Hey guys here I go again...

[Watermoore]

So I am getting ready to pull the trigger on an HD camera, my dilemma now is having to decide whether it would be a wise idea to get an Xh-A1 by it self to start out, or get an HV20 with a brevis economy, an XLR adapter and a liliput monitor? a more complete setup just with a consumer camera. The primary objective is low/no budget Indy's but With the Xh-A1 I could probably get some local jobs shooting commercials for all the "mom and pops" in my area to help fund the rest of the equip. The only drawback would be my next short film competition wouldn't be shot on a 35mm adapter. I was sold on the hv20 setup before, now I am leaning for the Xh-A1. Any insight on which way is a better path?:thumbsup:

[Benji Pond]

i hate xha1, but if you absolutely need to go HD and are on a budget, def get it. noone will take you half as serious for a job if you had a hv20... ide say get a dvx tho, a1 on regular non hd tv looks soo bad

[HBlack]

Well that was an intelligently written response...

Go for the A1. I'm getting an HV20 with an adapter setup, but that's out of necessity. It gives me the option to upgrade it as I go until it fully suits my needs, as I can't afford a complete setup all at once. If you can afford an A1, that seems to be the best choice. With an HV20 you're forced to work within its limits.

[Huy Vu]

ide say get a dvx tho, a1 on regular non hd tv looks soo bad

Have you ever actually seen any footage that was shot natively 16:9 SD on an A1? It's sharp as a tack with a ton of detail; resolution wise it easily beats the DVX. No idea what you're talking about here.

[Hobbes00]

A1's SD is SUPER SWEET. Right now the only reason why you think DVX's SD beats A1 is mostly becos u saw a bad footage with bad presets.

[Kevin Lee]

A1 brotha. Spend every last dime if thats what it takes. Pick up those extra's later. Get started practicing with the A1 now.

[Watermoore]

Thanks guys for all the input. I am going to resume going for the Xh-A1 and leave the HV20 plan behind. I hear its pretty steep learning curve however I am familiar with operating pro cameras, so I hope I don't have a difficult time learning the in-and-out's of this camera as it will be my first prosumer camera I will own. I agree that the camera offers far more opportunities fiscally than the hv20 with a film setup. Not to mention I don't have a professional light set up just 4 Lowel tweenies and using a camera that has poor low light performance with a 35mm adapter, further crippling my usable light, is a bad idea. Particularly because a lot of my shorts are centered around suspense plots which entail a ton of night and low light shooting. The XH-A1 it is.

[scannon]

I own the A1 and the DVX 100b. I use both and will bury the the DVX 100b but with A1 you can shoot HDV and output to SD preserving your options. When I need SD I convert to SD from my NLE (Vegas 7) with beautiful results in both DV Widescreen (1.2) and 4:3 (framed during shooting). You can also down convert directly out of the camera but I like to capture the full HDV frame for flexibility in editing. The SD down convert from the camera saves some disk space if you have limitations. The camera produces sharp, crisp images.

Invest in some good lights and you can squeeze a lot of DOF out of the native lens until you can afford the converter.

Good shooting.

S Cannon