Sony vs. JVC

I'm not even going to pretend like I have a hard time picking which camera I like better. I'll take the Sony hands down over the JVC. That doesn't it's actually better, I just prefer it.

The two cameras are fairly similar in terms of performance. So I think that the biggest thing when comparing two similar cameras is comfort and how well you know one over the other. Pretty much everything I've shot in the last year has been on the Sony, and I feel like I've gotten to a point where I know how to max its potential. I haven't shot with the JVC nearly as much, but I'm sure if I shot with it I'd feel equally as comfortable.

Low Light
It seems to perform a wee bit better than the Sony in low light. Neither do extremely well, but the noise structure on the JVC seems a little more organic - it actually looks a little bit like film grain. The Sony's noise structure is pretty lousy. I've got away with 6db or maybe even 9db once or twice when I was shooting stuff for Documenting Justice last year, but if you have to bump it past 15db it's going to be poop.

Function & Ease of Navigation
The Sony has it's share of quirks (some settings always seem to reset themselves on the Sony), but for me, the JVC is really a pain to navigate and operate. The white balance seems to be much quicker on the Sony, and I love the variations on the white balance presets. You can scroll between -8 & +8 for any white balance preset to cool or warm the image. It's great for documentary or something fast paced where you're dealing with constantly changing lights. I can just hit the presets and scroll around until I get a workable color temperature. And last but not least: 2 barrels vs 1 barrel...I think we all know which one is better (it's 2)

Tape vs. JVC
I'll call this one a draw. A card workflow as opposed to a tape workflow sounds too good be true, and for me, it kind of is. I don't like the paranoia of my media disappearing forever after I wipe the card. We all know drives can and do fail. So it's nice to have he backup of a tape. The tape workflow can also be a great advantage to an editor. The log and capture process really allows you to make notes that help the editing. With that being said, tapes are kind of a pain in the ass. They're expensive, they drop frames, decks tend to eat them, and the workflow is slower.

Image quality
I'll throw this out there - I don't actually know anything about the technological side of image specs. It's gibberish to me. However, under the ol' eyeball test, I'd go with Sony. The sony captures does well with color preservation. The JVC image always looks kind of flat and muddy to me. That probably has more to do with having used it a lot though.

In the end, you're the one that's gotta shoot with it. Grab whatever's most comfortable.