does a dvx100b still make sense

R

robfilms

Veteran
i shoot a fair amount of sd for my clients. lots of talking head interviews. distribution is on dvd, web and, occasionally, large screen presentation.

does a dvx100b still make sense?

i would surely say yes if i could shoot 16x9. the 4x3 in sd is very limiting. i know that letterbox works to create that illusion but its effectiveness is limited.

does a dvx100b still make sense?

as for tape vs tapeless, sure i'm sick of log&capture but i can give the client that tape as the archival copy.

pre-amps on a dvx100b are good enough. the pannie "look" is pleasant even in 30p.

does a dvx100b still make sense if i were to buy a low hour, well taken rig for less than $1k?

i'm just not sure if its $ that i should be using for an hd rig.

if you care to share: does a dvx100b still make sense?

thanks in advance

be well

rob
 
robfilms said:
i
does a dvx100b still make sense if i were to buy a low hour, well taken rig for less than $1k?

i'm just not sure if its $ that i should be using for an hd rig.
Click to expand...

I bought mine for $800 cash via Craigslist. It came with the DVX w/225hrs and only that, no bag no nothing. I thought the same thing... HD or SD or DSLR. You see a lot of ppl dropping there DVX's and even HVX's for DSLR's, especially when you can pick them up for $800 (Canon T2i) that shoot 24p 1080p!

In my opinion it makes sense. For now at least, I figure I bought all my gear for supper cheap and the at worst I can sell it back even a year from now. Once I'm done playing with the DVX ill bump it up to HD.
 
t/k-

thanks for sharing your thoughts.

can any dvx100 users suggest a step by step procedure to test a used dvx100b?

how would u test the lens focusing ability?
zoom in-focus-zoom out-does it hold focus?
check each f stop?
are both zoom controls smooth?

how would u check iris?
holds white balance?

sound?
xlr mic into each xlr and record to tape?
see if headphone jack is wobbly and any hiss?
check headphone jack volume control?

test lcd/vf?
keep power on and see if any scan issues?

transfer via firewire to see if port works?

battery holds a charge?

ac adapter works?

how do i check if any dust in lens?

how do i check if any blown pixels?

finally, shoot some tape, load into final cut and playback.

any website to recommend for other thoughts?

thanks in advance

be well

rob
 
Rob, what market are you trying to by from?

Because you basically hit every point in buying a Used DVX, but if your doing it via Ebay or the market place you cant do any of that. If you do it through criagslist then you best be prepared to bring a laptop and meet somewhere like starbucks or the persons residence. But I can tell you from experience that most ppl on criags are not down to wine and dine for under 1k for their camera.

Also to add to your list.
When was the last time it was serviced/if at all the heads cleaned.
What kinda of tapes were used, check for consistency.
 
DVX'es used are cheap and mimic most HVX behaviors. Only things you wont have are HD (obvious) and Instant playback, selective clip review/delete in camera, its rewind, play fast-forward, log and transfer etc.. but other than that the CAM is still good.
 
jambredz said:
btw the a and b models both shoot "squeeze" which is very good 16X9 when u put it on dvd
Click to expand...

I just worked on a thing with 2 cameras (me with HVX - b-camera DVX100), where I downgraded my HVX to run to DV Tape, I tried setting the DVX100b to squeeze like mine but only Letterbox 4x3 and Full 4x3 would come up, is that a firmware update thing, so I could forward it to the owner of the cam. HVX200 did have all 3 options in you mention in the DV 480p24 menus.
 
No firmware update. That's how it comes. No idea why you didn't see it in the menus. I can understand possibly not seeing it in the lcd...cuz depending on how u set the lcd display it will show either with black bars on top and bottom( which can be mistaken for letterbox mode) or it will show squished...but its still squeeze mode. Of course this is only after u loacte it in the menu. So duno why you didn't see it.
 
Kevmo said:
Rob, what market are you trying to by from?

Because you basically hit every point in buying a Used DVX, but if your doing it via Ebay or the market place you cant do any of that. If you do it through criagslist then you best be prepared to bring a laptop and meet somewhere like starbucks or the persons residence. But I can tell you from experience that most ppl on criags are not down to wine and dine for under 1k for their camera.

