Hi everyone! - New DVX Owner as of yesterday. :)

Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock

New member
I have been a DV hobbyist for about 5-6 years now. I started my hobby with a Canon GL-1 and it did me wonders until I got the dreaded hotpixel problem that those cameras were prone to. I sold it early this year and decided to look for a new camera, one that would last me another 4-5 years or so. I immediately sunk into the notion of buying a DVX100B, as it was highly praised by many people I have worked with over the years. I started looking around, got a little sidetracked by some of the HDV cameras available (HD quality = drool), but then I ultimately decided that HD wasn't for me. DVX was the winner. I originally wanted to use FullCompass to buy my DVX, but the DVX's were on backorder and panasonic wasn't giving them a shipment for what seems like another month or so. I chose B&H. A company that I have dealt with before with much success. B&H shipped my DVX the same day I ordered and I had my camera in 2 days. (Paying for 2-day shipping of course).

My first impression of the camera is: Wow!! It has so many more manual controls than my GL-1 did, I'm in manual control heaven! I love it!
I want to thank everyone who uses this forum for participating. The "search" feature of this forum has helped me numerous times with questions I have had about my looming purchase. I'm now a proud DVX owner and I hope that soon I will be able to upload some of my projects for all of you to critique. Oh yeah... BIG shoutout to Shawn from FullCompass... He has helped me out greatly.

Thanks again, and Hello DVX users!

 
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Hi Graham good to have you here with us. (some good news) In time you will realise that the DVX packs way more punch than you initially recognise so have fun and happy shooting. Hmm that doesnt sound right :S WHat I mean is looks pretty good on day one .... looks great on day XXX.
 
Congratulations on your new purchase, Graham. I know that you will love your camera!

And yes.... manual button heaven! Enjoy playing and learning. And a bit of advice... Search, Read and Experiment! This forum is loaded with great info!

Also, as a 100b owner myself, I learned (the hard way) that the new overscan feature (ability to see the entire image captured to tape on the LCD/EVF) does NOT apply when using the SQUEEZE MODE.

If you shoot in 4:3, everything that you see in the LCD/EVF will appear on your captured footage. (unlike nearly everyother camera out there including previous models of the dvx100.)

If you shoot 16:9 SQUEEZE, there will be a 10% overscan in the LCD. (The EVF still gives you 100% of the framing.)

Just a heads-up as I caught cables running through a shot that I had to re-shoot!

Good luck and happy shooting!

Ted
 
Thanks for the tip TheatreGuy!

I've had a few days now to play around with the camera and I think what I'll be doing most of the time during an actual film shoot is I'll shoot in 4:3 and crop it to 16:9 or even 2.35:1 depending on the production.

I have hit a snag though... I use FCP to edit and I've been having a heck of a time trying to export my files in their native resolution. I try to export the clip in 720x306 or 720x486 (which is 16:9 anamorphic, right?) but when I open them up in quicktime pro the app just squeezes everything back into 720x480. I guess I'll consult the manual when I get back to the studio but if you guys have a simple solution to my exporting woes (which is probably just something I have overlooked) please let me know!

Thanks again for the warm welcome!

UPDATE: I'm having mild success .... It seems that Compressor is the main way to compress a file and make it retain it's native aspect ratio. I'm fooling around with some presets to see what works best. So far I haven't nailed a compression that I like. I know I want to use H.264 quicktime in a 16:9 aspect ratio, though.
 
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having both owned the the GL1 (sorta) and the 2 DVX100A's... i must say you have good taste :)

next step is the HVX! ;) have fun with the new rig, you'll love it.
 
Welcome aboard.

I'd recommend buying the book if you already haven't looked into it. I did a few weeks back and it's incredible. I've been an owner for a few years and I learned a lot w/ the book.

You bought your camera on Dan Marino and my birthdays, just figured I'd throw that in there.
Happy shooting.
 
Funny you should mention that! I got home yesterday after a weekend vacation and the book was sitting on my doorstep! It came FAST because the rebate center is in Memphis, TN -- literally 2 hours away from me. The rebate is supposed to take a few more weeks, though. I'm gonna start reading the book tonight. I got the software in yesterday as well. What do you guys think about Magic Bullet and the Instant HD software? I've never used those programs before.
 
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