Very basic questions from a would-be filmmaker

[connor]

Hi!

I've been looking at a variety of cameras for filming shorts/music vids, and the HVX200 stood out immediately. The footage is just astounding in comparison to everything else I have seen.

I'm *very* new to filmmaking, so these questions will be absurdly basic:

1. Does the HVX200 record only to P2 card? I'm a little confused about this, as I was under the assumption it recorded to DV tape too.

2. The impressive footage that I have seen: is this due mainly to the P2 card. If shooting on tape, would there be a marked loss of quality. Is it even worth it, or should I look at the DVX100?

3. For those that have used both, can you even compare DVX to HVX?

4. In looking to shoot for a "film look", is the HVX the best camera for the job? Does P2 recording eliminate the idiosyncrasies of tape recording?

5. If I were to transfer footage to 35mm, would it be noticeable that I wasn't shooting directly on film?

Once again, pardon my ignorance. Loving the community here though, it has been very helpful!

- Connor

[PunkMetalDrummer17]

Hi!

I've been looking at a variety of cameras for filming shorts/music vids, and the HVX200 stood out immediately. The footage is just astounding in comparison to everything else I have seen.

I'm *very* new to filmmaking, so these questions will be absurdly basic:

1. Does the HVX200 record only to P2 card? I'm a little confused about this, as I was under the assumption it recorded to DV tape too.

2. The impressive footage that I have seen: is this due mainly to the P2 card. If shooting on tape, would there be a marked loss of quality. Is it even worth it, or should I look at the DVX100?

3. For those that have used both, can you even compare DVX to HVX?

4. In looking to shoot for a "film look", is the HVX the best camera for the job? Does P2 recording eliminate the idiosyncrasies of tape recording?

5. If I were to transfer footage to 35mm, would it be noticeable that I wasn't shooting directly on film?

Once again, pardon my ignorance. Loving the community here though, it has been very helpful!

- Connor


1. The HVX-200 does record both to MiniDV and P2.... However DVCPro 25, 50, and HD can only be recorded to P2. MiniDV footage can go to both MiniDV tape or P2.

2. Yes... because you can only record DV to tape, so the footage is compressed more than if it went to P2. P2 allows you to record DVCPro 25, 50, and HD. 50 and HD have less compression than DV and DVCPro 25 (they both have the same compression rate.) which means the image is closer to its raw state than DV or DVCPro 25.

3. The DVX and HVX are effectively the same when it comes to MiniDV mode.... However, with the P2 cards and recording DVCPro 50 or DVCPro HD the footage looks better than the DVX.

5. There have been HVX to 35mm test and from what the people that did them said they turned out amazing....
(I'll find you the threads where this was said.)

[PunkMetalDrummer17]

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=369089#post369089

There's one of the HVX to 35mm threads.

[coolguy007]

4. In looking to shoot for a "film look", is the HVX the best camera for the job? Does P2 recording eliminate the idiosyncrasies of tape recording?

- Connor
I'll answer this one, As far as the film look goes, it depends on many things, (4 usually) Your camera, DOF (Depth Of Field), Lighting, and your opinion. In my opinion this camera does give a very filmic look which i have been impressed with over and over. DOF is bad on this camera just like all other prosumers, to resolve this you will need 35mm lens mount, basically this allows you to mount 35mm still and cinema lenses on your camera. There are a couple options out there...sort of you can go with the m2 which is extremely popular (what im getting), people are waiting for the g35 which has gotten very good results, also there is the minitek p35 which is very nice and very expensive, and finally there is the cinetube which looks cool and looks expensive, and is not released. Finally lighting, which is a whole dif. story so check out the lighting forums. Oh yeah and about p2 its awesome, but it still has its difficulties, and when i say that i mean the technology around p2 ie nle systems have not really caught up to p2 (but i would recommend canopus broadcast) hope this helps!