Help me with camera decisions

[sharry]

Help on deciding on buying a camera

Hey all... I am looking in buying my first camcorder. I have been working since 4-5 years and have worked on various cameras like PD150, PD170, DSR250, DSR400, DVX100, Z1 and V1. My line of work is narrative filmmaking, music videos, documentary and a little bit of events. I am not very much interested in DSLRS because of their cons: Aliasing, moire, overheating, egronomics, limit of max size of clips, audio, codec and now after watching the SCCE documentary I'm not liking its resolution. So I want to buy a professional camcorder. I wanted to buy the Af100 but it gradually goes out of my budget because of the additional costs of lens and accessories. These are the cameras I have jot down which kind of fall in my budget:

- HVX200a
- HPX170
- HMC150
- HXR NX5

and probably

- EX1

I am looking at them used. Now I had a few questions.

- What is the difference between HVX200a and HVX200? I have heard a lot of bad things about the HVX200. People complain about the noise and low light and some even say about its image quality.

- HVX200a and HPX170 both shot at maximum quality in DVCPROHD. Is it 1920*1080. Can I call it true HD?

- What is the resolution lines of HVX200a and the HPX170?

- Should I be looking at the more consumerish NX5 and HMC150?

- How would you comapre EX1 with HVX200a and HPX170?

I have a budget of $2000-3500. Which camera would be good for me. I live in Pakistan. Broadcast here is still SD but content is created in HD. I would like a camera which would give me absolutley good quality of image and resolution. I would also like that the camera's resolution would be sufficient for theatrical distribution.

I would obviously want the EX1 but it also is a little out of my budget because I am also buying an editing station. But I would consider it if I get a good price on a used EX1.

Thanking you in advance. And sorry didn't know where to post.​

 

[jimstamos]

camera choices

camera choices

i have the ex1r. if you get this cam get the r. hard to find used. if i was starting over, i would get the new sony nx70U. this is smaller but a great camera overall. plus its half the cost of a new ex1r.
shoots in avchd, has xlr inputs, is very good in autofocus in case you want to go that route. a large 3 1/2 in lcd , same as ex1r and over all the others including the ex1r, the viewfinder on this camera is excellant and totally usable.
lowlight is very good on this camera as well. there are reviews out on it already. just came out last week.
goes for 2799.00 has built in 96gb memory which will get you around 8 hours at the highest hd setting and you have the option of using an sdhc card as well.
before i bought my ex1r, i bought the sony cx550 which shoots in avchd as well. i use this camera alot when i dont want to bring my ex1r for portability reasons, especially when traveling. as long as you have at least an i7 processor, it will handle avchd very well. i edit in edius and can edit 5 layers with no issues at all.
you really need to look at the nx70 u. other than the ex1r, the others you mentioned have been out awhile. technology is always improving, and this new sony would be a wise choice. good luck heres the link for the nx70u.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/761581-REG/Sony_HXR_NX70U_HXR_NX70_Compact_Dust_and.html

 

[Duke M.]

Separate the true 1080p full raster (ie. sensors produce true 1920x1080) as opposed to those that merely have a 1080p file format. You started that with the elimination of the DSLRs. Look at the HVX sensors and some others. The EX1/3 tests right up to the nyquist limits of 1080p resolution.

Then try to look at noise comparisons. This will require full investigation since Panny doesn't publish those specs. Sony does. Is there a reason Sony does?

The EX1R does have some improvements over the EX1. However, if your style of shooting doesn't take advantage of those improvements (mine doesn't) then are they worth the money? You can get a very good EX1 used now for about $4,500 with extras. That can be a big savings.

Since the EX1s are solid state they hold up very well. There are very few moving parts. The hours on the meter are almost meaningless because if you are shooting long events like a wedding or baseball game you tend to turn it on and leave it on.

That said they are all good cameras. Most of them have lousy ergonomics for hand held, and the EX1 is among the worst. Throw a Nano and a wireless on the right side and it helps the balance but your arms will still get tired.

