JVC GY-DV500 Mini DV Camcorder

The JVC GY-DV5000 is the follow up to the highly regarded GY-DV500. I have used both cameras and can tell you that this new camera is a major upgrade over its predecessor. And that's an understatement.

First of all (and most importantly) the DV5000's stock lens is a 16x Canon lens. If you're in the know about cameras, Canon is the best manufacturer of broadcast quality lenses. Just look at any big time news crew's camera...you'll probably see the Sony logo. But look at the lens. Chances are, they're using a Canon. And the one attached to the DV5000 is not disappointing at all.

The second most notable improvement over the DV500 is the imaging chip. JVC put a 12-bit analogue to digital converter, and a 24-bit digital signal processor in this camera. What does this mean to you? A crisp, clear picture that looks great, even in low light. The image this camera captures is absolutely outstanding.

This camera also has 400% dynamic range. Now if you're shooting inside of a car or inside of a house and there's a window in your shot, you can still see some details instead of the window completely being "blown out." The higher dynamic range also gives you more details in shadow areas of your image.

Also new to the 5000 is support for Full Size DV and playback of DVCAM tapes. You can now record long events (such as weddings) onto longer DV tapes...although you'll still need to change those bricks (batteries) every hour or so.

Another great feature JVC added to the 5000 is an LCD screen. While it's not color-accurate, it is a great tool to have to check general white balance and exposure. I found that lugging around a production monitor while using this cam was no longer necessary.

Did I mention how well this camera performs in low light? While the DV500 needed gain added for some indoor shots, the 5000 easily picks up existing lighting with room to spare. We're talking dim, fluorescents. And the image is clean up until about +12dB gain. Lolux mode is usable but extremely noisy, 18dB is pushing it.

The shoulder pad is a little bit better than the 500 but the camera still tends to feel lopsided. Maybe I have an oddly shaped shoulder, but I think the viewfinder is causing this problem. Handheld work is possible but I'd still like a better shoulderpad in future models.

Another annoying thing about the DV5000U is the XLR inputs. Instead of having 3 like the 500, JVC only gives you two...and there about a foot apart from each other! Using a breakaway cable can be a pain and the front XLR input is awkward to get to. This is where JVC loses another point in my book...there's room left for channel 3!!

But back to the good stuff. We're now given 4 different filter types instead of 3. And because this camera is so sensitive to light, JVC smartly put a 1/64 ND filter on the filter wheel. So, now you can easily get nice shallow depth of field. Because otherwise without the ND filter you're pushing the aperture ring to its f/16 limit during the bright midday.

Some other quick points about this camera:

- The new CineGamma option works all right.
- The soundboard circuitry is good
- Toss the built-in mic in the garbage
- Use JVC-brand tapes and don't switch brands or you'll gunk up your video heads (this is true with any DV camera)
- The Firestore hardware capture device is worth every penny if you do tons of shoots that need quick turn-around
- Make sure Skin detail detection isn't accidentally turned on. If it's not setup right it can do slightly funky things to your image
- "Warm cards" work great with this camera.
- Don't trust auto iris. It's usually a stop overexposed.
- This camera was also designed to be used as a deck...so if you can't afford a pro deck this is doable temporarily.

All in all, this would be a great camera purchase. Since everyone is moving to high definition, you can probably get this camera relatively cheap. I would look into getting the DV5100 though because I think it shoots better in 16:9 and the lowlight noise is improved even more.