Is it even worth buying a DVX100b at this point?

[RyanKR]

I have been hearing that the DVX100b is going to be discontinued sometime soon and panasonic will be creating a new camera that will be coming out to either maybe replace the DVX100b or push down the prices down on the HVX

Is it worth me waiting awhile to see whats going to be going on, or should I purchase the DVX100b like I planned to today.

[zipper1022]

im having the same problem...

i NEED a camera but there are rumors that the rebate is going up to $900...

i guess im going to wait until the end of march to get one...

man i hope they still have SOME sort of rebate...

[skrott]

If I waited on every to buy based on hear say, I would not be shooting anything.
The DVX is a great camera. I am doing video's and commercial's using my DVX and
I have not gotten on customer ask me to do anything in HD. They as I realize that
only a Very small portion of the population can view HD right now

[Sirocco]

I am waiting for the NAB. The DVX has been such a success, I just can't believe Pana will let it disappear into the dust. I am taking my chance, confident that something is coming.

[Jason Ramsey]

They are still selling quite a few dvx's from what I understand. Might be a decent idea to wait till NAB, if you want. See what might be on the horizon.

Otherwise, just buy the right tool for you when you buy, and don't look back. Just start making money, or doing whatever it is you intended with the camera.

Jason

[Barry_Green]

The "$900" rumor was said specifically in reference to April 1st. As in, ain't gonna happen. I mean, it might, you never know, but the guy who "started" the rumor basically admitted that it was an april fool's joke.

[Jack_Felis]

A DVX is too nice to pass up if you honestly have to have it right now, if you could stretch a little more, an A1 would be a lot better regardless of any reservations about HDV or 24F.

But the true ideal is to wait until NAB because then you might have NAB discounts to look forward to or new cameras.

[zipper1022]

The "$900" rumor was said specifically in reference to April 1st. As in, ain't gonna happen. I mean, it might, you never know, but the guy who "started" the rumor basically admitted that it was an april fool's joke.

i figured, but do you think panasonic will continue any rebate or price drop after march 31st?

[phd]

I know a man who told me he should wait to bye a camera at next year because it should come a better one. It´s many years ago, and he is still waiting :crybaby:
</IMG>

[zipper1022]

yea idk about you RYanKR but im ordering my NEW dvx100b tommorow hopefully form willoughbys... with the rebate and teh software i cant pass it up... i need the camera for a project too badly...

[Kdawg]

Zipper, if you need the camera for a project, Git er Done. You cant go wrong with this camera. However I would suggest some practice with the options before the project. I filmed some stuff right away without knowing much about the camera. They didnt come out bad, but could have had some serious improvement. Now, a year later my understanding and quick adjustments are making things so much easier.

Have fun man!

[RyanKR]

yea idk about you RYanKR but im ordering my NEW dvx100b tommorow hopefully form willoughbys... with the rebate and teh software i cant pass it up... i need the camera for a project too badly...
willoughbys doesn't have any left, they only have the pro kit which is $4,380 I believe. They won't sell you just the camera I tried, you will have to place a special order and it will take a few weeks. What I found out by talking around is panasonic is just getting a new HD model camera that will take 4 16gb P2 cards :o

So they are coming out with a more expensive camera that might possibly decrease the HVX200 price, but I doubt it since sales are doing extremely well right now.

Tomorrow i'm going to be trying out the HVX-200 to see if its worth it, if it is, I will be getting one of those. If its not worth the extra money I will be sticking to the DVX because you can't go wrong with that camera.

this is a good picture, I don't know if you have all seen it but look how much bigger the HVX is than the DVX. Its ridiculous.

[Barry_Green]

i figured, but do you think panasonic will continue any rebate or price drop after march 31st?
Nobody knows, but ... if I were them, I certainly would. I think the DVX needs to have a street price a bit lower than the XHA1 in order to continue representing itself as a "good buy." DVX is a great camera and has a lot of life left in it in standard-def/cable/reality type situations, but I think a price adjustment would probably be in order soon.

[Barry_Green]

What I found out by talking around is panasonic is just getting a new HD model camera that will take 4 16gb P2 cards :o
That's the HPX500. $14,000 body & viewfinder, and Jan said something like $22,000 or so with lens and four 16GB cards too.


So they are coming out with a more expensive camera that might possibly decrease the HVX200 price, but I doubt it since sales are doing extremely well right now.
I was just doing a q & a session up at CinEQuipt in Minneapolis, and they didn't have a single HVX in stock and were currently backordered. The HPX500 won't affect the HVX200's price; the HPX500 is 4x as expensive. I don't expect to see the HVX's price going anywhere anytime soon.

[OldCorpse]

Actually, the HVX200 has no competition in its class - not even on the horizon at the moment. Canon has grabbed the lower end with HV20 and the A1, Sony as usual dropped the ball (with the VU1), and Red and other cameras are in a different (more expensive) class.

Again: THERE IS NO COMPETITION for the HVX200 in this price/performance bracket. It's a great camera, whose only significant weakness is how expensive the P2's still are. Once those come down in price and go up in capacity (isn't that the trend with all media?), HVX200 will be unbeatable. Nothing even on the horizon.

Therefore, expect the price to stay the same. I still think they'd sell a heck of a lot more cameras if they dropped the price of the P2's by 70%, but I guess they're not that clever :)

[Arson]

Buy the HVX. Even if you shoot only SD in dvcpro50 the 4:2:2 willl blow the dvx out of the water. It shoots such lush looking color.

