DVX vs saving up for an HD camera

B

budha

Active member
I'm a junior in college, and I am really into doing documentary/reality type of short films. I can not stand having to use the schools equipment (Cannon GL2) anymore. Most of the work I do will be put online and be optimized for the web so IDK if getting an HD camera is worth it?

I just want a really good starter camera that I can learn the manual controls for and master them.

Any thoughts/comments?

I really appreciate everyones input.



On a side note, I saw that Iraq in Fragments documentary and was blown away by how good it looked from just a DVX.
 
DVX, used properly would serve you well. You can probably get used A's for pretty cheap these days.
 
ok, here we go,

The dvx will serve you well for what you're doing, my suggestion? well, the canon a1 is going for pretty cheap these day and it is an amazing camera. (i own one, coming from the dvx100b).

if you have the money, go for HD, at least you'll future-proof how you getting your footage. (well, at least until "scarlet") since most of the stuff you're doing is published online.

But, again the DVX is a very very good camera and very capable, for what you're doing,....
 
The DVX is a great camera, I just sold mine for $1300 which had 200 hours on the head. Its solid for learning and for SD for sure. I agree about the film school issue; I bought mine specifically because of that. And those GL2s, well... Thats another posting. I'd say if you don't need HD, then you don't need it. Everything less is easier. Shorter render times, shorter compression times, less storage capacity needed, less time clocked on your computer (you seem like the kind of guy that would have his own setup anyway). But thats the problem in the camera game, knowing when to stay put or when to move on. If your school is using GL2's, I'd say go with the DVX, especially in this economy.


On another note...

Iraq in Fragments for sure looked great, but read up on the process. Part of what made it great was James Longley using the camera very well, and part of it what the post process, which was far more elaborate and unusual than what most people do. It will, however, teach you a thing or two about the camera. Its worth a read if you can find the articles online about it; for sure the DVX produces incredible SD images.

Hope that helped.
 
My DVX has served me well. Since your stuff is going to be for web anyway, there really is no reason to spend the extra dough. And besides, when you want to upgrade, you can use your DVX to bring in a little cash to pay for it, you know?
 
If you're shooting mainly for the web then you don't need the extra expense and hassle of going HD.

Also consider that you will need to invest in a lot more than just a camera to produce great looking / sounding video: quality lav mic and UHF wireless system ( Sennheiser G2 100 + Tram-50 will get you started ), a decent shotgun-mic ( Rhode ) + wind protection ( Rycote ), a reliable tripod/video-head ( Manfrotto 351MVB2K + 503HDV ), a portable/quick to set up lighting kit ( lowel pro-lights + rifa-lights ), etc...

Bad video looks just as bad in HD. Great video still looks great in SD.
 
I'm with nate on this, when a garbage short is in HD it almost makes me hate it more. I love the dudes with mini35 on their hvx, but they have the sound of a cell phone video. That's quality cinema.
 
budha said:
I'm a junior in college, and I am really into doing documentary/reality type of short films. I can not stand having to use the schools equipment (Cannon GL2) anymore. Most of the work I do will be put online and be optimized for the web so IDK if getting an HD camera is worth it?

I just want a really good starter camera that I can learn the manual controls for and master them.

Any thoughts/comments?

I really appreciate everyones input.



On a side note, I saw that Iraq in Fragments documentary and was blown away by how good it looked from just a DVX.
Click to expand...
Do you know what you want to specialize in? (directing, cinematography, writing, sound, gripping, etc)
If you just want to direct, I would hook up with a student who wants to be a DP at your school instead.
If you want to DP, Scarlet might be worth the extra $$ because of the extra features it has and the larger dynamic range. Since you're a student, I wouldn't worry as much about how good the camera's images are as the controls it gives you.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top