Hello Everyone,
Nice to meet you!
My name is Eri and I am one of the newest members of the JVC Everio Team.
I was asked by the head of our team to shoot some video that will highlight Everio's strengths, so I decided to form "Everio Video Hunters!"
Our Mission this Time
As I was wondering where the Everio Video Hunters' first mission might take place, I thought to myself, "Why don't we introduce some sightseeing spots in Tokyo at the same time?" The first thing that came to mind was Tokyo Tower.
Tokyo Tower is a general electric wave tower and is an iconic symbol of Tokyo.
It usually only takes about two or three minutes by elevator to get to the observatory, but on Saturdays and Sundays, you can actually climb up using the outside stairs.
For this shoot, I went on location with Toshi, a senior member of the team, taking the GZ-HM400 and GZ-MS120 in hand to shoot some video.
The Everios used for this location were:
GZ-MS120 Memory Camcorder
GZ-HM400 Full HD Memory Camcorder
A very important reason for this shoot was to test the GZ-HM400's O.I.S. feature. How well can it handle shake correction when climbing the stairs, when the camera shakes most?
We also wanted to test the GZ-MS120's 35-times optical zoom. There are many examples of the optical zoom at work in our catalogs, but it's time we experience it first-hand.
New Camera Shake Correction Test
It was pretty cloudy on the day we decided to shoot, but with no wind and being fairly warm, it was a decent day for a location shoot nonetheless. However, there was one problem: I have a major fear of heights. It's 150 meters to the Tokyo Tower observatory! This was a scary idea for me at first, but we started our Tokyo Tower stair ascent despite my shaky legs.
As we climbed up the stairs, I saw how much the screen was shaking from left to right. We pressed the ON/OFF button to switch on the GZ-HM400's O.I.S. to really test and see how much it is making corrections.
Camera Shake Correction OFF
Camera Shake Correction ON
There we go. It's quite apparent how much it can actually control the shaking on-screen. When shooting while walking, there's just no way you can hold the camera in one fixed position, resulting in this left-right shaking that would make you nauseous if you had to watch the video after.
It must be pretty good if it can control this amount of shaking.
Oh yes, there's one more thing about the GZ-HM400 O.I.S. function. This is the observable shake correction mechanism, which makes it look like the lens is moving.
Of course the lens is NOT really moving.
What makes this illusion happen are the two prism plates placed in front of the lens. Stabilization units are normally placed behind the lens, but since the GZ-HM400 uses a single unit to make corrections in front of the lens, it can prevent image deterioration from a shifting optical axis and errors from complex designs... Or so I've heard. It's a bit difficult to understand, but when you see this movement, I'm sure you'll be intrigued.
35-Times Optical Zoom Test
Another thing that surprised me was the video that we shot with GZ-MS120 35-times optical zoom. I was impressed that we could clearly see the people in the observatory when we shot from the very bottom.
But when I was zooming, the screen wouldn't fixate on anything and so I couldn't focus on the camera's subject. That's when Toshi jumped in with some good advice: "This is when you should use a tripod or monopod to stabilize the camera." Aha! Yes, I'd heard about this before, and really want to experience how effective this might be.
