Deciding what to rent

[MikeZas]

Right now, we're in the middle of a long shoot for a 30 to 40 minute short film that's being shot on the DVX100a. For our next project, we're probably going to sell the DVX and upgrade to an HVX200, but for the remainder of the short film, we're planning on using the DVX. We have a small budget to spend on rentals, and we're deciding whether to rent, for a weekend of shooting, the mini35 adapter and use it with the DVX, or an HVX to test out. We'd probably shoot scenes from our film with the HVX in standard def, and then do additional tests using the P2 cards. Is there a big problem with cutting together HVX standard def footage and DVX footage, so long as only one camera is used for an entire scene? Would we be better off renting the mini35 (for about the same price) and using some higher quality lenses? I know it's comparing apples and oranges, but there are some important objective concerns that I don't know the answers to: will a scene shot with an HVX stand out in a DVX film? is it worth paying $300+ for a weekend with a mini35? is it worth bothering with the mini35 at all unless we're really going for a whole lot of shallow DOF stuff, or do the 35 mil lenses greatly increase the shot quality as well? sorry if these are all really silly questions, we're all pretty new to filmmaking.

[CineProducer]

I wouldn't just shoot a few scenes of your film with a mini35. Unless your using it for a aesthetic reason or sense of style, it's going to be jarring to the viewer. Certain scenes will look noticeably better than other scenes for no reason... it might take people out of your film.

If you shoot regular 480i/24p DV with an HVX and experiment with the p2 cards and such; the resulting image shouldn't look noticeably different than the DVX. At least there your film will retain a level of consistent image quality and you'll get some testing done.

[joelnet]

is it worth paying $300+ for a weekend with a mini35? is it worth bothering with the mini35 at all unless we're really going for a whole lot of shallow DOF stuff, or do the 35 mil lenses greatly increase the shot quality as well?

I'd pass on the Mini35 unless you really need shallow DOF. It doesn't "add" sharpness etc.

I think the real issue is if you've never used a Mini35 before it's going to slow down your production and you may get a bunch of unusable shots. Skip it if you don't have a bunch of time to practice and watch the footage.

As to HVX and DVX intercutting - it should work, but I'd test it first if I were you.