This is the first prosumer camera that I ever bought and it is still a very good sturdy and dependable camcorder. In 2007 the CCD failed and I soon learned that there was a general failure reported in the US for the majority of the Sony camcorders (and JVC used the same CCD chip). In the US, these CCDs were replaced free of charge and in fairness to the company in Cork that did the repairs, they only charged for time.
As this is a single CCD unit, the colour depth is not as good as either the Canon XM2 or XL2 but it is still far superior to a standard consumer model. I have dome a number of shoots using this camera and the Canon XM2 and it was impossible when looking at the final production to say which scenes were shot with which camera.
The one major drawback that it has is the way that it handles 16:9 shooting. The footage is stored in an MPEG format which means that it cannot be easily handled by in line editors like Adobe Premier. You have to use the JVC software and then generate a standard AVI for import into Premier. If shooting in 4:3, then it is a great camera.
Hi Oliver
could you tell me who did the repairs in Cork and how much did they charge, I too have a GR-PD1 and it has developed the CCD fault.
Thanks
Regards
Daniel
By: Dan FitzPatrick on September 16, 2008
at 10:45 pm
Hi,
The same fault that I had, there were loads of posts about this int eh States a couple of years back adn Sony/JVC were replacing the CCDs free of charge. Not sure if that still stands.
Can’t remember teh name of the people who repaired it but can explain where to find them.
Come up Oliver Plunket Street with the PO on your left hand side. You will pass a Bagel shop on Left hand side also the book shop O Ruiseal, Mac Sweeney camera on your right. Keep going till you come to a discount shop (I think it is called the Euro shop) on the right hand side.
There is a very narrow lane on the left hand side adn about half way down there is a sex shop (yes, I kid you not). Immediately opposite is a black door (reinforced). The first time I was outside that door I was sure that I had been given wrong directions. Ring the bell.
A word of caution, the camera was never ‘the same’ since the CCD was replaced. During manufacture at the factory they do some last minute adjustments that are burned into EEPROM that mate the CCD … with the optics. I think you loose these with the new CCD.
By: oliverleamy on September 17, 2008
at 8:15 am