It wasn’t all that long ago that the investment into an HD camera meant spending thousands of dollars on a big and cumbersome device.

The Skinny: JVC Professional was arguably the first to balance high technology, cost friendliness and user friendliness in the HD camera world and recently the company reinforced that reputation with the announcement of its GY-HM600 ProHD camera.

The Specs: The GY-HM600 features a 23x built-in zoom, as well as a 1.22 MP color viewfinder and a color 3.5-inch LCD. The company also equips the camera with 1/3-inch 12-bit CMOS sensors each with 1920x1080 pixels, and a built-in Fujinon HD lens that offers a focal range of 29mm to 667mm (equivalent to 35mm). User features include manual focus, iris rings, three ND filters, auto focus, face detection and an optical image stabilizer. JVC also explains the camera records in HD or SD in a variety of formats, including its native XDCAM EX (MP4), Final Cut Pro (.MOV) and AVCHD to non-proprietary SDHC or SDXC media cards.

Solutions: JVC Professional says the camera can be used for news, sports, live presentations and independent productions.