[Evro]

I just bought my 3'rd new DVX and there seems to be plenty of stock in AUS & NZ.

Now, in two years time when brides actually start asking me for HD, it'll be a toss-up between JVC GY-HD or HVX cams - for now it's too soon to even worry about that.

Soooooo damn happy with my DVX cams!!

[Zim]

I agree with Barry, if the DVX100 is still going to be sold they will have to lower the price. Bigger rebate or something. The A1 has to be cutting into DVX sales. So unless they are going to release something new the price really needs to come down. I'm holding out.

I looked at used DVX's and I think those prices are to high. Why not just buy a new one? The price needs to drop to $2,000 or less. If not the A1 sounds like the better deal.

[marko5000]

I'd love to see a price drop. I don't think we have rebates anywhere in the UK. It's about 2K or almost $4000. We'll have to see.

[Sirocco]

What about something really bold? A HVX 100, no tape deck. DVC Pro and HD all the way and all for $4000. Two advantages a) they make a push for the P2, more volume more affordability and they expand and consolidate the format and their market share;
b)they crush the competition , even the chippest local broadcasting outfit would not resilst it, and that's a lot of custommers in the US and around the world .

It may sound crazy, but aren't they already selling the 200 for $5000 with a P2? And The deck is certainly a costing component in their manufacturing process.

[Beat Takeshi]

is that you in your avatar from the Ubermicro vids?

[lovefilm]

I think the DVX 100B is still a good camera. It's just a little over priced :grin:

[ericengland33]

I was having the same problem, but I bit the bullet and was glad I did. I got mine from Abel Cine with the DVX user discount. I got it for $3,407 shipped to my door.

[RyanKR]

Yeah it is still an awesome camera. I went ahead an ordered the HVX200 though.

[DChang]

To each their own, but what other cameras did you look into before jumping from a DVX to a HVX? Was money an issue?

Ive been looking at these two cams but then the A1 forums were making alot of noise so I checked that out. It's definitely in the right price range, at least for me, but even now it is too close to NAB to actually buy anything at this point. But thats just me, everyone has different uses for their equipment not to mention in different financial situations. Enjoy your HVX.

[RyanKR]

Well I am aware with the other cameras out that are competing with the HVX but none of them can really compare. The P2 cards are a way better format than other companies are running, considering its only going to get better such as more memory on the cards as well as their price dropping. I am aware of canons HD model, it is a bit cheeper but their compression isn't as near as native as the HVX's. The only bad talk that is going on is from sony about the HVX and its because they think their HD format is better than the P2 cards, while many people are switching to the P2 cards. I did a lot of research this past few months and the HVX and by what I read it is by far better than other HD model cameras on the market in its price range. But this is just my opinion and I feel happy with my choice in camera. Most of it is just personal preference.

[Arson]

I'm not the original poster but, 2 main things (as well as a few other factors) sold me on the HVX:

1. P2, A complete digital pipeline.
I've been doing CG and digital art for so long that involving an analog step (minidv tape) to integrate it into live footage didn't really make sense to me. I can handle a file based, and even framebased workflow. Working with and organizing 100s of thousands of files doesn't intimidate me. Terrabytes of backed up data doesn't either. I don't have a lifetime of tape based workflow experience to keep me in a tape based comfort zone, in fact I think I specifically waited to buy a solidstate camera because I see it as one of the last steps in the "analog/digital divide"

2. DVCPROHD and DVCPRO50 shoot to 4:2:2 color, HDV shoots 4:2:0.
The only camera options for shooting in HD in a similar price range as the HVX shoot to HDV. HDV uses the same minivd tape and use mpeg compression to get to tape. and not suffering from HDV compression and color loss. The clean CG rendering out of Maya and Max just looks way better when integrated with smooth footage shot on the HVX.

On the other hand DVtape is cheap and disposable and currently has longer recording times. Unless you can afford the overhead of a bunch of P2 cards, shooting long format live events and sports can be more challenging for those with a non-professional budget. You can't just use one tape and continiously record. I shoot mostly shot based footage, so I have plenty of time to swap out cards or have one offloading while shooting the other. I think I adapted to the formats recording length because I still remember changing BetacamSP every 18 minutes. Once the 16gb and 32gb P2 cards come out that may a non issue.

Keep in mind I am not in the professional budget category, nor the starving student category. If you have a budget behind you then your purchase choices would obviously lean towards the more robust tools, and if you were in the student category then you would obviously be trying to get the most bang for your buck. Therefore your need may vary from mine. I chose highest quality image and color depth, and sacrificed cheap and easy tape formats to do so. I never have to digitize though, and backing up data is easier, cheaper and faster than backing up tape footage.

[bikefilms]

Yes, it's larger. But I wouldn't consider calling it "ridiculous". The pictured HVX is not the final production model, either.

-andrew




this is a good picture, I don't know if you have all seen it but look how much bigger the HVX is than the DVX. Its ridiculous.

[Sirocco]

The original question was about buying a DVX at this point in time. At least "almost" everybody seems to agree that the dvx is overpriced compare to the A1.
I am sure Pana is aware of that. For me the question is when to buy an A1, and I choose to give Pana a chance to announce something for us at the NAB.