XL2 to HVX: Is it worth the difference?

Nick Royer

Nick Royer

Well-known member
About this time last year I bought an XL2 to replace my aging Optura Xi. I am a high school freshman and I make short films and shoot events as a business. The XL2 has worked well for me, but I just bought an HV30 for use as a small handheld-cam and I personally think that the footage coming off of it is better quality and has less grain than the XL2. So I am now seriously considering selling the XL2 and buying a used HVX.

So my question is, do you think it is a good trade-off. I really like the XL2 being shoulder-mounted, but I can live without that. When I bought the XL2 I looked at the XH-A1 as well, but I don't like the drawbacks of shooting HDV, especially is the A1 can't shoot progressive footage.

Also, can you record HD onto the Mini DV tape? As I shoot a lot of events, this is pretty important because some of these events can go for hours, and buying a bunch of P2 cards or a firestore isn't an option at this point. Can you record to P2 and tape at the same time?

And on the subject of money, how much do you think I could sell the XL2 for (with BP-945 battery and a Bogen 521 lanc controller)? I haven't used the XL2 all that much, probably only about 20 hours or so on the heads. How much can I buy a used HVX for? And if a Panasonic comes out with an HVX200a or Canon comes out with some new camera's at NAB, how will that affect the sale prices of both? I think I can sell the XL2 for about $2500 and pick up an HVX for about $3500-$4000 used, at least right now. And then probably another $1000 or so for accessories (A new lanc controller, extra batteries, and a P2 card), which I will probably buy shortly afterwards.

It will probably be 2-3 months before I get together enough money to buy the HVX, so how will the market change in that amount of time?

Thanks Everybody.
 
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i sold my xl2 with extra batteries, controllers and a big pelican case for $2500 well over a year ago. id challenge you to get more than about $1500-$1700 for one nowaday with various HD flavors of cameras being so prevalent.

yeah. you can hope to find a second hand HVX for about $3800. but thats camera only or maybe camera with small 4gig or 8gig card. if you want to shoot longform you will have to either shoot straight to your computer or buy a firestore (another $1200 or so min). as NO, the hvx does NOT shoot dvcproHD to tape.

as a side note, $1000 or so doesnt go super-far in the land of hvx accessories. for example:

bebob foxifocus: $450
bebob zoe (zoom control) $250
youre at $700 there and you dont even have a p2 card or firestore... or external HD monitor - figure another $800 min for that.

i wouldnt predict a HUGE price drop in hvx prices too soon. there IS the sony EX1 thats going to compete, but the first-gen models i hear are very buggy. NAB is coming in a few weeks but unless panasonic surprises us all with an update to the hvx, there wont be earth shattering price drops (even if, price still probably wont drop dramatically)

if your work really NEEDS "HD" then buy the hvx when you have the money. if not make do with what you have.
 
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You only put about 20 hours on the heads and you've had it for a year, making short films and shooting events? Maybe it's not a wise investment, considering the camera doesn't get very much use. The HVX is a great upgrade, but since you already have an HV30, why not get an A1 to match it with?

You definitely can't shoot HD on miniDV tapes - it's all P2 cards. That's one of the major advantages of HDV. What other drawbacks are you referring to? The HVX is a huge step up, cost wise and from the hour usage you mentioned, it doesn't sound like it'd be worth it.

-Kegan
 
Nick Royer said:
Also, can you record HD onto the Mini DV tape? As I shoot a lot of events, this is pretty important because some of these events can go for hours, and buying a bunch of P2 cards or a firestore isn't an option at this point. Can you record to P2 and tape at the same time?
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Nope, the only thing you can record to tape is SD DV25. You also cannot record to both tape and P2 at the same time, but you can downconvert HD from P2 cards to tape in the camera.

If you can't afford P2 cards or a FS-100 yet, you would have to use the camera strictly as a MiniDV camera, or work tethered and capture through a Firewire connection to a NLE or dedicated capturing/monitoring program. For events where the camera is on sticks, that may well be a workable solution.
 
I sold an XL2 and put the money towards my HVX kit. I got $2000 bucks for it....and it took a minute for me to sell it.

If you buy a used HVX package its certainly a worthwhile trade.
 
Kegan Sant said:
You only put about 20 hours on the heads and you've had it for a year, making short films and shooting events?
Click to expand...

Actually I've probably done a lot more than that. Is there a way to check? I looked at the amount of tapes I shot in that time, and it's probably closer to 50 or 60 (recording and playback). The 20 hours was recording time only.

Maybe I should just buy a manual lens for the XL2, build up business and then just keep the XL2 and buy the HVX once Blu-Ray is more popular and affordable.
 
