Sell my dvx and buy XH A1??

No. If you're going to do anything, sell the DVX and invest in an HVX.

Though of course, you may find the A1 suits your needs better, but personally I'd go for an HVX.
 
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I may go this route.

Personally, I like everything I've seen of the XHA1. The form factor seems very DVX-inspired. And I like the fact it records to good old-fashioned, cheap, and readily available tape. :happy: And the most important factor is the footage, which looks great.

The downside of the A1 to me is simply editing HDV (which isn't too bad) and the fact it doesn't have an SD recording option. No HDMI either.

If you are considering upgrading cameras, look also at the new Sony V1U. It will be a close competitor to the Canon.
 
I use my dvx only as a hobby and i currently use it with a greenscreen setup. I'm only gonna make some shorts for now, maybe some commercials.. and maybe shoot some motocross and skateboard movies. I'm thinking of the hvx, but its the pricetag that makes the XH A1 so nice. And the biggest advantage is that it shoots in 16:9 vs. the 4:3 dvx..
 
Brandon Rice said:
No. If you're going to do anything, sell the DVX and invest in an HVX.
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LOL, love the snappy answer and your implication that the HVX will suit anyone's needs :)
 
disjecta said:
LOL, love the snappy answer and your implication that the HVX will suit anyone's needs :)
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Well.... looking at it practically... 4:2:2 colorspace, tapeless workflow, and variable framerates... I don't see how anyone could use the camera and it would suit their needs... may it be overkill for some? Yes. But, I still think because of the 4:2:2 colorspace ALONE it's worth it. IMO :)
 
It doesn't suit my needs. That's just the point I'm making. I'm really not making an issue out of your post other than to say it's a little presumptuous.
 
disjecta said:
It doesn't suit my needs. That's just the point I'm making. I'm really not making an issue out of your post other than to say it's a little presumptuous.
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I apologize and will edit my post... But, out of curiosity, why wouldn't the HVX suit your needs?
 
P2 cards don't suite my recording style. I could run up to 10 or 20 minutes of tape just to record a bird or animal doing something interesting. I anticipate these things out in the field because I know my subjects well but I can't tell the instant something is going to happen.

Also, and my biggest issue, is that the resolution is not up to par for me. The XLH1, XH A1 and XH G1 all record much higher res picture than the HVX and, for a lot of landscape shooting, this is what is very important to me.
 
Handheld form factor but it weights 8 pounds with the firestore and than you need a shoulderbrace. Moving from sticks to brace -if you are fast- 1 minute. They are gone. Or you need an assistant to unload the P2 cards. It is not for everyone the best choise.
 
Gotcha. The tape thing makes total sense. In regard to resolution though, it's my understanding that the HVX is DVCPRO-HD which is much better than HDV (which is what the A1 is).
 
Resolution has nothing to do with the format, you can shoot low res GSM phone video to DVCPROHD if you really want so... Resolution comes from the chips and the A1 chips are higher in res than the HVX. What is, is that the compression system differs HDV or DVCPROHD. The DVCPROHD is better and each frame is independent.

Take a look at long gop versus intraframe editing.

Higher resolution means more 'detail' in the wide shot, its easy to see the difference.
 
i really dont like the noise of the hvx. that's the only reason why i didn't bought this cam. i will probably buy the hvx200a if there is one once and if the noise is nicer. but before i'm choosing the A1 and sold my dvx.
 
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Look at all the A1 and HVX clips that are everywhere and make up your own ;-) Both are good cams, but as Disjecta said: it needs to fit you.
 
Brandon, I'm sincerely curious (and not trying to be a smart aleck). How do you archive HVX footage for the long term? Can you export your raw footage to tape? Do you maintain a massive multi-terrabyte hard drive storage archive? Do you have an HD-DVD burner? Or do you just delete it?

That's one of the P2 issues for me. Workflow is another (ala disjecta's wildlife example). But workflow aside, how do you store this stuff for the long term?

That's the beauty of tape. Not only is tape a cheap, durable, reliable, high capacity storage unit...you can find them in rural Guatemala, if you're in a pinch. And it's kind of nice having your original content archived on cheap tapes instead of hard drives.

If the HVX recorded HD to tape, I'd already own one. I'm sold on its other advantages (variable frame rates, DVX mojo, etc.). :thumbsup:
 
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I don't actually have an HVX, still using my good ol' DVX. But I am searching out the best HD solution I can afford right now, as I want to upgrade for a feature project this summer. I see what you're saying about archiving. For the project's I've done thus far, I actually save my original tapes, as well as the raw footage on Hard Drives.
 
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