SMAC goes to Central Asia with the JVC gz-hd40u
So here comes the long awaited review of the JVC GZ-HD40U Everio camcorder.
I have to say, the wait was well worth it. The camera has traveled to one of the most exotic places on earth - Uzbekistan (thats’ even farther away from the US and Europe than Borat’s Kazakhstan!).
I am a documentary filmmaker. When I plan projects there are 2 aspects I cannot compromise: great picture quality and mobility. This September, I traveled to Central Asia to shoot a documentary piece on the region’s architecture. Before I left I set out to find equipment that would give me great quality for television and web delivery and that I could carry for 3 weeks on end without killing myself.
The project was to go through 5 cities in Central Asia in 3 weeks and document the architecture of the Soviet and Post Soviet period. My partner on the trip was Kyong Park well known for his work in urban theory, art and architecture. We interviewed a vast group of people of various disciplines: ecologists to geographers and archaeologists.
The journey (as expected) was hot, dusty, bumpy and chaotic. The camera worked out perfectly and I had no issues with it whatsoever, which stunned me.
// BUILT IN HARD DRIVE //
The pleasure of having JVC GZ-HD40U was that I could carry it with me literally everywhere all the time without having to put it down and being able to shoot without worrying about running out of tape or card space. The camera has an built-in hard drive which holds 120GB of compressed HD footage, which is about 50 hours.
I have to admit I was prejudiced about built-in hard drives, but the Everio proved that there is nothing to be afraid of.
The only negative is when shooting without a break for several hours the hard drive gets slightly hot.
// BUILT IN LED LIGHT //
Since I was essentially a camera crew of one, I could not could bring a light kit with me even though we often shot in dark locations. The camera has a built in LED light though, which is really fantastic to have when you have no other source of light.
Below is ScribeMedia’s own Peter in a dark room and lit by the tiny LED light from the GZ-HD40U.
// HEADPHONE JACK //
When shooting guerrilla documentaries, sound is the most important thing!
Yes, there is a built in mic, but that’s not enough. Too often, such small cameras do not have a headphone jack, which means the shooter cannot monitor the sound while shooting and you might have a terrific interview in the middle of an Uzbek cotton field and end up with horrible audio.
Fortunately, the GZ-HD40U takes care of this and I could plug lavs into the camera, and monitor audio with headphones.
// STAND BY MODE //
Very convenient when I had to run around and shoot short takes very quickly. I did not have to worry about having to press the power button on and off to save the battery. When you open the LCD screen the camera turns off and when you close it it goes on stand by mode and eventually turns off.
// VIDEO STILL //
While shooting video the camera allows you to take 3 photos per take. This is truly genius, because when you see a great moment, you can take a video still.
It was useful later in the day when I was reviewing my footage, I could open the photos and use them to organize my story line, send pictures to the producers of the documentary and blog about the trip. I did not have to spend long hours logging and transferring footage and then choosing a video still.
Below is an example of a video still. It is a couple at Alaysky Bazaar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
// HOT SHOE //
Not all cameras of this size have a hot shoe. This proved to be an amazing feature on this trip — I used it all the time, especially at night or other low light situations when I used Litepanels “Micro” On-Camera Dimmable 5600K LED Video Light.
// MY SET-UP FOR THE TRIP //
- JVC GZ-HD40U Camcorder ($1,029.95)
- 3 JVC batteries ($69.95×3 = 209.85)
- Litepanels LPMICRO Micro LED on Camera Light ($ 299.95)
- Pearstone VT-2000 Consumer Tripod (59.95) - stable and very light (4.5 lbs) tripod with a very fluid head.
- Wirless Microphone Set Sennheiser EW100ENGG2 ($599)
- G-Tech G-Drive mini Triple (200GB, 7200rpm) ($214.99)
The total for all audio/video equipment is $2413.69.
Not bad considering the fact that I filmed by myself for 3 weeks non-stop. Unimaginable a couple of years ago!
Alexandra Lerman is the founder of SMAC: ScribeMedia Arts and Culture. She is also a video artist and a documentary filmmaker.
Thanks to Alexandra for her objective and complete review of JVC’s new camera. You’re faith in it, the results and the info you included about the rest of your package are very helpful to my group and upcoming project. We’ll be using Sony’s XD cams as primary and Z-1’s as secondary but will add a couple of GZ-HD40U’s to the mix along with the accessories you outlined. I’m wondering what light kit you’d have brought along for sit down interviews, had you opted to do so? The Sony equivalent is said to have better low light capabilities and I’d love to see how your JVC performed. I’m hoping it has two audio inputs but am not seeing that in the specs. Thanks again for sharing your experiences. Where can we see your documentary?
Thanks Sterling, I am thrilled to hear this review helped your team.
I did not bring any other light setup because I wanted to be mobile and light. I tried to schedule interviews in daylight or used my litepanel, trying to keep the style of the docu as a spontaneous travelogue, not a history channel picture.
There is one audio input, so only the person on camera was mic’ed.
Whatever the limitations of this camera, I tried to make them work.
The film will be released in the spring of 2009. We’ll have updates on http://www.smac.us,
Best,
Alexandra
the zylight z-90 is a great, portable on-camera light. handles both tungsten and daylight.