A or B

shyguyfilms

shyguyfilms

Active member
I'm almost ready to buy my DVX, but I'm having trouble deciding which to go with, either the 100A or the 100B.

From my standpoint the A would be a better buy. I could use the extra money toward other products, such as a decent mic, tripod etc.

I'm getting really anxious to shoot something here guys.

I just need some sage like advice from the those who know before I make a mistake.

Thanks
 
A!!! P/A/B all the same to me... as long as you can shoot 24P Advanced. I own the first generation the P. i think the only cool thing the B can do is squeeze mode and over crank... but picture quality is all the same.
 
If you want the ability to use an intervalometer (time-lapse), then go with the A. I personally own an A, but we have the Bs at work. I prefer the A, but the B has some good features.
 
i second Deepfocus88.... get the A and save some money. like Filmosity said.. there is not much difference between the "A" and the "B" i just got my "A" and it does do squeeze mode. great camera. glad i got it.
 
it does squeeze mode, but correct me if im wrong.

i believe the A doesnt resize the image so you can see the proper aspect ratio as your NLE would, but u have to shoot with a tall and skinny image.
 
PaPa said:
it does squeeze mode, but correct me if im wrong.

i believe the A doesnt resize the image so you can see the proper aspect ratio as your NLE would, but u have to shoot with a tall and skinny image.
Click to expand...

That is correct. However, when displaying SQUEEZE with 16:9 LCD mode on the DVX100B, you do not see an underscanned image. The top and bottom is cut off, and this is somewhat of a dangerous flaw. You can really mess up framing/composition if you don't work around this.
 
Hi,

The DVX100A in framing in the 16:9(Squeeze) mode will sho tall skinny people and structures in your LCD and VF. In the DVX100B, your framing will be 16:9 letterbox on the 4:3 LCD and VF. This allows for more accurate framing. In one of the posts below I noted that it was stated that this is a detriment and frankly it is one of the better features introduced on the camera. The More Accurate representation is appropriate when trying to determine your composition.

The only way you will get this same idea is if you shoot the letterbox mode on the DVX100A and there you will actually be shooting a 4:3 image with your picture in a 16:9 letterbox.

There is nothing relative to underscan about what the DVX100B is shooting, it is showing you you what the picture is and there will be no surprises.

In addition there are some other nice features about the 100B that make it a very nice improvement over the 100A, including the fact that it is quieter in the picture value and you have a one touch button to clear the screen of the VF info. And I happen to like the cool color.

Hope that clears up the confusion.

Jan
 
There's also a bunch of other stuff on the "B" that's pretty useful if not essential depending on your shooting setup. One is the ability for remote focus and remote iris. You gotta have those if you're putting the camera anywhere remote like on a crane.

Another is headphone monitoring live in 24p mode. In the "A" you get an echo unless you have noise isolating headphones.

As far as image goes the "B" has a better signal to noise for a cleaner signal.

There's a couple of other improvements (including higher res viewfinder and LCD) that make the "B" compelling.
 
"B" = "better" as far as I'm concerned. Only step backwards with the 100B was the loss of interval recording mode (for time lapse work), and they changed to a different LCD panel on the 100B. Other than that, the 100B does what the 100A does, and more.
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
There is nothing relative to underscan about what the DVX100B is shooting, it is showing you you what the picture is and there will be no surprises.
Click to expand...

Jan, sorry to disagree, but this just isn't accurate.

On the B model, with the LCD in 4:3, you see a full image, all pixels, what you'd call underscan on a production monitor. This is great.

However, when you set the LCD to 16:9 mode, the aspect changes, yes, but also what you see. The image is cut off on all sides, and is equivilent to what you'd see on an overscanned 16:9 TV. If you hit the MENU button, the screen will temporarily revert to 4:3 while the menu is displayed, and you can see the extra parts of the image that the 16:9 display is not showing you.

This is pretty much a well-known fact around here, and we tend to work around it by hitting the MENU button once in a while to make sure there is nothing undesirable in the shot that we're not seeing on the 16:9 display mode.

If this is not the way it should be, then perhaps you can send this issue accross to be fixed. I would happily send in my camera if a firmware upgrade would correct this problem, because it's a major pain in the butt.
 
So you are sayi8ng that in the Squeeze mode, and you are wanting a 16:9 picture, that the letterbox of the display will not show you everything that might be in the 16:9? If so, I will have to check that out, as I did not believ that to be true.

Thanks,

Jan

Joshua Provost said:
Jan, sorry to disagree, but this just isn't accurate.

On the B model, with the LCD in 4:3, you see a full image, all pixels, what you'd call underscan on a production monitor. This is great.

However, when you set the LCD to 16:9 mode, the aspect changes, yes, but also what you see. The image is cut off on all sides, and is equivilent to what you'd see on an overscanned 16:9 TV. If you hit the MENU button, the screen will temporarily revert to 4:3 while the menu is displayed, and you can see the extra parts of the image that the 16:9 display is not showing you.

This is pretty much a well-known fact around here, and we tend to work around it by hitting the MENU button once in a while to make sure there is nothing undesirable in the shot that we're not seeing on the 16:9 display mode.

If this is not the way it should be, then perhaps you can send this issue accross to be fixed. I would happily send in my camera if a firmware upgrade would correct this problem, because it's a major pain in the butt.
Click to expand...
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
So you are sayi8ng that in the Squeeze mode, and you are wanting a 16:9 picture, that the letterbox of the display will not show you everything that might be in the 16:9? If so, I will have to check that out, as I did not believ that to be true.
Click to expand...

Jan,

Exactly. SQUEEZE mode, 16:9 LCD display, and it's clipping on all sides. Probably SQUEEZE mode or not, but I use squeeze. It seems to be an issue with how the 16:9 display is created. Please have a look yourself. Originally discussed in this thread.

Thanks,
Josh
 
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