Plz Critique my HVX shopping list

F

filmguy123

Veteran
  • $5300 Camera (AG-HVX200)
  • $FREE 8gb P2 card (by March 31st, 2006)
  • $FREE Barry Green: The HVX book
  • $70 Barry Green: HVX Bootcamp 2-DVD set
  • -- I decided NO mack warranty as many people say it is useless
  • $300 Contact Insurance about insuring all equipment
  • $105 B+W Muli-resistant coating glass (standard UV Filter)
  • $200 B+W/Schneider Tru-Pol or other Multi-coated Circular Polarizer
  • $225 Portabrace Camera Bag
  • $250 3x DVXuser 5600mah batteries
  • $200 miniDV tapes (50 in bulk) – Professional quality/grade
  • $300 2nd Panasonic miniDV camera (for rewinding, streaming, misc. use, 30x optical zoom, "behind the scenes" camera, extra batteries & charger) - I am thinking the gs39... but I am concerned about low-light quality. I think the JVCs are much better in this category. I am torn, this is mostly for rewind/capture, but I'd like to get a nice camcorder to if I'm going buy it anyway. Also, it is a benefit to staying Panasonic and keeping all my accessories compatible...
  • $750 Sound Setup
    • $100 Sony 7506 Headphones (for audio monitoring)
    • $100 Ktek KSSM Shock mount
    • $170 Oktava Mk012a Hyper-Cardoind Mic
      • $150 wind protection/softie/BBG (1, 2 or all of these?)
    • $200 Gitzo Extendable/Retractable Carbon Fiber Boom Pole
    • MAYBE LATER: AT4073a Shotgun mic
    • OR: AKG modular system
  • $500 Good Tripod legs/sticks & head
  • $30 Cleaning Kit (Micro fiber cloth, compressed air, brush)
  • $50 White card, Gray card, other misc. tools/items such as this
  • $50 Gaff Tape + other misc. accessories
  • $250 Lighting stuff (China ball, work lights, reflectors, other) - DIY stuff
TOTAL: $8580


I may pick up some of the following later:
- Wide Angle Adaptor
- Telephoto Adaptor
- Rain Cover
- On-Camera light
- Other Filters
- Wireless Laviers (and, as mentioned, a shotgun)
- Shouldermount


I will also be doing some DIY building of a jib, dolly, and steadicam.

My uses:

- Filming independent film
- Sports highlights
- Interviews, Event Coverage, Training, Promotional videos
- Some weddings, but not primarily



Any suggestions, feedback, things I am missing? Additions, or things I should forgo right now? Changes in brand?


Thanks for the help guy, any and all feedback is appreciated as this is a big purchase for me! (on a side note, I have been working with DV for seven years now, but using lower end equipment that has all but worn out died. This is my first purchase of prosumer/professional level equipment).


Thanks a bunch for the help.
 
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Hello,

Just a couple thoughts for you:

** Specialized Communications have the HVX for $5300 with 2 free batteries and free ground shipping in the US. They're a certified dealer too so you'll get the book and p2 card deal.
http://www.spec-comm.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=81&zenid=80f173aa45827639894e027705717ef2

** $500 won't get you a decent tripod/head. Be careful to not skimp on the head if ever plan to tilt/pan.

** Make sure spending $200 on dv tapes is a valid choice. Perhaps you could shoot a combination of p2 and tape. Buy the panasonic master series tapes (63min), everybody else recommends those.

** Since you might cover sports, there is a simple shoulder support called the spider brace (or is that spider brace 2), it's about $100 from memory.

Ian
 
don't forget to calculate at least 100$ for the cables.
firewire, xlr, composite, component etc. etc.
if you get high quality cables, it will get well over 100$
 
Get a Mini-DV tape rewinder. They're battery powered, tiny, affordable, SUPER worth it. Don't ever rewind in any camera, ever, no matter what.
 
BenB said:
Get a Mini-DV tape rewinder. They're battery powered, tiny, affordable, SUPER worth it. Don't ever rewind in any camera, ever, no matter what.
Click to expand...

Awesome I didn't know they made those; what is the brand that manufacturers them?

Side note: is rewinding just a little bit to view a shot bad? Or do you just mean making a habit of rewinding full tapes?
 
Thanks, I forgot about cables. I'll look into that.

Spec-comm sounds like a great place to buy and I've heard good things about them. However, Proffesional Video & Tape is the largest distributor in the Northwest and they are local. I'll see what kind of deal they can work me.

Spiderbrace is what I was planning on, but I'll wait until I start doing football for that one. I need to save that money for now as I'm still paying my way through college (via video work).

$500 won't get me a decent tripod/head? From my understanding I thought this would be sufficient? Anyone else on this?

I'd love to go all HD right now, but I just can't afford to. P2 is very expensive and I'm not big on the idea of swapping cards in and out, so I'd definetly want to go the HDD route. Firestore looks ok, but if I was going to do that I'd want a CinePorter, which starts at $2300... plus I'd need more HDD space (1tb HDD coming soon for around $400) plus a HD-DVD burner to even deliver in HD (around $500) and now that adds $3200 to the price.... plus, none of my current clients will see much benefit from HD yet as they dont' have HD-DVD players or televisions. (I Know I can use SD on the HDD recorder but that still adds $2300 in cost, or $2100 net by forgoing the miniDV tapes).


