Buying an HVX

L

legion

Member
I've been looking at an HVX but I'm new to the film/video scene in general so I was looking for some advice on critical equipment I'm going to need based on what I'll be doing. What I'd like to be doing is sports documentaries, specifically bodybuilding. Think Pumping Iron. Now I'm not too worried about getting film grain or anything like that, but I do want 24p, and some reasonable control over depth of field. I know Pumping Iron was shot on 16mm in 1975 so I'm wondering how an HVX would hold up to that.

The equipment I've been looking at so far is an HVX200 with a Firestore, a shotgun mic, and maybe a lowel lighting kit, as well as an extra battery.

Is there anything I'm forgetting?

I'm also curious as to how well something shot in 720p down converts to DVD. Is there anything I have to worry about at the production level that would cause really bad artifacting when it's compressed to mpeg2?
 
Our last project was shot in 720pn and it looks great on DVD.

I'm interested to hear many people here are using the Firestore, I've heard from a lot of DPs and crew that it's a total piece of crap, and been strongly recommended never to use that. But whatever, I guess it depends on your experience.

So you don't need a tripod for what you're doing? I mean that's always a good thing to have.

I can tell you our experience in this industry so far has been basically one of growing equipment needs at a rapid level. I still remember when I first got down here, I didn't know anything about what it would take to make professional quality work, and I could fit all of my tools in the back of a Toyota Celica. I had a camera, a boom mic, a basic lighting kit (two 1Ks, two 650s, and a 300), and a lousy tripod. Now, we can't fit all of our equipment in a cargo van, so we're buying a truck for transportation.

It ends up being one thing after another, at least if you're striving for professional quality, and before long you have racked up huge bills and amassed all kinds of equipment. But now we're happy with what we have, mostly. We can rent anything above what we own. For what you're doing, though, it doesn't sound like you'd need a lot of the stuff we have, like a bunch of flags, C-stands, apple boxes, etc.
 
I need a tripod, I just forgot to write that in the post. How would depth of field compare between a 1970s era 16mm and the HVX?
 
DOF on a HVX is akin to DOF on a regular8mm camera.

Also have at least three or four batteries.
 
if you really want to work with depth of field, youre going to need a 35mm adapter and various lenses...

search the forum here for brevis, red rock, sgpro, letus - that will get you started.
 
Doesn't the weight and size of the lens plus adapter and the need for more light affect the portability that would be needed for documentary film making?
 
Definitely. You could probably get away with a brevis but you might find any 35mm adaptor a nusiance in a doco situation.
 
it does add some weight (like 3 to 5 lbs generally with a brevis)

the light issue, though present isnt exactly a deal breaker. just have to consider your locations a bit more than normally

but come on man - you cant get everything you want with just a basic setup. if you want the real DOF look its pretty much a necessary evil... take it or leave it
 
I think you'd be very happy with the HVX over the pumping iron film from the 70's. Filmstock has come a long way so that stuff really doesn't even hold up to todays film stock in a lot of ways.. and with the HVX you could really get a nice look out of it all.


I too wouldn't go with a firestore now that the 16 gig cards are out or you can buy the 4 gigs for so cheap. I'd also say to check out lights. I'm not a big fan of Lowell lights.. pretty cheap and there's other alternatives. I love cool lights too and just more mobile fixtures anways


good luck
 
I dont see how P2 cards could be practical even at the soon to be released 32GB size for documentary work where you have to record for long periods of time without a break. I can see that it would work in feature films cause your shots are usually much shorter. Also, a firestore is only $2400, two 32s would be $3600 and I'd still have 36GB less.

I'm kind of confused as to why people dont like the firestore. I've been unable to find any solid reasons. I've heard about problems with the firewire cable coming loose and I know that V3.0 firmware didn't support all the framerates but that's been resolved now.

Is there something I'm missing?
 
Many people have reported files being lost/deleted/corrupted with the firestore; and the firewire issue is a BIG deal. Other people have reported nothing but good things about it. The only way to be sure for yourself is to try out both options and see which fits best.
 
does anyone find the firewire issue less problematic now that they sell firestores with a right angle plug?
 
I dont see how P2 cards could be practical even at the soon to be released 32GB size for documentary work where you have to record for long periods of time without a break.
Click to expand...
Two 16 gigs, or a single 32 gig will be as practical as HDV/DV tape. If you shoot 720PN you'll get 32 minutes per 16gig card at least and the same if you decide to shoot DVCPRO50, 32 minutes on card at comparible to DigiBeta quality SD. So a 32 Gig card will equate to an hour long tape of DV/HDV in 720PN and DVCPRO50.

With two cards in the slots, both 32's and you'll have two hours worth of footage recording for 720PN and DVCPRO50. And in fact, an assistant can bump a card out once its full and start transferring that to a laptop for checking and slot another one in. so if you had 2 or 3 cards on the go and an assistant you could record as long as you like.

Its way more practical than people imagine, heck I've still got my single 4 Gig card and I'm waiting to buy two 16s so its come a long way.

And when we get up to 128Gig cards, ohmygosh...
 
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