CaseBookKOLBCOMMUNICATIONS TAKES JVC’sPROFESSIONAL DVCAMERA FORA WILD RIDEEmmy Award-winning Tim Kolb ofKolb Communications, Appleton,Wisconsin took his GY-DV500Professional DV camcorder out for ashoot under really tight conditions,and found JVC had the right solution.

Kolb was eager to use his new camerato shoot the latest “Seven-MinuteSolutions,” a series of training tapeson truck-driving techniques and safetyfrom J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc. inNeenah, Wisconsin. “We’ve done 15installments in five years,” heexplains. “We needed to do three thisyear, all about ‘extreme’ themes: twoabout weather and one about roll overs.”

Kolb covered 3,500 miles in 12 days,tagging along with a semi fromAppleton to Utah with a stop in DesMoines to shoot on-camera talent.“On the way out we got everythingNebraska and Wyoming had to giveus: hard-driving rain, snow and ice,”he recalls. “The straight-line winds inSalt Lake City were so strong that theroads were closed to high-profilevehicles after an 86 mph gust tippedover a 40-car freight train.”

During this inclement weather Kolboften held the GY-DV500 out the win-dow of the van his associate JoelLandsverk was driving so Kolb couldshoot backwards at the semi on the

highway. “I had the camera wrappedin a garbage bag so it wouldn’t getwet and ran a cable to a battery-powered shooting monitor,” he says.“I did a lot of shoulder shooting of thetalent in Des Moines walking arounda truck in very high winds.”

Kolb admits he “had some real ques-tions” about opting for the 4mm DVformat because “it seems so smalland fragile.” He shot about 17 hoursof tape during the trip “under everycondition — from 35 degrees F. to 75degrees F, high winds, sun, rain, ice— and we never had any cameramalfunction. We’d be driving in aheated van in a snowstorm, I’d stickthe camera out the window to shootand in about 60 seconds the camerawas so cold I could hardly bear tohold onto it. But we never had aproblem with tape durability. The DVformat held up well under a lot of punishment. Our pictures were exceptional.”

Kolb notes that the DV-format tapes“are so small you can lose them in amug of coffee.” He could fit all 17hours of finished tapes from his tripin his jacket pockets. “The 60-minuterunning time of each tape is great formost applications,” he reports.

Although Kolb also appreciated the GY-DV500’s compact and lightweight

CaseBook

Tim Kolb of Kolb Communications Shoots“Seven-Minute Solution” With GY-DV500.

November 2000

CaseBook

FOR INFORMATION ON THISOR OTHER JVC PRODUCTS, PLEASE CALL 1-800-JVC-5825OR VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT

WWW.JVC.COM/PRO

1700 Valley Road, Wayne, NJ 07470

CaseBook

design, he actually configured the camera to be quite a bit heavier.“I couldn’t use the lens the camera came with because the matte box wouldn’tmount on it so I used the Canon 17x7 lensfrom my KY-19,” he explains. “That’s thebeauty of being able to put any 1/2-inchbayonet mount pro lens on the GY-DV500.”

During his cross-country trip Kolb wasexposed to the camera’s low-light capabilities.“I had been typically shooting at minus 3dB gain with this camera but at one point Iwanted to shoot the semi at dusk with itsheadlights on. So I kicked the camera upto zero and it looked like it was 3 in theafternoon,” he notes. “I never had a camerawhere I had to keep the gain down to makesure the night looked dark.”

Kolb took his DV tapes back to KolbCommunications and began editing immediately. “We have a JVC BR-DV600deck which feeds our Media 100 nonlinearediting systems,” he points out. “The BR-DV600 deck has been a great way forus to transition to digital. Our facility mayvery well have Firewire capability throughoutsomeday, but in the meantime we reallydepend on the analog component I/O forintegration into our existing system.”

“If anyone is thinking about going to the DVformat now, I’d advise them not to make abuying decision before they handle the

GY-DV500,” says Kolb. “You’d be cheating yourself if you didn’t try this camera on for size.”

Recently Kolb felt the need to move to acost-effective digital format for acquisition.“Frankly, I had been holding off because mychoices for a professional 4mm digital formathad been Sony and Panasonic, and everycamera that used standard Mini DV tapeseemed to be a huge compromise in cameracapability and usability,” says Kolb. “I hadbeen waiting to see if JVC was going toestablish some sort of pro level DV productline beyond the BR-DV10 dockable deck.When the GY-DV500 camera came out, Ibought it off the spec sheet from StudioGear in Milwaukee. I had never eventouched the camera before my order wasdelivered to me.”

Kolb concedes that he “took a chance”ordering the GY-DV500 without seeing it.But he was impressed with the spec sheet.“The specs for this camera were a touchbetter than for the KY-19 camera head,” hesays, “and the S/N ratio of the tape formatput it on par with the rest of the professionalDV tape formats.”

The GY-DV500’s price also made animpression on Kolb. “The camera is notonly very advanced, its small price tag isabsolutely outstanding. I’m amazed at howinexpensive it is.”

Dubbed the “Do More” Camera for itsexceptional abilities, the GY-DV500 offersthe convenience and affordability of Mini DVtogether with the high-quality results professionals demand. About half the sizeof a conventional S-VHS camcorder, the GY-DV500’s camera body weighs only 5 kg(11 lbs.) including typical lens, viewfinder,battery and tape. It features three 1/2-inch380,000-pixel CCDs each equipped withhighly-advanced circuitry that virtually elim-inates vertical smear when shooting brightlights in a dark room. Lag and image burnare also almost eliminated. An F1.4 prismoptical system designed specifically for 1/2-inch CCD pickups further contributes to superior picture quality.

Kolb emphasizes that the GY-DV500“stacks up very, very easily with SonyDVCam and Panasonic DVCPro models.I feel very comfortable using the GY-DV500as our primary camera.”

In addition to the new GY-DV500 camera andBR-DV600 deck, Kolb Communications’ JVCgear includes a switcher, S-VHS recordersand players, an edit controller and field monitor.

Kolb Communications’ president Tim Kolb,is a long-time JVC customer. He started hisown business a decade ago with a JVC KY-17 camera — a camera which is still inuse today following its donation by Kolb tothe University of Wisconsin - Fox Valley. Hereplaced that unit with a JVC KY-19 camerawhich currently supplements his new GY-DV500 Professional DV Camera.