What We Really Want - Asap!

[STORYTELLER32]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I for one am dying to see some sample footage off the HVX. Would be really nice if Panasonic could post some sample fliks so we could see the image quality coming out of the 4:2:2 color space. Even downres footage will still give us an idea, right?

If the rest of you are interested in this, POST YOUR VOTE HERE!

..ahem.. uhhh, Jan? You reading this? :evil:

[alpi69]

the camera is still only carved in wood.......there is no image yet.

[NoahK]

Yeah- wouldn't you prefer to wait for it to come from a working camera? Wood is pretty hard to judge image quality from, especially over the internet.

[Barry_Green]

Trust me, footage from the HVX will spread like wildfire across the Internet. It was that way with the DVX. I remember I shot and posted some early stupid stuff at the WEVA show, just some dumb train going around the tracks, and it must have been downloaded about three hundred zillion times.

You'll probably see the first footage sometime this summer, I'd bet around July/August.

[robotx21]

Doesn't it seem odd that they (Panasonic) are able to take their prototype (non functioning) plastic/metal doorstop and create a full functioning camera out of it, in just a few months??? I mean, aren't these awesome "features" just on paper right now and not actually implemented? Or do they really have working equipment hidden from us?

[Barry_Green]

I'm sure there's working stuff in the depths of Panasonic, but not in such a way as they can demonstrate it to us at this time.

But remember, this is the same schedule they used when they released the DVX and, well, that sure seemed to turn out just fine!

[STORYTELLER32]

It's only a pure mockup? So they're going to go from a mockup to production by September?

I find it hard to believe they wouldn't have a working prototype sitting in the Panasonic R&D labs for testing and to work out potential unforseen bugs, no?

[Barry_Green]

I'm sure they do. But again, what they showed was a mockup, and they will release the final in Q4 (which doesn't mean September, unfortunately; it means October at the earliest, and perhaps as late as Dec. 31).

[author]

Yeah- wouldn't you prefer to wait for it to come from a working camera? Wood is pretty hard to judge image quality from, especially over the internet.

Yep... but some wood has a great image--burnished mahogany, waxed stained walnut, laquered ebony, the rich golden glow of Mission oak after a light coating of linseed oil .... ah, if the HDX200 can capture THAT it has a lock on the cabinet shop market. ;-)

--Ralph

[ddh]

I keep in mind that in designing the HDX Panasonic has a great wealth of experience and feed-back from shooters using the DVX. While the two cams are different, I think of the HDX as taking the best of the DVX into higher resolutions and formats. This they can do! We cannot know what's going on in their Santa workshop but I imagine they will come up with improvements for the HDX that may well have an effect on other cams in their line. Their designers must be in heaven and hell as they ponder what they do!

[bilgami]

what worries me is that I will buy the 200 and soon after that the 200a will come out like the 100 and 100a did. any risk of that occuring again.

[Barry_Green]

Of course there's "risk" of that happening. Just like if you were to buy a 2005 Ford Mustang, and then there's the risk that the 2006 Mustang will come out shortly thereafter.

It happens. So? Is your 2005 Mustang any less of a car now? Does it no longer drive you to work and back? It still works exactly like it always did, for the job you bought it for, right?

You buy the tool that you need, to do the job that you need done. Yes other products will come along, and some will be better than what you have now. But if you're putting it to work, what's the big deal? I'm still "limping along" with an original DVX100, I never even got a 100A, and this year is going to be my biggest ever.

[Pais]

what worries me is that I will buy the 200 and soon after that the 200a will come out like the 100 and 100a did. any risk of that occuring again.

Well, there'll always be something newer, eventually ... I think the HVX200 looks like an incredible camera (just like the DVX100 did), and when an upgraded successor comes along, it'll only get better.

If you want, I'll take that old, worthless HVX200 off of your hands when the HVX200A rolls around in a year or two. :D

[shAi]

i just cant stop thinking, how cheaper would a non-tape version be. i mean, it will show up sooner or later, and Jan said nummeros of times how costy is a tape drive to manufacture.. . and then i think, this might make a full P2 inclusive bundle around the $6-7K..isnt that sweet, or at least worth waiting for?

[braw]

i just cant stop thinking, how cheaper would a non-tape version be. i mean, it will show up sooner or later, and Jan said nummeros of times how costy is a tape drive to manufacture.. . and then i think, this might make a full P2 inclusive bundle around the $6-7K..isnt that sweet, or at least worth waiting for?

This is only a guess, but I get the impression that MiniDV mechanisms are not very expensive at all to manufacture. DVCPRO25-HD are the real expensive ones. Look at all the consumer MiniDV cameras out there for a few hundred bucks. :beer:

[Barry_Green]

Non-tape meaning, without the miniDV tape drive? Maybe $50.

DVCPRO-50 tape drives are expensive, about $7,000. DVCPRO-HD tape drives are REALLY expensive, about $15,000. But a miniDV tape drive? Maybe $50. After all, there are miniDV cameras out there with a retail price of $299. The miniDV tape drive isn't adding any noticeable cost to the HVX.
EDIT: DOH! Looks like I just said everything Braw did. Should have read Braw's response before posting!

[Sirius_Doggy]

My guess is the cost is related to the number of expected sells. MiniDv is $50 because they sell them by the millions, DVCPro by the hundreds of thousands and DVCProHD by the thousands....

I'd bet the actual cost of the metal is about the same,maybe triple due to size.

[PKraft]

My guess is the cost is related to the number of expected sells. MiniDv is $50 because they sell them by the millions, DVCPro by the hundreds of thousands and DVCProHD by the thousands....

I'd bet the actual cost of the metal is about the same,maybe triple due to size.

Pretty good guess, I think.

[gcaus]

Also, Panasonic will want to get the excitement up 90 days or so before shipping by sending out video clips, not sooner. They gain nothing by sending it out too soon. They don't want their competition to know where they stand either.

I wasn't around when the DVX was released, but if they used standard marketing techniques, it would be 90, maybe 120 days before shipping.

-Jerry

[NoahK]

The mockup shown at NAB is how the outside will look. Within Panasonic is the engineering prototype that functions as the final camera will but it looks like a science lab project. There's little need for cosmetic beauty during internal development and engineering of a product. Everything needs to be accessible and configurable. Once development completely winds down the two sides will merge.