Also to add to your list.
When was the last time it was serviced/if at all the heads cleaned.
What kinda of tapes were used, check for consistency.
Click to expand...

kevmo-

thanks for sharing your thoughts.

local craigslist. the present owner is an editor who wanted to shoot more but never did. only ran panasonic pro tape for the 60hrs.

he's coming to my studio, where we'll test the camera. i have put together a checklist to hopefully run the camera thru its paces. since he'll be at the studio, i'll buy the guy lunch and get a better sense of his professionalism and thus how i imagined he treated the dvx100b.

for the $ i'm willing to pay (well under $1k) the camera will pay for itself in 4 days.

fingers crossed.

be well

rob
 
DVX is still a great camera, I wouldn't get this baby out of my hands for anything at the moment. spacially if I'm only shooting video for clients/web.
or even if I did shoot for the big screen, I've seen great video's shot with the dvx.
if you really care about HD and you want the 16x9, there are some solutions...
the sqeez mode does the job for widescreeen and plug-ins will work pretty good as exporting your SD to HD.

btw, this was shot all with the dvx, it was shot in squeez mode and upraised to HD. so the screen fits the youtube's full 16x9 widescreen with no problem and make sure you watch it in HD to see the difference. I couldn't be happier with this cam:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpL9S1lxr7U
 
robfilms said:
kevmo-

thanks for sharing your thoughts.

local craigslist. the present owner is an editor who wanted to shoot more but never did. only ran panasonic pro tape for the 60hrs.

he's coming to my studio, where we'll test the camera. i have put together a checklist to hopefully run the camera thru its paces. since he'll be at the studio, i'll buy the guy lunch and get a better sense of his professionalism and thus how i imagined he treated the dvx100b.

for the $ i'm willing to pay (well under $1k) the camera will pay for itself in 4 days.

fingers crossed.

be well

rob
Click to expand...
Yeah @ 60hrs that is brand new, literally like a used car with 5000 miles!
Unless this so called editor dropped it in the toilet and the let a skateboard hit the lens I think you will be fine. Great find BTW for under 1k w/ 60hrs. Its a buyers market :P

Anyways post some piks of the cam when you buy it!!
 
@Kevmo, thanks for your PM
I used Red Giants plug-in to upraise the video.
it's called "instant HD andvanced"

you can still export the video out without a plug-in and seen if you like it.
so you can still get the 720 resolution without the plug-in.
the plug-in just helps for more detial.
 
ryvac said:
@Kevmo, thanks for your PM
I used Red Giants plug-in to upraise the video.
it's called "instant HD andvanced"

you can still export the video out without a plug-in and seen if you like it.
so you can still get the 720 resolution without the plug-in.
the plug-in just helps for more detial.
Click to expand...
yeah I'm on the PC side right now w/ sony vegas so that plugin doesn't work
 
i bought the craigslist dvx100b.

seller was a professional.

we did full blown camera test.

spent 90min going over everything.

big thumbs up.

glad to have a new tool in the shop-and with only 60hrs!

yippee

ymmv

be well

rob
 
What was the damage$$$ you said well under 1000.00 so im just curious. I got both my DVX100a's for $900 and $1000, 1 with 30 hours 1 with 70 :)
 
robfilms-

I just bought a dvx100b used last summer. I couldn't have made a better investment at the time and still think it was worth all the money. I spent $1600 on a dvx with 50 hrs, an extra battery and a hard case. I have put about 77 hours on it since I have had it. I am still learning new things about it everyday and I like the look I get from it. I think this camera is well worth it. The manual controls are a huge plus for me.

Aaron

Plus if it's good enough for "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" It's good enough for me.
 
Aschu said:
robfilms-

I just bought a dvx100b used last summer. I couldn't have made a better investment at the time and still think it was worth all the money. I spent $1600 on a dvx with 50 hrs, an extra battery and a hard case. I have put about 77 hours on it since I have had it. I am still learning new things about it everyday and I like the look I get from it. I think this camera is well worth it. The manual controls are a huge plus for me.

Aaron

Plus if it's good enough for "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" It's good enough for me.
Click to expand...

Its really used on that...

Sweet 1 of my favorite shows ever :grin:
 
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