Jvc-procision-gc-px100-e1357852839842-224x92JVC has been rather quiet lately. The company has mostly remained out of the spotlight when it comes to filmmaking equipment over the last few years, but they've stayed somewhat on the cutting edge, especially with the first consumer 4K camera, the GY-HMQ10. Now they are coming out with a consumer oriented camera that might just find some use in your next film, the JVC GC-PX100. It's a 1920 x 1080 camera capable of 60fps up to 600fps, and shoots internally at 36Mbps. Click through for more on the announcement.

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Here are some of the basic specs of the camera:

  • 1920 x 1080p 60fps at 36Mbps
  • Back-Illuminated 1/2.3-inch 12.8 Megapixel CMOS Sensor
  • 5 Shooting Speeds Up to 600fps, 12MP Still Images at 9fps
  • Built-In Wi-Fi
  • SC/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card Slot
  • 29.5mm F/1.2 Wide Angle Lens
  • 10x Optical Zoom & 16x Digital Zoom
  • 3" Touch Panel LCD
  • Optical Image Stabilizer with A.I.S.
  • K2 Audio & Zoom Microphone

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Here's a bit from their press release:

With Wi-Fi connectivity, video and images can be wirelessly sent to and viewed on a smartphone or tablet. And for coaches and others with an interest in analyzing an athlete's performance, the free "JVC CAM Coach" app for iOS and Android allow annotations to be made on the playback image. Flaws in an athlete's form can be noted by drawing on the screen and easily seen by both coach and athlete using the large screen a tablet provides, and without the need to disturb the camera setup. There's also Twin View, which enables simultaneous side-by-side playback of two different video clips after they're transferred to a tablet, for comparative viewing. A Tagging function allows scenes to be tagged for easy access at any time, and the Scoring function allows the user to record a running tally of a game score as it progresses by tapping on a smartphone.

Videomaker posted this photo to their Twitter showing it rigged up with an EVF and microphone:

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Clearly this is going to be aimed at consumers, possibly directly at sports teams and coaches for athletics, but the 600fps stat is interesting. There is no question it won't be capable of that frame rate at 1080p since they are not advertising it as such, but it's likely going to be 120fps at 720p and then 600fps at some lower standard definition resolution. I could see a lot of different uses for this camera, but it's probably not going to be an A camera in any narrative filmmaking capacity because of the smaller sensor (which is between 1/3" and 1/2").

It's pretty impressive that they've managed to make such a fast lens for a camera like this, so that will probably help in lower light situations since the sensor is so small compared to DSLRs. My only concern is how you're actually going to hold the thing to shoot, not just because it's so small, but because there doesn't seem to be any place to really grab on. Obviously this is aimed more at consumer applications, so it makes sense that size was one of the main considerations to make it appealing to those who don't want to carry around a bulky camera.

Either way, it's going to be capable of some serious slow motion, which could come in handy for a lot of people.

What do you guys think? How could you see yourself possibly using this camera?

Link: JVC GC-PX100 -- B&H

[via Engadget]