Who's already paid for their HVX with HVX work?

B

benandaim

Well-known member
Hi,

I was just curious as to how successful the HVX has been for you guys. Since all members of this site have different levels of experience, I thought it would be interesting to share some rough "earnings" figures for fun. I still work full time so i don't get a lot of time to shoot, edit and whatnot but personally in 6 months i've clocked up about $2,500 (all SD stuff) AUD it's not a lot, But what i have done with this cam has been effortless!

Thanks in advance for sharing :)
 
I've made enough to pay for it. But honestly, I could have made much more if I wasn't so scared to use it on a paying gig. I've gotten VERY comfortable with my Beta over the years and resisted the change.

Once I got Barry's book and the HVX DVD, I realized... it's just a friggin camera!:)

Now I'm actually letting the market know it's available and have gotten great response. So far most of the work has come from the Mini-DV side of the camera that I wouldn't have gotten before. But I'm lining up more HD stuff in the coming months.
I'll have to get a dollar figure, but on the mini-DV I'm getting the same rate as my Beta rate.
 
Wow that's awesome having it paid for so soon, Well done. I really hope i can pay for mine in '07 that'd be great. One thing i've been caught with also is being scared to charge. This year i'll be charging accordingly...that's for sure.

Pls keep the feedback coming guys :beer:
 
I've paid for mine many times over --- I paid for it almost twice over with one job (a feature shot with the HVX/M2 combo). Now, if I could just stop buying gear whenever I get jobs, I might finally get ahead of the game.
 
if you guys don't mind, can you guys list what sort of jobs you got from your HVX and at what price? I am really curious as to what is out there.
 
Yes that would be AWESOME!

I shot 1 wedding $1000 AUD, A 2 day motocross event $1000, And a promo DVD for a business $500...All SD
 
I'm shooting lots of Medical Videos with it.
An Algerian Music Video.
Shot about ten weddings with it...on tape.
Also, Ad agencies are shooting preliminary commercials
before they actually do the real commercial, so I've shoot a few of them.
 
limeyx said:
Almost useless dollars?? (Sorry, I'm being a smartass!)
I would guess Australian dollars.
Click to expand...

It's Aussie dollars numbnuts! (just kidding) :beer:

I'm getting about $100 per/hour (includes editing time at the moment)
 
Shot 2 walmart commercials with it last week and currently on the road shooting a PBS series with it. I've paid mine off but sometimes the work come from production companies that want me to use their camera, so in an indirect way, my HVX gets me work because of my knowledge of the camera ( I was usually the person that introduced the company to the possibilities of the camera.)
If you are not making money with the camera then I would suggest putting yourself out there as someone who can download, backup and check the footage. I usually insist on having an assistant with this knowledge on my shoots. It is usually not a tough sell to the producers and is great piece of mind for everyone involved.
Shane.
 
Same as brian here. Been paid off but more toys bought goes right onto the credit cards that the HVX first burned through.... and about to consider buying a 2nd cam...


I think that Jarred had his paid off the first month he got the cam.
 
We have two full HVX200 cine style packages, one purchased in June the other in August. Our billable work with just those two packages in six months was just a hair under $290,000 USD. They've held up very well and I'd say our ROI was exceptional; at their current price we collectively spent more on expendables on those projects than we did the actual cameras. Interesting when I think of it in that respect. That does not include the P2 cards, P2stores, Firestores, Matte boxes, Marshall HD monitors, W/A adapters, two 7tb xRAIDs and another dozen 500gb FW drives we bought though. Comparatively the cameras really are cheap.

Probably the best investment we made was hiring Barry Green as a private consultant two times; once here at our office and a second time flying him on location with us in Florida. We all owe a lot to Barry and the others who blazed the trail with this technology.

Robert Starling
Producer, Director, Steadicam Operator Las Vegas
www.starling.com
www.lasvegassteadicam.com
 
WOW u guys r hardcore! It' great to hear such results from this cam. Keep the feedback coming!

:dankk2:
 
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Hey Robert! Glad to see you here. Starling does fantastic work, and really runs a great show. I'm not surprised to hear his numbers are in that category. Generous with his time and knowledge too.

My camera was paid off on the first job I got it for, including all the accessories (new tripod, better mic, cards, everything). It then went on to pay itself off several times over after that.
 
Barry_Green said:
Hey Robert! Glad to see you here. Starling does fantastic work, and really runs a great show. I'm not surprised to hear his numbers are in that category. Generous with his time and knowledge too.
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Hi Barry, Happy New Year! No way we could have done it with the HVX's without you Sir! Thanks!

Also, thanks for the referral; we booked that job for Jan 30th, signed contract and deposit in-hand. Thank you very much!

Robert Starling
 
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