JVC GY-HD100 camera

Will we finally have an affordable, professional HD camera that isn't just an "I think I can" consumer model?

I don't know, but the JVC GY-HD100 camcorder looks like it could be the one. Film Imaging interviews JVC spinner Mark Walton:

DMN: Let’s talk about the other camcorder , the GY-HD100U.

Walton: This is a product that the creative community has been clamoring for.  It’s a  small, compact shoulder-style HDV 3-CCD camcorder with interchangeable lenses that offers true 24p recording in full high definition. [...] Unlike the Sony Z1 and FX1, we’ve elected to go with fully interchangeable bayonet mount lenses. These are conventional lenses that have true mechanical operation, iris, focus and zoom. Of course, the zoom is also servo-controlled. The lens operates just as you would expect on a professional camera.

DMN: This is the one is going to cost $10K, including lens, right?

Walton: It’s under $10K, yes, including lens. The camera has three built-in 1/3-inch CCDs.  One of the most in-demand features is that it records true 24P HD. The creative community, particularly filmmakers, have said repeatedly that 24 frame progressive gives them the look that they really want.  This is a tool for cinematographers that creates the “look of film” – a more polished and refined image than 1080i camcorders that produce more of a “live” look.  It’s a more creative type of format, and the creative community likes that. In addition, it has things like widely adjustable gamma controls, and various other adjustable camera parameters including skin tone detection. You can save the settings on a replaceable memory card.  You can transfer the settings to another camera, or if you want to come back to this particular shoot a week from now, you can load in the same settings you had before. This is a feature that will be very useful in a highly creative, artistic type of environment. 

DMN: What about audio on this new GY-HD100 camcorder ?

Walton: The GY-HD100 has two XLR mic inputs providing signals that are recorded at the MPEG -1 layer 2,384 kb per second format which is roughly CD audio quality. Our ProHD approach eventually calls for two additional audio channels. However, the GY-HD100U fully utilizes only 2 of them.

Walton on why JVC is the one to do this:

Walton : [...] The thing that we don’t have at JVC that other manufacturers have a problem with, is that we don’t have the stratification within our own product line that requires us to protect certain other investments in higher-end products. If we had invested heavily in a high-end system that was expected to amortize over x-number of years, it would lock us out of certain things. 

DMN: So you’re alluding to Sony ’s HDCam or XDCam, or Panasonic ’s P2?

Walton: You could say that about any higher-end product from any manufacturer.  I’m not singling out one manufacturer. I’m basically saying that JVC is in a unique position that allows us to move into this market in the most optimal way.

[...]

Walton: The GY-HD100U was built from the ground up in the same manner (and in the same factory) as our most expensive production cameras.   It’s not a derivative of a consumer camera. Not even close. Our competitors must provide a list of little things that differentiate their consumer model from their “pro” unit.   One look at the GY-HD100U, and you know it’s not a consumer derivative. All of the controls and switches are right where you’d expect them—right where they’re supposed to be.  And it only begins with the looks. Deep inside the GY-HD100U is a truly advanced progressive camera that sets a new benchmark in the industry.   We’re quite excited about the performance of this. It looks great. It works great.  It’s just everything you want.  We’ll have an Anton Bauer battery and even an optional hard drive unit so you can record directly to hard disk.

Tapeless production on HD? Sweet.

Of course, nobody's used the camera yet, so we'll have to see...

(Via HD for Indies, of course.)