HPX170 -- Still pretty awesome.

C

Christopher S. Thompson

Member
I have an AF100 and a GH2, and I had been considering giving up on my trusty ol' HPX170.

This weekend, I took part in the 48 Hour Film Project, and after several of my expensive, high-tech gadgets refused to work on location, I shot the whole thing with my HPX170. It may not have the bokeh that I would have liked to have seen, but the darned thing is reliable. I wouldn't have been able to finish without it. Even though we lost hours due to the snafus, I was able to just slap it on the shoulder rig and go.

Just wanted to share the warm fuzzies. I'd think twice before dumping such a valuable tool. You never know when you might need good ol' CCDs and deep depth of field to save your heinie.
 
I agree! I shot with an old HVX200 last week, and besides that dreadful LCD screen, the footage sure does turn out nice when you get it into the computer! Definitely worth keeping it around, they're just plain solid.
 
For a while I too thought my HPX was becoming obsolete. Then I added an SGBlade 35mm adapter. Suddenly, a whole world of possibilities opened up to me. Nikon, Canon, and even PL mount Zeiss lenses were all within reach! The low light performance is not great, but hey, I just work around it. A well lit scene will render beautifully. And primes are sharp as hell.
Add a Marshall field monitor to the mix, and the HPX is truly a budget cinematography camera!
 
I will actually be shooting on my HPX-170 this coming Monday and I'm looking forward to it. Such a pleasure to work with after the last few days working with a 5D Mark II.
 
Heh... I recently picked up a Brevis 35 for $50, just to play with... and I'm really liking what I'm getting in certain situations. I could see still using this on certain paid work.
 
Never had a 170 but have an original HVX and an AF100. Shooting a feature on the go with shallow focus primes is a tough order, I'm managing but keep grabbing the HVX for a quick shot here and there. In bright sunlight with a C polarizer it looks incredible . If I had a 170 , with it's even better image in low light, you wouldn't be able to pry it from my cold dead hands.
 
until there is some radical paradigm shift that renders 1080 totally obsolete, from my cold deads is the only way you'll get my hpx170 ; )
 
I recently rediscoved the joy of hand held on the Hpx170. Shot an event for 4 hours on 1 battery and 1 set of wrists! Love it.
 
I had to hop on a boat a couple of weekends ago to shoot some waterskiing. I dumped my FS700 and used the hpx170 because I knew the sony body couldn't handle the water. Not that the 170 is waterproof... Its just build better.
 
16bit 422 for under $4000 now at B&H. Expensive media yes but nowadays you have to spend close to 10K to get 16bit 422 now from what I know. The marketplace doesn't appreciate it as much as it deserves.
 
I almost sold my hvx202 a few months ago but got a call to shoot for the ABC here in auz and after several weeks shooting its pulled in more than double its original purchase price!! :)
I keep getting more and more use out of it, love it!

Also two of the shots I got on the hvx went straight into my showreel :)
 
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