GY-HM700 vs GY-HM790

[JoshGuerette]

I'm looking at JVC's GY-HM700U, which runs about $6k, and our church is looking to purchase 3 of them. The specs look good for us, but the camera is older and now discontinued. The thing is, the highest end JVC camera is the HM790U, which runs about $3k more each.

I'm looking at the specs, and I can't tell what would account for the difference in price, other than it being newer. Is it worth it to spend an extra $9k ($3k each) to get the better, newer camera?

[petereit]

As far as bang-for-your-buck is concerned, you could buy three refurb 250U's for the price of one 790U. At your switcher you'll never be able to tell the difference.

[JoshGuerette]

Originally Posted by petereit

As far as bang-for-your-buck is concerned, you could buy three refurb 250U's for the price of one 790U. At your switcher you'll never be able to tell the difference.

I agree, but we want to get new equipment that will last a long time and have a warranty.

[stevelam]

Actually the 700 just went goodbye as well. The 710 is the latest and great entry level model from JVC in their full-size range. The 750 sits between the two. I listed the differences from the JVC website below. For me, the 790 is more for specialized productions and people who really want to use all the features available. Shooting indie pictures, regional news stations that kind of thing. If you are looking for a high quality camera for a volunteer to use I wouldn't waste the money. I would go with a 710 instead.

The only differences between the 710 and the 790 are as follows:

710 has SDHC capability and the 790 has SDHC capability as well as SXS card slot
Both cameras record in 1920 x 1080 24p/30p 60i; 1440 x 1080 60i; 720 x 480 60i but the 790 also can record in 1280 x 720 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p as well as 1920 x 1080 25p 50i.

Both cameras record 25 Mps 35 Mps and the 790 can record 19 Mps.

The 790 can over/under crank; it has a 68 pin connector; Gen-Lock; TimeCode input/output; Video Input (pool feed); DVB-ASI output; and has fiber optic capability with an expansion model.

[JoshGuerette]

Huh, well we were looking at the HM750 because it did 720p as well, but we weren't sure if it was worth $1k more. However, now that the HM710 is only $500 less and doesn't have 720p (or a few other of the in-between framerates for 1080p), it looks like the 750 is the way to go.

Not sure why they cut a bunch of features and increased the price $500 though, apparently adding DV support is expensive these days...

Thanks a bunch for the help, love that there's a community of people who have been in the same sort of situations as me and are willing to share.

Apparently it's the season of discontinuations, the Manfrotto stick/head kit I was looking at disappeared too.

_

Also, I found the spec sheet for the updated GY-HM line, if anyone else is interested.
http://pro.jvc.com/pro/attributes/HD...ences_710.html

[stevelam]

For everyone reading this the Panasonic HPX370 is still on special for $7,200.00. In all honesty I prefer the picture on the HPX370 to the JVC 700 series.

[petereit]

I agree with Steve, especially if low-light is a concern. We run our lighting pretty low. We recently had the opportunity to mount an HPX370 next to our JVCs and the Panny presented a visibly superior image.

[JoshGuerette]

How is the HPX370 as far as ease of use? Also, what are the costs/availability of accessories like rear zoom & focus controls, monitors, etc?

If I'm not mistaken, it's normally over $11k, right? The thing is, we aren't sure we are willing to spend the money immediately, we may wait up to a few months before going through with it. We could probably do the sale price, but if it goes up , we'd have to fall back to the 750.

[petereit]

If you're planning on setting your cameras up in a studio configuration, budget at least an additional $4,000 per camera for tripod, head, pan handles, remote zoom controller, remote focus controller, 9" high-definition LCD monitor (or your camera operators won't be able to see enough detail to focus accurately), monitor mounting hardware (eg Noga Arm) intercomm headset and belt pack and SDI cabling. (Edit: $4,000 is actually a tight budget for all of that, unless you are quite the savvy shopper or aren't averse to buying used equipment.)

Add an additional $10,000 per camera for a remote camera control unit kit if you want your technical staff in your switching studio to be able to remotely adjust camera levels (iris, gain, color levels) to insure that all of your cameras provide a consistent "look".

[stevelam]

I agree with Peterit there is a lot to budget for with these cameras.

In all honesty the accessories cost about the same for each camera. A little more here and there but it's about the same. The HPX370 normally sells for $9,200.00.

Normally for a church getting into a new camera system I would recommend HPX370s, tripod plates, miller tripods, camera-monitors, intercom system, and rear/focus and zoom.

Then once you are comfortable with the cameras and then if you still need the paint-boxes you can purchase them. That's the route I usually take.

[petereit]

Good advice, Steve. If you skip the paint boxes (remote camera control units or CCUs) you just need to work a little more on consistent lighting and make sure you white-balance your cameras after any lighting changes.