520 $

On the market since

April 2011

May 2008

Manufacturers URL

link to JVC

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

AVCHD
MVC 3D

HDV

Recording Medium

SDHC card
built-in flash memory
SDXC card

MiniDV/HDV-Cassette

video resolutions EU ?

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
MP4 2 x 1920 x1080

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i

video resolutions US ?

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
MP4 2 x 1920 x1080

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i

Max Bitrate ?

34 Mbit/s

25 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG4

MPEG2

on-board memory ?

64 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

JVC HD

Carl Zeiss

Optical Zoom ?

5 x

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

42 mm

40 mm

Filter diameter ?

- mm

37 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optically and electronically

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/4,1 inch

1/2,9 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

2070000 Pixel

2280000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/4000

1/10.000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/2

1/3

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Yes

Expanded Focus ?

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off
70%
100%

Histogram ?

Yes

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Yes

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

Out

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

Out

USB ?

USB 2.0 OUT

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

590 g

2700 g

Weight (with battery)

676 g

3000 g

Battery type

JVC BNVF815U

Sony F570

Battery capacity

1460 mAh

2200 mAh

Charger ?

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

102 mm

384 mm

Width

64 mm

206 mm

Depth

186 mm

708 mm

Relative Size ?

560

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

3,5 Inch

2,7 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

920000 Pixel

211200 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker

Rocker
Ring

Manual Focus ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

assignable custom key

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Focus switcher ?

ND Filter ?

Exp Lock ?

Gain ?

White balance ?

Push AF ?

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz

MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto
5 steps

auto
manual

Audio levels ?

Screen

Viewfinder
Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

built-in flash memory
SDHC card
SDXC card

Memory Stick Duo

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

3000000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

1920 x 1080 3D

640x480
2048 x 1536
2848x2136
2848x1602

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Misc.

Specials

autostereoscopic display

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

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 ?

Good

Color performance ?

Satisfactory

subj.Picture impression ?

Good

Optical Zoom ?

Poor

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Sufficient

Configuration / image ?

Satisfactory

Good

Configuration / sound ?

Satisfactory

Handling ?

Satisfactory

Portability ?

Good

Sufficient

Photo function ?

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Satisfactory

Good

Dynamics ?

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

307

304

Pros

+ More manual 3D control than its direct competitors

- cheapest shoulder mounted HD camcorder to date
-lots of connection options

Cons

- operation concept
- Image characteristics can not be changed

- somewhat outdated technique
- almost no manual control elements
- no XLR

Conclusion

In terms of image quality, handling and also the display the JVC is not quite on par with the HDR-TD10.Though the TD1 in return offers a little more manual control, this is partly hidden by an unnecessarily complicated operation.Also the non-changeable, rather extreme color settings are certainly not for everyone.A firmware update could address these criticisms, however, and make the camera much more attractive.Hopefully the standards-compliant MVC implementation will be adopted by more software makers over time.

For training purposes the HD1000 is not very suitable, since it isn`t operated in the same way as pro-cams.For a professional handling you`ll need many control elements on the camera body, and those are lacking on the HD1000.But compared with other current top consumer cams, many things actually can be controlled manually, a fact that might make this camera interesting to some buyers.If Sony had included the chips and the display used on the SR11/12, many more customers might have taken interest in this model, not least due to the manual shutter control.But now what you`ll get is middle-rate (but not bad!) image quality in a price range where not many cameras are to be found.Those looking for an cheap shoulder cam -- even if it`s only to look more professional to customers -- will not find anything less expensive in HD.

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