Anyhow, thanks for the great feedback so far. It is much appreciated. I am open to advice and suggestion on any of my responses as well.

Thanks again.
 
filmguy123 said:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=84934

Also dvinfo.net
Click to expand...

All an extended warranty does is extended the warranty of the manufacturer.

It can't add terms to it.

So if you drop it, or the heads get dirty, that isn't covered.

But if the product is warranted to be free from defects for one year, and after two years, a defect arises, then it's covered.

To me it's cheap insurance.

But your poll isn't exactly conclusive with five or six responses.
 
I mean rewinding whole tapes, or great lengths of a tape.

Let's see, Maxwell makes one, I had one, burned it up fast.

Now I have one who's brand starts with "Sa..." and I don't know. I can't find it now. Seems that since I've been months doing a tapeless workflow, I can't find the Mini-DV rewinder. It also did a fast forward, in case you had a tape you had to get to the last few minutes of. You could use it to fast forward most of it, then pop it back into your cam.

And they're normally a bit faster than your camera rewinds and fast forwards, too.

Oh wait, I lift up a pile of papers I haven't touched in over six months and, poof, there it is! I'm just goint to type what is on the bottom of it.

SIMA
Model SRW-62
Batch#EL8473
800.345.7462
www.simacorp.com

On the front it says, "6mm Two Way Rewinder" It takes 4 "AAA" batteries, and you can get an AC adapter for it, just bring it to your local Radio Shake. The batteries will rewind several tapes. When I did use Mini-DV tape all the time, I kept it in our truck. When we got back to the studio, all tapes were labled and rewound. It's awesome.

And I'd like to chime in on extended warranties. I have been doing this for a living for a long time. My previous profession required me to have some very expensive hardware of my own, that my employers/contractors didn't cover. If you make a living at it, get the extended warranty. Cause chances are, if you pay your house note with this work, like I do, you push your stuff to the max, more hours of work a week than most, more banging around, bouncing around, especially with my documentary. We beat the crap out of our stuff.

It's not a matter of "if" your hardware will malfunction, it's a matter of "when", and there's nothing that says it won't happen to YOU next week for the most unforseen, possibly unexplainable reason! I just went through that, trust, you want warranties, for as long as you can afford to get them for.
 
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You can get away with 500 for a tripod. Manfrotto/Bogen 501 head works. 513 is better, but 501 will get you started.
 
You can get the 503 head with awesome legs now for 500 bucks so dont even worry about the 501. 503 will be just dandy for the HVX.

- Kyle
 
I have a 501 head from when I used a DVX100a, I use it for my HVX, works just fine, no problems at all.
 
On the tripod topic - the guy at the retail store I talked to said that Bogen heads were more for "heavy duty" use but not as smooth as the Libec brand, which he recommended (and they also happen to carry the most selection of).

Yet, everyone online seems to recommend the Bogen. Why is this? What is the difference between Bogen & Libec, or other brands for that matter?
 
You need the k-tek kssm shockmount with soft bands from trewaudio.com (the Okatva is very sensitive to vibration). I like the 12' carbon fiber gitzo boom. You need the 20mm Rycote Baby Ball Gag and the furry jammer (very sensitive to wind too). I would also look into the sound devices mix pre or the SD302 once you want to make your boom operator happy.
 
I agree with others in the assertion that a good tripod is essential. If you're doing doc work then a small carbon fibre / fluid head setup will pay dividends. I use a Miller DS10/Solo which I found on ebay. This may not be the best head/legs available but it is very fast to setup solo - and takes up very little room unlike the bogen setups.

You could also just buy a good mic and a camera mount/softie. You don't need the boom etc. Your sound guy would have all that stuff in his/her kit. This way you just have enough gear to shoot solo when you have to. And you can use the savings to get a good mic like the AT mic you mention. If you're shooting solo interviews, you need a good clip mic too as this makes life much easier for you.
 
Comment 1

Once you shoot onto P2 the first time and can watch that last clip play effortlessly, delete it if you choose, and then start recording again without worrying about a break in tape, you'll be in love.
Once you pop the P2 card out of the HVX and copy the footage into your NLE with no capturing, no dropped frames, perfect clip detection and no tape rewinding, you'll be in love.
Once you decide to try shooting DVCpro50 onto P2 just to "check out" the quality and you see the difference in color rendition, you'll be in love.
Once you decide to "test out" 720 with variable frame rates and the extra definition you'll be in lust.

If there is ANY way to get another P2 card and ditch the tapes (except for the small camera used for other things) DO IT. You will not regret

Comment 2

I spent a little less than 500 on a bogen setup (501 head) and had been very happy with it, but lately it's become more and more clear to me that my tilts and pans just are not nearly as smooth as I'd like them and I'm now in the market for something in the Cartoni Focus range. However, if you're looking at P2 card or better sticks... GO WITH THE P2 CARD!!

You're gonna love the HVX.
 
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