 

[dc4040]

i have the ex1r. if you get this cam get the r. hard to find used. if i was starting over, i would get the new sony nx70U. this is smaller but a great camera overall. plus its half the cost of a new ex1r.

Jim,

while the NX70U may be a good camera it is half the price of an EX1/R as it is half the camera...single 1/2.88 sensor vs 3 1/2 sensors; AVCHD at 28 vs XDCAM at 35 MBPS; no HDSDI out at 10 bit and allowing capture rates as
high as 220 MBPS; EX1R lens from Fujinon with wonderful AF/Full MF. While the NX70U LCD is 3 1/2 inch it may not be identical to that on the EX1R/F3.....

yes it is lighter but if you need or want the ability in the future to upgrade workflow and files you have it in the EX1R...but you do need a tripod and a great head to get the full potential of the camera.

you made a great choice....one of many options but one that will force you to accept a more difficult workflow and praxis. However the results should be stellar...to upgrade means a move to the F3 at a much higher overall cost.

Bob

 

[jimstamos]

c

c

based on what the poster gave for other choices, i definitely would get this over the hvx 200, hmc150 and hpx170. ive shot with them and the lowlight alone doesnt compare. also, the lcd and viewfinder on all these cameras dont come close to the ex1r (lcd only, vf is weak) or the nx70 which both are very good.
to say its half as good really doesnt hold true. the 320 is twice as much as the ex1r, but no differerent as far as output.
since ive shot and edted avchd, i think it holds up well and puts out a great pic. shot a wedding in greece last week with my avchd cam/ wasnt about to take my ex1r over seas.
i was extremely pleased with everthing about it.
also, poster said he may have to get a used ex1. ive shot with it as well. r is the only way to go . just the ergonomics alone are a huge difference. i can shoot all day with the r, with but with the ex1, forget it.
of course its all in the shooter . if you dont know your craft , doesnt matter how much you spend on a camera.
if i couldnt get the r, i would get the nx70, definitely not the hvx cams or the hmc.
personal choice.
as far as the smaller chips, youd would be surprised how good these cams are in lowlight. i shot the reception which was dimly lit with my led light turned up to maybe 1/3 the way. technology the past few years has gotten so much better.
before i got my ex, i shot quite a few gigs with my avchd, utlizing the xlr adaptor for it. audio was great and the pic quality was excellant. not have sdi out for me will never be an issue so its not a factor for me.
hopefully he can get his hands on some of these cams and try them out.

 

[adamr316]

I used the HVX200 back in 2007. For its day it was a great camera. But when the EX1 came out it did everything the HVX200 did but better and cheaper (memory card/shooting time -wise). Three years later it's still selling well. It's true HD, has great audio circuitry and great low light. And now with the external recorders the biggest peeve people may have with it besides the CMOS chip sway (I forget the technical term at the moment) is the video codec. Now we can record to better formats in a cinch.

 

[basspig]

Another vote here for the EX1. Tonight, I was shooting with both my EX3 and my fabulous Nikon D7000 (in still format) at night just before the fireworks. Very low light scenes. Now they say the Nikon is good to 11 f-stops and has a sensitive chip. I shot a scene of some buildings with interior lighting and distant exterior light, both with the DSLR and the XDCam. When I opened the DSLR RAW image, I had to push and stretch the dynamic range to the extreme to get a meaningful picture. What I got was noisy shadows and blown highlights.



Then I watched the XDCam footage of the same scene in Clip Browser. Wow.. it was like watching a theatrical movie with professional lighting. The shadow detail was beautiful and the highlights were pretty well preserved. On top of that, there was less noise. The scene has an inviting warmth to it that the colder and noisier D7000 lacked. Even with it's massive 16MP, reducing the image to web size still couldn't mask the noise. Whereas the XDCam frame looked just right with nothing done to it, just as-is.




Tonight's ephiphany just raised my respect for the Sony EX series up another big notch!

 

[brunerww]

At this price point, I recommend the NX70. Weather and dust resistance, 50/60p straight out of the camera, and output to SD cards make it a really good value for the money.

Interesting sample footage here.

Interesting review from a former EX1 shooter here.

Good luck,

Bill