2 DVX100B's or 1 HVX?

D

DJElvis

Member
I have a small video production business with a partner that getting to a stage where we need to upgrade to move forward. Currently we're using 2 borrowed Panasonic PVGS500 3CCD DVC Palmcorder's. For months and months we have been drooling about getting 2 Panasonic DVX100B's, for the 24fps, and overall great reviews. We have been approved for a lease for 2 of alongside some wireless mics' etc. So far we have shot 1 wedding, 1 commercial instructional video, and some promotional work for a local radio station's website/tv commercial (which has not aired yet). After talking to friend who is more established in this business, we have been encouraged to not bother with the DVX100B's, and just go and get 1 HVX200 ( thus being future proof) and rent a second camera when necessary. We plan on shooting more weddings to pay the bills, but really want to get more into government and corporate work (to get paid), and shoot short films/documentaries (for down the road). We probably shoot about 1 paid gig per month right now.

So the questions we need answered are:
1) Do you think getting 2 DVX100B's is a waste compared to getting 1 HVX, and forking up extra money to rent when necessary?

2) Has anyone matched the HVX DVCRPO mode recordings with a DVX100B? Could we get away we with shoot on the two separate cameras and matching it later?

3) Would it be better to just buy 2 Sony HDRFX7 and have 2 high def camera's instead of 2 DVX100B's (and use Magic Bullet Effects to make it look 24fps)?

Thanks,
Trevor
 
Here are my answers as we do alot of what you are wanting to do:

1)Most of my shoots are two camera. Most of the corporate people on camera I've dealt with are bad actors and dont like scripts and if you are doing two angles you need to be doing this at the same time, and not picking it up later like you could in a narrative shoot. As for renting versus buying and HD vs SD, it all depends on how often you shoot and what your clients really want. Is your lease cheaper than renting two cameras once a month? If it were me I would rent all my gear until I had enough money to pay for it outright.

2) These cameras match fine in post for me, I just shoot both in their most normal of modes and a little tweaking later and no one can tell.

3) Not that familiar with the FX7's but I work with 2 fx1's on a regular basis and hate them with a passion as far as prosumer cameras go. I've also never been horribly impressed with what magic bullet does versus what the hvx can do. I'd take two dvx's before the fx7's. I'm also not a huge fan of editing HDV.

My question - are you setup edit wise and acquisition wise to take on the p2 workflow. I love my p2 and I love using it but its more like running a film cam than a video cam depening on how many and how large of cards you have. p2 still has yet to prove itself in the long form. Now when the 32's and larger come out this will be a whole new ballgame.
 
For the most part I would agree with jdajda... especially working with peeps that can't act or be consistent with reciting scripted material. I'd go for 2 B's. Let your talent shine through and people won't notice it's not hd.
 
I don't think a HVX is going to be a good wedding cam. It is big and the weddings I've done you shoot a lot of video. A P2 card isn't going to be the greatest for that,,,unless you have extra cash for more P2 cards.

the future is now. I wouldn't buy something now hoping to future proof. Man just think of the changes we haven't even thought about yet. I'd get what works best now.

I plan on getting a DVX100 soon. Then in a few years in the future getting the new HD DVX100 after the bugs are all worked out.
 
deffinitly the 2 b's weddings are very stressful with only 1 camera. you shouldnt notice a huge difference between the two cameras if your just doing 1 gig a month. And if for some reason you have to shoot in hd just sell the two b's and spend a couple hundred and buy the hvx
 
After 32 years in the business, there is no such thing as "future proof". Buy what makes you money today. If you're too focused on tomorrow, you'll miss out on a bunch of opportunities today.
 
I'll second tfrank's opinion. Having the ability to get two angles with good cameras on both sides is worth its weight in gold. Get the two 100B's and just make sure your scene files match (super easy with the B's) and you should be fine. Set your white balance and you'll be good to go. Do your clients want HD now? If so then that's something to consider. If the majority of your clients are not requesting HD now then don't bother with it. The 100B still puts out an incredible image.
 
We have been led to believe that we would get a lot more business if we had HD by someone we know who works in the same business here in Ottawa (Canada's capital city = major government town). So far we have done fine by SD, but are afraid we will kick ourselves in the footage in a year or two if we go SD and need HD down the road.
 
Have you thought of getting two canon a1's? Its in the same price range as the 100b's. The footage I've seen from the a1's on the site are really impressive.
 
Zim said:
Then in a few years in the future getting the new HD DVX100 after the bugs are all worked out.
Click to expand...


Hahahahha, they cant afford to get the bugs worked out, that will never happen, otherwise no one would come back. Sorry I'm such a pessimist [realist]
 
I've got the 100b and let me tell you, if you know what you're doing(iris, focus, etc.) The 100b looks very very good. If you are unlucky and shoot an indoor wedding with no light then you're screwed. But the thing is, if you have an HVX in no light, you are also screwed. I'ved seen the HVX in low light, and it is as grainy as my 100b.
Like the other people say, weddings are crazy to shoot if you only have 1 camera. With two 100bs you can "sooooo" make a wedding look better/more professional than using only 1 HVX. You've got soo many more options, you can go steadicam, high angles, document more, etc.
There is no choice, two 100bs
 
We have some Lowell lights with stands so we should be good for lighting. Weddings aren't really are main thing, but they are easy to get and help make the payments.
 
DJElvis said:
We have been led to believe that we would get a lot more business if we had HD
Click to expand...

A lot more business in which sector? You said that right now you plan to shoot weddings to pay the bills and also do government/corporate work. Do you think that government & corporate clients are going to demand HD? Unless they're rather high end corporations then they are not likely to want HD. In terms of weddings you'll want two good cameras over one super camera any day. As others have said, get you something that will make you money NOW.

Let me give you an example. I had a friend who recently started up a computer service company. He went out and rented retail space to base the business in and spent over $100,000 in startup junk. In the first two months he did $6,000 worth of work. Now he's facing bankruptcy. Spending TOO much on things you don't need will only hurt you, not help you.

Let me give you another example. When Henry Ford started his famous assembly line manufacturing process, he started to demand that his suppliers bring parts to the factory just before they were needed. That way Ford could determine exactly how many parts he needed and have them delivered for assembly. If he just stockpiled every part he would waste money by carrying unnecessary inventory. For more information, Look here.

This applies to your case in that if you only need two DVX's and they will make money for you now, you'll be wasting all of the features of the HVX and limiting yourself to a single camera. From a business standpoint, it makes better sense to get two good cameras rather than some uber-camera that you don't really need yet.
 
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