DVX Future

roxics

roxics

Veteran
This fall I'm going to be purchasing a new camera. Unfortunately I won't have the money for a RED. Way out of my current price range. Especially since I'm gettting married and we're looking for a new place to live.

So I'm looking in the $1500-$3500 price range. Probably closer to $1500-$2500 for a used camera instead. Either a used DVX100 or FX1. For years I've loved the look of the DVX footage and still do. It was the camera I have been planning on getting all along. But now I'm concerned about the resolution. We're getting to a point where HDV and HD are starting to become more common and cameras like RED and the new SI cam are ever higher resolution and are going to be coming in at price points that high end DV cameras used to maintain. This is going to make it harder for indie features shot on DV.

I also want to put my camera to work as I'm getting damn good at cinematography and want to start making some money. But I'm afraid there is going to be no demand for an SD camera six months to a year from now.

But what I like about the DVX is the look of the footage, the native 24p or 30p frame rates and definitely the good XLR audio as I've come to really appreciate good audio and how important it is to a film. So that's a real big seller for me. And the fact that the FX1 lacks any kind of XLR audio, especially clean XLR audio is a big shortcoming. It means having to buy an external recorder and go through the headache of the added price and the workflow of syncing audio. In fact the only selling point about the FX1 to me is it's higher resolution. Especially when I hear that footage that starts HD even if going down to SD will look better.


I know the DVX can be hacked to do HD with the Andromeda(sp?). And that's another thing that has me leaning toward the DVX more and more. It's not stuck with SD if I really don't want it to be. And I don't know of any other SD camera that can claim that. But lets face it Andromeda is $2500 and difficult to work with. At that price alone I could probably buy a used FX1 to go along with the DVX100. So I can't really factor in the Andromeda when considering the DVX compared to the FX1. nd by the time I'd actually get around to saving up the money for an Andromeda hack, They will probably be a better camera on the market at that price point.

If only the DVX did at least 720p to tape, it would be a no brainer choice.

I just don't want to buy into something 5 months from now that doesn't really stack up anymore.
 
I just played with the HVX for the first time today. The HVX is a great camera and I'm glad I now get to use one, but shooting HD makes me realize even more how cool my DVX really is. In other words, my answer to your question is a resounding, "Yes, the DVX has a future."

What's going to make a camera outdated? For me, it would be the inability to have it cut in seemlessly with the future (upcoming camera's like RED). For example, what about interlacing (yuck!). Why would you want to shoot anything interlaced today when you have the DVX available? I'm biased (like most people around here), but I would say that progressive 16:9 footage (like you can get out of the DVX) has more longevity than HDV interlaced.
 
I wouldnt put SD to sleep so fast. Once the CD came out they figured audio tape would be dead within a year. Didnt happen that fast. Once laser discs first came out, they figured VHS would be dead in a year, that didnt happen either. It took over 10 years for DVD to come out and kill VHS.

SD will be dead when all television broadcasts are in HD, and everyone can buy a HD DVD player (or Blue Ray) for the HD screens everyone will own.

Get the best camera you can afford now, and when you get paying gigs, save some for a HD cam: they will be cheaper, the res will get higher, and there will be more playback options.

The playback/editing market has not caught up with the capture market. The future will bring a balance and you will be in a better position. Look for a used DVX100A and get out shooting. They will see your great images, and HD wont be as much of a concern. But if a client asks, tell they yes you can do it in HD, explain the added costs and then rent out a HDV cam.
 
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You guys are right. I shouldn't let the fact that it's SD stop me from getting one and using the heck out of it. It's a solid camera and that's been proven to me over and over again by the footage I've seen.

I'm kind of curious though, what I said earlier about HD stuff looking better when downconverted to SD compared to native SD stuff. Does the DVX downconvert? It does start with the higher res chips. So is that one of the reasons the picture looks so good?
 
The dvx does not downconvert.
You have 720-480 pixels. It stays that way. It only compresses the picture otherwise the files would be too big. And the compression type of the dvx is very good.
If you downconvert, it means you change a picuture to fit another format. In downconverting it is always a "better picture" into a less "better picture". In upconverting you cannot make you picture better looking, but you can change it to fit you're higher format.
BTW, by the dvx, best buy in that price range. What Everdene says is right to me too.
 
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Why don't you just buy the HVX? You can shoot, SD at 24p just like DVX, and when you have enough money, you can buy a cineporter or p2 card and shoot HD. By then the storage devices will be cheaper and hold more gigs. Have you seen HVX footage? looks just like film if you light it right.
 
Roxis quote:
So I'm looking in the $1500-$3500 price range. Probably closer to $1500-$2500 for a used camera instead. Either a used DVX100 or FX1.
 
I agree with Rookie Filmmaker if you can score the extra cash. The great thing about the HVX is the 16x9 sensor. I have a DVX and love it, but I'm hoping to get the next generation HVX (or maybe HD100) in a couple of years knowing that, even then, I'll probably still be shooting mostly SD. If I need HD, I can always rent P2 cards and find a solution for editing/output.

But, by all means, don't worry about the DVX becoming obselete anytime soon. It's a great camera and for some situations (ENG or doc work in particular) it could even be up-rezzed and spliced into HD footage without looking too horrible.
 
Yeah my budget it pretty fixed.

The only reason I ask about the downrezzing of the image is because the folks at Andromeda claim the DVX can produce a 1540x984 image, which they then uprez to 1080p or downrez to 720p. So if that's the case the regular DVX100 must just be downrezzing from 1540x984 to 480p right? So I'm thinking that's what accounts for such a nice picture?
 
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