Well, the only reason I mentioned the amount of hours on your camera is to see if your new purchase was justified. I mean now is a good time to sell any SD cameras as HD is taking off (I sold my DVX in January, got $2450 CDN and purchased an A1), but it all depends if the Xl2 keeps bringing you money. If it is, then I see no real reason for you to sell it, unless your clients are requesting HD.

-Kegan
 
robmneilson said:
I sold an XL2 and put the money towards my HVX kit. I got $2000 bucks for it....and it took a minute for me to sell it.

If you buy a used HVX package its certainly a worthwhile trade.
Click to expand...

When did you sell yours? If I can get $2000+ for it then I will sell it in a few months ad buy a basic HVX and some extra batteries. I could then just use it as a DV camera for a few months until I have enough extra money laying around to buy some accessories for it. Business is really picking up now, and I would like to have an HD camera (even though I will still be using SD for a while) so that I won't have to make a major upgrade later.

If I can't get over $2000 for the XL2 though, I probably will just keep it as a second camera.
 
Kegan Sant said:
Well, the only reason I mentioned the amount of hours on your camera is to see if your new purchase was justified. I mean now is a good time to sell any SD cameras as HD is taking off (I sold my DVX in January and purchased an A1), but it all depends if the Xl2 keeps bringing you money. If it is, then I see no real reason for you to sell it, unless your clients are requesting HD.

-Kegan
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Most of my clients are people putting on events, so they don't really care. The XL2 is still bringing me money, and I don't think that the HVX will increase business, but I would like it for use on my short films. Also, I'm in Omaha so there isn't much competition, and only one company is shooting HD, and they are shooting HDV. Most of the competitors are shooting with XL1's, XL2's, or DVX's.

So do I need one? No. Do I want one? Absolutely.

Basically I want to have the equipment that I need to keep my business strong and competitive for the next three years, and then I will buy a new camera when I go off to college (probably successor of HVX200 or maybe the HPX500 if I go to film school.)
 
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and as far as I know that is even not true, you can only record DV to tape (so not DVCpro25)


THoff said:
Nope, the only thing you can record to tape is SD DV25. You also cannot record to both tape and P2 at the same time, but you can downconvert HD from P2 cards to tape in the camera.

If you can't afford P2 cards or a FS-100 yet, you would have to use the camera strictly as a MiniDV camera, or work tethered and capture through a Firewire connection to a NLE or dedicated capturing/monitoring program. For events where the camera is on sticks, that may well be a workable solution.
Click to expand...
 
hi
I also think about selling my XL2 and buy a HVX200. Is the SD picture of the HVX better than tha XL2 picture? I mostly film concerts and in the first time I want to shoot the concerts in mini dv with th HVX but I want the HVX for shooting hd for my short films.
 
wgzn said:
i sold my xl2 with extra batteries, controllers and a big pelican case for $2500 well over a year ago. id challenge you to get more than about $1500-$1700 for one nowaday with various HD flavors of cameras being so prevalent.
Click to expand...

B&H is selling used ones with a condition rating of 9 for $2700 without any extras.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._9549A001_XL_2_1_3_Inch_3_CCD_Widescreen.html

So shouldn't I be able to get about $2500 then? Considering that my XL2 has no scratches or markings on it and it has never had any issues?
 
Sorry it took me a minute to respond to your question....

I sold my XL2 on ebay for 2k, ended up with 1960ish after paying ebay fees.

You might also have some luck on here or for craigslist, but it took me a couple of weeks to sell it for that price. Most people wanted to pay $1500 which wasn't going to do it for me.
 
B&H has a reputation standing behind their product. You should be looking more at prices on eBay.

To MiniDV the HVX and XL2 are comparable. I like the HVX better. Shoot in SD DVCPro50 and the HVX looks much better, right in between MiniDV and digibeta.
 
Can the HVX capture to the firestore just like the P2? With variable frame rates and all? I would prefer the longer record time if it has the same functionality. As far as selling the XL2, by the time I save up enough to buy the HVX, it probably won't be worth $1700. Should I trade the XL2 for a DVX and then keep it as a second cam when I get the HVX?
 
Sell the XL! There is no comparison. You might compare the Xl2 to the DVX 100 but it is not in the same league as the HVX200. I believe that the HVX is better than the XL h1 in that the finished product is cleaner. I have shot shorts with the XL2 and like the exchangeable lenses but my last feature "Land of the Twice Forgiven" was shot on the HVX and it turned out great. Too bad it couldn't help the script :-)
 
hehe
I'm from germany and I bought the xl2 2 years ago and paid 3800 euro and now I think I can get around 3000 euro for it on ebay. That's a good deal because the work with the camera brought me more than that. I think I will wait til NAB because maybe the price for the hvx will go down.
excuse my bad english :laugh:

thanks
 
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