Stu Siegal
Well-known member
I was 99% ready to push the button on an hvx/firestore combo, been reading my brains out on both, watching footage, and despite many misgivings, I was still a panasonic person. And then Iwent to B&H... and wound up with an A1/HV10 combo.
I knew the hvx would be a stretch for run & gun, I'd read conflicting reports, but had convinced myself I could make it work, because I loved the pana image so much.
Then, I went to B&H, two 1-2 hr trips over 2 days. Talked to lots of other customers/dp's who'd used the hvx and the h1, and also had the benefit of the most informed floor sales guy I've ever encountered at B&H.
First thing I discovered was that I was kidding myself about the ergonomics of the HVX - bigger is not better, and it is bigger and clunkier than both a dvx and an A1. And that is before adding a firestore, because p2 is not an option for my kind of work. The A1 is considerably smaller & lighter - dvx sized - nice ergonomics. All that hvx weight handheld was not going to be pretty, and with a belt clip cabled firestore, I foresaw major problems in with both weight and mobility in extreme locations an uncontrollable shooting environments - remote geographic locations, dense crowds, at sea, etc.
Second - LCD screen & focus assist. The HVX LCD is inferior to both the A1 & dvx. In run & gun situations, you'll need to frequently employ focus assist, which is nice, but if every second counts, you'll be missing plenty of shots while playing with the focus, not to mention needing a third hand to stay hand-held in the right hand, press the focus assist with the left, which will require a re-frame of your shot, then focus.
Next, the loss of a stop over the A1. After the above realization, I decided I'd miss it more than I thought, mostly because I'd have to gain up to get it back, and while grain wasn't the big issue, time was - just one more step to add. Gain up, focus assist, reframe, focus = missed shot.
Image - I never liked the Canon look. I discovered that either the Canon or me or or both of us has changed. After some rudimentary tweaking, I was amazed at how un-Canonlike it was, which is a backwards way of saying it looked spectacular. I clearly liked it better than the hvx. Again, a highly personal thing (remember, I loved the dvx look), and far from ideal test conditions, but I'd seen much posted footage from both going in to begin with, and this sealed the deal. Point is if you haven't liked Canon in the past, go look again, the 24f is excellent and so are the image controls. Once I changed my mind on the image, there was absolutely zero reason to jam a square peg into a round hole with the hvx.
Bottom line is, if you are a run & gunner wavering between the two - put your hands on both before you buy! It's not an on-paper decision, the hvx will require a considerably different shooting style than the dvx - the A1 won't. Before you decide what you can and can't live with, handle both.
I knew the hvx would be a stretch for run & gun, I'd read conflicting reports, but had convinced myself I could make it work, because I loved the pana image so much.
Then, I went to B&H, two 1-2 hr trips over 2 days. Talked to lots of other customers/dp's who'd used the hvx and the h1, and also had the benefit of the most informed floor sales guy I've ever encountered at B&H.
First thing I discovered was that I was kidding myself about the ergonomics of the HVX - bigger is not better, and it is bigger and clunkier than both a dvx and an A1. And that is before adding a firestore, because p2 is not an option for my kind of work. The A1 is considerably smaller & lighter - dvx sized - nice ergonomics. All that hvx weight handheld was not going to be pretty, and with a belt clip cabled firestore, I foresaw major problems in with both weight and mobility in extreme locations an uncontrollable shooting environments - remote geographic locations, dense crowds, at sea, etc.
Second - LCD screen & focus assist. The HVX LCD is inferior to both the A1 & dvx. In run & gun situations, you'll need to frequently employ focus assist, which is nice, but if every second counts, you'll be missing plenty of shots while playing with the focus, not to mention needing a third hand to stay hand-held in the right hand, press the focus assist with the left, which will require a re-frame of your shot, then focus.
Next, the loss of a stop over the A1. After the above realization, I decided I'd miss it more than I thought, mostly because I'd have to gain up to get it back, and while grain wasn't the big issue, time was - just one more step to add. Gain up, focus assist, reframe, focus = missed shot.
Image - I never liked the Canon look. I discovered that either the Canon or me or or both of us has changed. After some rudimentary tweaking, I was amazed at how un-Canonlike it was, which is a backwards way of saying it looked spectacular. I clearly liked it better than the hvx. Again, a highly personal thing (remember, I loved the dvx look), and far from ideal test conditions, but I'd seen much posted footage from both going in to begin with, and this sealed the deal. Point is if you haven't liked Canon in the past, go look again, the 24f is excellent and so are the image controls. Once I changed my mind on the image, there was absolutely zero reason to jam a square peg into a round hole with the hvx.
Bottom line is, if you are a run & gunner wavering between the two - put your hands on both before you buy! It's not an on-paper decision, the hvx will require a considerably different shooting style than the dvx - the A1 won't. Before you decide what you can and can't live with, handle both.
