DVX or Xha1

C

Calix

Well-known member
I am in the market to buy by this weekend and for the past few months i have been researching the cameras in my budget range. ( about 4,500, i want some cash for lens adapters,filters,mic, rain cover, etc).. I have vegas 8 and after effects and some cs3 programs. My computer can handle the hdv. Although i dont mind sd one bit. So should i save 800 bucks and get the 100b to have left over dough for extras? I am filming snowboarding and other side projects...thanks for the input..I just feel like i need some people to back up my final decision! :)
 
Usually, I tell those who are working on a tight budget to go with the DVX100B because it's a great camera and doesn't require expensive peripheral software and computers for editing. The DVX is a good buy and would, as you say, leave money for accessories. However, since you already have what you need to edit HD and, since HD does have better resolution, I would say to go with an HD camccorder. That said, my personal choice would be one that uses tape over the PS2 cards, simply because the cards are so expensive. Tape is cheap and provides a convenient medium for archival purposes.

Me, I'm waiting to see what the price tag is going to be on the new HMC150. If it isn't way up there, I'll probably pick one up next spring.
 
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I definitely prefer the color depth of the panasonic cameras over most of what I've seen from the canon. I like my dvx and am fine with the SD image but the biggest gripe I have is the tape medium. If I could arrange for an internal solid state system, I'd keep it for ever.

That said, if I were in your shoes, I'd hang out for one of the new panasonics (the hmc150 or the hpx170)......and that's what I'm doing.

If you really do need a camera now, I'd suggest an hvx200 over the canon. The variable frame rates and P2 system even aside from the color tone range would make that the obvious choice for me. I'm just sick of dealing with tapes. You may not be however...

Buying a used hvx would also leave some money for other bits.
 
ya either do what kidwoo^ said about the hvx. or get the dvx and use that extra to get a nice century optics fisheye and you'll be forever set. that is one solid setup.

and then you should get a nice lil' shotgun mic. i used it once for snowboarding... luscious audio, almost any sound you make with the camera isnt heard, only you subject

and ya and get a nice bag / backpack bag (i use that, good for boarding with)

and get a TRIPOD! very important.



that would be perfect.
 
Yea im leanin towards the dvx..i might wait till the new pannys come out. But man i wanna go out and shoot on something other than my cheezy sony handy cam single ccd.lol... Paladin i hear you on the hd and I will most likely keep this setup for about year then upgrade..Skate- I on the same mindset with the extras..Thanks for all the advice. I will let you guys know what i get! thanks!
 
XHA1. A dvx is a great cam, but its a risky investment to get anything SD at this point. I have been struggling with the same decision as you for a while, and I'm about to buy an XHA1 just because it is so flexible. It does everything the DVX does and more. Theres no reason to pick the DVX over the XHA1.
 
yommytacoe said:
Theres no reason to pick the DVX over the XHA1.
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I own both camera's, as much as I love my dvx, the xh-a1 has proven to be a better choice. There is actually only one area's were it surpasses the dvx and that is in resolution, even downconverted to fit on a regular dvd.
I get clearly visible sharper images when the lens is fully wide (after downconverting), the dvx just can't keep up in that area, an even "much" bigger difference is when you are editing, in premiere cs3 my preview window actually looks like a window when handling xh-a1 footage, it's razorsharp, no way to compare with the dvx. That level of detail comes in handy when doing effects in adobe's AE.
The only thing that the dvx is better in is easy of handling, every option you get to manipulate your image has been better implemented then with the xh-a1. You just feel that Panasonic has given this camera a lot of thought keeping their end users in mind.
The xha1 gave me a lot steeper learning curve while the pana gave me a allready very familiar feeling after just 2 days of intensive using.

In Europe canon was giving a cashback the past 2 months on their camers which was a no brainer for me as it brought the camera very close to the dvx100 pricepoint. (it is now a lot cheaper compared to what I paid for my dvx 1,5 years ago.)
Also what's been said here to wait for a hmc150 is nothing you can compare the xh-a1 with as this camera will be more expensive if you include enough memory cards. Also it requires a really up to date computer as the codec is very demanding and not all editing programs handle it without a problem.

As for the codec the xh-a1 uses, it doesn't get any better then it is now, artifacting? Haven"t seen it in my footage, low light capability? Similar to my dvx. Editing? every pc and editing software you buy today handles the codec without a problem. I'd say the dvx has been the best value/quality of what an SD camera could offer but let's be honest, SD is not far from being dead, HD will give you much more resolution to work with, especially on 16:9 tv's.

I wouldn't doubt now, get a xh-a1 and don't look back.
 
