P2 cards and DVCPRO HD tapes

[pedge]

Hi everyone,

I was all set to buy a DVX100b when a friend told me about the greatness of the HVX200. I'm seriously considering buying one instead. There's just one thing I'd like to know, and apologies if it has been asked before.

Are the DVCPRO HD tapes the same size as mini-DV tapes? I just want to know if they are the same size, because if I was doing a job that required a lot of footage to be shot I wouldn't use P2 cards. It would be nice then, that the HD tapes were the same size as mini-dv tapes. Then I'm getting a HD recording on a mini-DV size tape, which would make it handy for using in mini-DV decks.

Sorry for the rant, but your help would be greatly appreciated.

Peter.

[Cees Mutsaers]

You can not record HD to tape only DV.

[THoff]

And even if the tapes were the same size, a MiniDV deck wouldn't be able to make sense of DVCProHD.

[David Saraceno]

I was all set to buy a DVX100b when a friend told me about the greatness of the HVX200.

Your friend apparently did not one of the essential requirements for shooting DVCProHD.

:-)

[TedRR]

But don't forget, for not that much more money, you can shoot DV as you would with the DVX, and still have the optioin to use the same camera for HD when budget allows. Good for PR and bragging rights.

We've actually done the opposite. We bought the HVX for the HD capabilites, but have been using the DV Tape side for a handful of projects giving our BetaCam a break. This has been a real versatile tool for our company, and well liked by the local advertising community.
Hence my name for it, The Swiss Army tool for Video.

I hope you can swing the extra cash.

[Erik Olson]

Same situation for us. Now, we're shooting HD about 80% of the time with this camera. However, when we first acquired it, and much to our chagrin, it was relegated to DV25 work for a season's worth of shows out of the box.

What a drag!

Everything is as it should be now. 1080p and 720p in almost every situation.

e

[pedge]

Thanks a million for all the replies to my post. I think it's worth stretching my budget and buying a HVX200. woo hoo. Thanks again.

Peter.

[NYMills]

"because if I was doing a job that required a lot of footage to be shot I wouldn't use P2 cards. "

Consider using the FS-100. The P2 cards and FS-100 have their place and purpose. For a lot of footage, the Firestore is great! Any recent problems with it seem to be user related. In a time crunch, need the shot NOW, the Firestore has to be on and plugged in. The P2, no attachments. Just fire away!