100B or Canon A1???

M

meta4

Well-known member
So I'm almost positive this question is on other users minds.

I'm upgrading from a gs150 to something professional, I've started my own production company and I'm doing a lot of commercial marketing video work. I need something better.

I also guarantee I'll be doing some short films really soon (working on scripts now).

Should I go for the Canon A1 and down rez to get SD 4:2:2 (or does it make 4:4:4?)

Or should I go with the time tested, yet SD only, 100b?

HD isn't that big now, but it'll soon be a big seller for content creators (that's me). I'd like to have HD early on.

How does Canon's cine gamma ability compare to the almost mythical 100b's cine settings?

Thanks guys
 
The Canon isn't on the market yet and probably won't be for another month or so, so until it is we can't really answer those questions.

A lot of people are very interested in this new Canon and in the new Sony as they both promise HD acquisition with 24p/24F at around the same price point as a DVX. Sort of. I mean, the DVX is $3999 retail, but you can get it after rebate for around $3100. The Sony is $4800 retail but we expect it (and the Canon) to "street" at around $3999. So there's still a price difference, even though the Canon and the Panasonic both carry an MSRP of $3999. Of course, this also depends on how Canon chooses to sell the XHA1; with the XLH1 they apparently endorse a strict MSRP-only policy so there's no such thing as a "street price"; with the XHA1 I don't know if they've announced whether they'll go that same route or not. If they do, it'll be $3999. If they allow for what-the-market-will-bear pricing, we might see it more like $3700 or maybe less.

So, in short, we can't really answer your question yet. Once they're out in the market and we get some comparative reviews we'll be better able to say what would be best. The Sony/Canon battle looks to be very interesting since the two products are so similarly featured.
 
Meta,

What about an HVX200 bare bones with no P2 cards? You'll basically have a true 16:9 DVX, and the ability to jump into HD as prices of P2 cards come down.

Josh
 
I apologize, but I'm not a fan of the HVX. Something about a 500K pixel CCD scares me. I cannot understand how they use that to get true HD.

The DVCPro 50 format sounds cool. But that girl is an expensive one.
 
meta4 said:
I apologize, but I'm not a fan of the HVX. Something about a 500K pixel CCD scares me. I cannot understand how they use that to get true HD.

The DVCPro 50 format sounds cool. But that girl is an expensive one.
Click to expand...

Lookat footage before you make claims like "500K ccd's scare me"


Most Formula1 cars that hit 250+ MPH are just 2 liter engines.

Forget what it says on paper, LOOK at how it performs.
 
As a very happy owner of a DVX100 (old-skool), if I were buying a camera today, I'd go with an HD camera. Either wait for the Canon, or the Sony, or the HVX, or the JVC. Anything with true 24p. The price difference is small enought that there's little reason to go SD, especially for filmmaking.
 
meta4 said:
I apologize, but I'm not a fan of the HVX. Something about a 500K pixel CCD scares me. I cannot understand how they use that to get true HD.
Click to expand...

It's called pixel shifting and most HD cameras do it a bit. It can theoretically add 1.5 times as much resolved detail making it 1440 x 810. Look at Barry's comparisons with it and the JVC HD100 to show how it provides just as much resolution as a higher rez camera.

Besides, if using technical shortcuts scares you then why aren't you worried about the A1's interlaced CCDs being used to make a faux progressive images.
 
I've been lurking in here and other boards for the past month "seeing" what kind of camera I'm going to get next year. I've been weighing in on HDV and I keep coming back to the DVX100. The best "cheap" HD camera out there is the HVX, BUT the way I shoot, I'd need the external drive to capture to and a Laptop to DL my footage to clear up the drive. Too expensive for the results.

There isn't an HDV camera out there that, to me, can compete with a DVX100 with a 35mm adapter and prime lenses. I came from a photo background before getting into filmmaking and video production. The idea of having all of the tools my old manual Nikon 35mm had in a video camera for the same price as a good "pro" HDV camera tells me there's no competition. All I had to do was look at the images created this way and compare them to the shiny semi-hi-rez HDV images and DVX all the way.
 
The thing about it is an A1 will also shoot "real progressive" DV should you ever decide that you just want to stick with DV. IMHO, Canon cinegamma's are very nice, and the image control for the new A1's is expected to be even more extensive than the XL-H1's.

As a matter of fact, HDV 24F from the H1 (and likely from the A1) will downconvert to approximately 4:4:4 widescreen SD should you decide that you want to bump it down to a better SD format.

We'll soon be able to view footage from the A1 in a month or less and discern/decide if it continues the H1 legacy...in a smaller form factor.

If you can afford the slghtly higher price of an HD camera like the A1, why would you consider a DVX? I'm honestly not bashing the camera as I've owned one and loved it, but no matter how nice you find the image, you will always be limited to 720x480 acquisition in 4:1:1 (if you're NTSC).
 
It's going to be hard to get unobjective views on a board built around the DVX.

You really should just wait and SEE for yourself. It's cool to get opinions, but you have to weigh in the influence on the boards. DVX100 is a great camera... Produces a great image still...

But wait until you see the A1 footage before you decide if you can wait until Mid-October.
 
Yeah, my eyeballs will make the final decision. But I am a member of these boards to gather opinions. I respect most all of the guys on here and I want to know their opinions. I'd ask my friends but they'd respond with "progressive what?", so I ask y'all.

I'm really lookin forward to some video from the A1.

SIDE NOTE: Has the H1 been used for any television productions or commercials???
 
Canon is terrible at marketing on the grass roots level, you wont hear much about the professional use of their cameras. I barely heard a whisper about the XL2 being used in a lot of the movie "Crank" but if a DVX or HVX has one swish pan in a movie the community is all over it. That is another tick in the Panny camp though... bigger community = more support/3rd Party add-ons



ash =o)
 
AshG said:
Canon is terrible at marketing on the grass roots level, you wont hear much about the professional use of their cameras. I barely heard a whisper about the XL2 being used in a lot of the movie "Crank"
Click to expand...

I KNEW IT!!! I could have sworn when I saw the trailer that one of the shots either came from an XL2 or XLH1. Then imdb didn't list them so I though I was wrong. Canon and their red-ish colors...I should go to bed.
 
For whatever reason, as noted above, Canon does not promote the use of their cameras. That is why when people start posting IMDB stats I correct them saying that much, if not most, of the Canon camera use is not credited.


ash =o)
 
Joshua Provost said:
Meta,

What about an HVX200 bare bones with no P2 cards? You'll basically have a true 16:9 DVX, and the ability to jump into HD as prices of P2 cards come down.

Josh
Click to expand...

i've been torn between buying a dvx now or saving to buy an HVX, and i had never even thought of that! it was an "oh, duh!" moment. Thanks for pointing out something so obvious yet overlooked by me.
 
An HVX is still 5Gs though, certainly not chump change.

Anyone think it'll drop with the A1/G1/Z1u debuts???
 
nothing beats the look of an hvx and an m2. together the results are simply stunning to say the least.

if i had money, i would buy those two things, in that order. (sigh)
and im still paying off my loan for my dvx100b! (bring on the 24 month loan... yeh, i'm that serious!) screw a new car!!!

(in other words... buy an hvx, then a m2)
 
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