Bought a new one this week.
Everyone knows I shoot train videos, using the video mode of my FUJI HS10. Its been doing this well for two years, but it has issues.
Its primarily a stills camera, and is designed for that mode. The manual zoom ring is a bit sticky, which only shows in video, and is full auto on video with no manual control or video features. It has fantastically full range mics but are too sensitive and suffer with wind noise.
Recently I stripped the (plastic) tripod thread from the bottom, and although I fixed it (milled out thread with dremmel, and set in a Helicoil) my thoughts turned to new camera.
Requirements were Video Camera primarily, Cost (low), SDHC (XC) card based, full HD, and most important, a Mic in socket.
This fitted the bill www.jvc.co.uk/product.php?id=GZ-EX515BEK&catid=100170
JVC GZ-EX515.
It appeared in on-line reviews in February, and was available from JVC at 330 quid, being new its yet to appear in many cheap on-line outlets. Not on Amazon yet for example, so I tracked it for a while.
I picked it up from a company called Ballicom for £270 quid, and it was delivered yesterday.
I have made a few quick vids, and here is my first thoughts.
Nicely put together, none of the plastic creaks for example. Light, small, METAL tripod thread!. Good contrast and dynamic range (used it in poor visiblity snow fall today) the colours are well rendered, bit bright (warm end of the spectrum) which shows for example with blooming round red lights on zoom.
Simple to use if you want it on full auto, the zoom is smooth (and keeps focus while zooming) and controllable, the image stabilisation (its got both optical and electronic) on zoom is fantastic. Works really well.
The stereo mics are down on sensitivity (compared to the Fuji) and altho suffer from less wind noise, still need to be supplemented with an external mic - as I knew it would. (shotgun mic with dead furry animal ordered).
It takes still shots, but compared to a multimeggapixel stills camera with much better optics they are poor.
All in all, its good value for money, ideal fro what I need, but I shall still keep the Fuji in use for GP use (vacations for example) and I may well experiment with producing multi view point scenes.
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Camera Corner. 
Camera Corner. 