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kidwoo said:
Buying a used hvx would also leave some money for other bits.
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In Belgium I can get 2 xh-a1 for the price of 1 HVX and then we don't even talk about the extra costs for the P2 cards, if you need at least 4 hours worth of recordingtime in teh highest quality with P2 cards you almost can get a 3rd xh-a1.
Tired of tape? Get a firestore and stick it on the xh-a1. Ofcourse the hvx does have some benefits over the xh-a1 but when comparing prices, no way.

edit: just saw you wrote "used hvx", that makes a difference ofcourse but i haven"t seen a used hvx here below the pricepoint of a new xh-a1
 
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Calix, what do you plan to do with your video when it's finished?

All of my corporate video work is destined for either the web or standard DVD playback, so right now I have no use for HD. Sure I could start churning out Blu-Ray discs, but none of my clients currently own or use a Blu-Ray player, and I suspect it's going to be a couple of years before this changes.

If I was shooting for the broadcast market, then HD would be a big deal, and from what I understand, the HDV format ( re: Canon XH A1 ) is not welcome in the broadcast market, so my only choice would be a higher end camera. ( Panasonic or Sony )

I'm using a DVX100B right now, and will likely add a HPX170 when I can justify churning out HD content. ( not this year )
 
I sold my xh-a1 for a dvx. There are many reasons why I did this and I don't regret it at all. HDV does not hold up well against other hd codecs in my opinion. I also hate the tape drive and the fact the Canon has horrible tape problems that they cant seem to get over. I would go DVX and wait until HD is in every house hold. ( which won't be for sometime yet ). And with the new instant hd advanced, you will be able to easily scale up dvx footage to 720p and have it look fabulous.

Dont go HDV.
 
TheDingo said:
If I was shooting for the broadcast market, then HD would be a big deal, and from what I understand, the HDV format ( re: Canon XH A1 ) is not welcome in the broadcast market, so my only choice would be a higher end camera. ( Panasonic or Sony )

I'm using a DVX100B right now, and will likely add a HPX170 when I can justify churning out HD content. ( not this year )
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No doubt the 170 will be a good camera. But dont expect any 1/3" or 1/2" prosumer camera to have a lot of pull when it comes to HD broadcast. But, dont expect it to hold you back. Get your content right.

XHA1 will do you fine. Even for web and SD DVD it looks a lot sharper and cleaner.
 
zergtherobot said:
HDV does not hold up well against other hd codecs in my opinion. I also hate the tape drive and the fact the Canon has horrible tape problems that they cant seem to get over.
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In regard to the original question don't think you have to compares canons codec's to other hd codecs but just to the dvx as he was doubting between the 2 camera's. Also what horrible tape problem does it have that i am unaware off? and why go through all the trouble of purchasing an extra piece of software, wait for it to scale your dvx footage up when you can have all the resolution you need without that effort?

Also for the comment that has been given earlier here that you don't need hd for the web, eventhough SD can look quite good HD is a lot sharper, just browse through some hd video's on vimeo.com and you clearly see the difference.
 
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Is HDV better than DVCProHD? Debatable.
Is HDV better than DV? Most definitely yes.
Do HDV camcorders fully support DV? Yes, yes, yes.
Decision to sell a XH-A1 for a DVX? Why not just run the Xh A1 in DV mode??
 
Noel Evans said:
Even for web and SD DVD it looks a lot sharper and cleaner.
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Can you point to any comparisons that demo this?

From my own experience great looking SD holds up well against HD video that has been scaled down to SD resolution. ( in some cases the SD video looked better at SD resolution than the HD did )
 
NOA said:
In regard to the original question don't think you have to compares canons codec's to other hd codecs but just to the dvx as he was doubting between the 2 camera's. Also what horrible tape problem does it have that i am unaware off? and why go through all the trouble of purchasing an extra piece of software, wait for it to scale your dvx footage up when you can have all the resolution you need without that effort?

Also for the comment that has been given earlier here that you don't need hd for the web, eventhough SD can look quite good HD is a lot sharper, just browse through some hd video's on vimeo.com and you clearly see the difference.
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The reason I say you should compare, is that with the recent advancement in HD tech, I dont think it would be good to buy an xh-a1 at this point in time. This is my opinion, but I am sticking with my dvx until scarlet. Then well see who produces sharper images. Besides all of this, content over resolution. If you have good content people are willing to forgive less resolution. So save some money and buy a used DVX.
 
TheDingo said:
Can you point to any comparisons that demo this?
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i own a dvx and a xh-a1 and when both camera lenzes are fully wide I do see a difference in detail were the canon is better. once you zoom in the difference is less noticeable. Think this is normal as with the dvx you loose resolution in squeeze or letterbox mode, with the canon you don't in 16:9.
If you would compare 4:3 footage from the dvx with 16:9 footage from the xh-a1 I'd say there would be no difference but in 16:9 the dvx doesn't hold up.
 
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