HVX or DVX...that's my question

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Dr. Feelgood

Member
I've read these boards for a long time and I've never been so excited and sure that now's the time the purchase a camera. I apologize in advance because I have seen this question repeated over and over, and I applaud everyone's patience...now to the point:

I realize that spending $20,000 will get me (mostly) what I need in terms of equipment. But I also understand that my girlfriend that is looking over my shoulder as I write this will kill me if I do that (lol)

I have the idea to get an HVX, and then get as strong an edit system as possible (I'll really need suggestions here - MAC I presume but which edit programs?). Maybe turn to rentals at times in order to fill certain needs until I can afford to make purchases (monitor, lights, etc).

I'm not really a rookie, but I also have noticed just how knowledgable and resourceful some of you guys and girls are, so I certainly respect your opinions.

First a little background:

Been working in TV/Film for 20 years in various capacities, finally got to direct an feature in NYC in 2003. The producer opted for the Canon A-1 at the time (I wanted the Sony PD-150) and unfortunately we changed camera ops. 7 times! I ended up shooting it myself, which should have been my first option in retrospect.

I will be shooting a short film very soon, later in 2007. Hopefully it will get an opportunity to be seen on a screen at a festival.

I will be shooting ENG shoots, maybe some music videos and other productions (you all have no IDEA how inspiring, informative and imaginative you've been on these boards!) as time goes on.

I like the idea of the HVX because of the HD capabilities and image quality, although I also like the DVX. The bottom line will be cost, of course. Can I reasonably spend under $12,000 or so and STILL have a HVX and a decent edit system? Or is it better to pony up fro the DVX? Either way, I have to learn the ins & outs of whichever camera I choose, so as Bugs Bunny said, "I throw myself to your tender mercies."

:dankk2:

Steven
 
Shouldn't the post read:

"HVX or DVX or Girlfriend...that's my question"

You can get an awful lot of HVX200 and needed items for $12000
 
if your GF is giving you crap now... wait till she's your wife! LOL.


I agree with David.. You can get pretty much everything for 12 or less....
 
DVX vs. Girlfriend: Girlfriend
HVX vx. Girlfriend: HVX all the way!!!!!!!

One thing to consider is whether you plan to do any chroma-keying with the camera. DV is very weak in that regard and now I'm facing the possibility of selling my month-old DVX that I just got to replace it with a HVX, just for keying.

Of course, as you said, the other side of the coin is that HD is going to require a lot more drive space and processing power. Since I'm typically doing one-hour instructional videos and/or interviews, I'm facing the reality that I'll either need a FireStore or laptop to use the camera.
 
I do think it is a strange time to be looking at a DVX - it is clearly a great camera, but the HVX represents the future, and it would be crazy to back DV over HD in 2007. The HVX is likely to last you many years as HD becomes the standard.

Then again, in low light situations (in a doc - a constant issue) I do occasionally wish I had a DVX on standby. But the comparison goes further than this. I've been shooting a doc, and mixing formats on the HVX - shooting mostly HD, and the odd bit of DV.

If we consider the HVX to be like a !6:9 native DVX in DV mode, then my rushes tell a story. I look at them on a Sony PVM monitor, and despite the fact that the HD stuff is scaled to SD rez, it still looks so much better than the DV footage. The lattitude and colour depth is simply stunning.

And my girlfriend helped pay for my HVX - so I can't choose it over her. Or she'd sell it on eBay.
 
Too funny...she'll be the wife soon enough LOL. Thanks for the advice, and I hadn't thought about chroma-keying. Hmmm, if that's not a bad budget (at first) I'll make that plunge for the HVX tomorrow. Of course I will order a new laptop next week and proceed with searching for some editing software that will accomodate.

Low-light situations are a good point as well. I'm a really big film-noir fan and I like certain shadows in my work - good shadows! I'll have to learn a lot about lighting for this camera, but that's the point isn't it? The more I know, the better I can be.
 
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I like the way you think...absolutely!!! Yeah she supports me in this and trusts my judgement, I just figured that talking w/ folks that have some prior experience would help me decide. Been a big fan of this camera for some time. Just don't want to be seduced by excitement and spend too little or too much. But you have to start somewhere.
 
All I know is I bought the DVX only to learn that it's near useless for very high-quality chroma keying, the DV compression just doesn't allow it, so here I am now buying an HVX and selling the DVX. It was an easy decision to say "I'll save a little money now, and upgrade in a couple years" but that has already backfired on me!!
 
Well for me..I guess i'm just not a yuppie enough type person to be dead set on a MAC. Especially when you're on a budget and can get a very good system if you go the PC route. I'd seriously consider the Canopus due to it's more realtime functions and if you're goonna use the P2 cards, I understand it works great.

I prefer building my own systems and you cannot do that with MACs anyway. Build a good PC with 4 gig of ram and a Core2duo Processor for around $1200 and buy the Canopus for $900 or the Avid Xpress for $1300.


I think the biggest hooplah about the MAC with the HVX is when you are taking a laptop into the field to shoot and dump your P2's to the laptop/hard drive. Then thats where a MAC ( i suppose) would be a better choice.

Definatlely go with the HVX over the DVX
 
I'm sure Red would be cool but at least for me, I'm already shipping a monthly DVD series to my subscribers and can't wait around for the next big thing to arrive.

Mac is a better choice if you're buying an $11,000 Mac Pro like a friend of mine did (that thing is faster than you can imagine) but it is very true that apples-for-apples, Macs are quite a bit more expensive than PCs. I happen to prefer Mac so that's what I use.
 
Dr. Feelgood said:
I'll say! Was just looking at the prices for the Mac Pros, the price just gets higher with each click.
Click to expand...

That's interesting, because a comparison between a Dual Core Xeon MacPro and a comparably priced Dell is about $1000 cheaper.

That is the Mac is cheaper.

The 2.66 Ghz is plenty fast. Don't pay a $800 premium for 15% more power.

The X1900 is a good value but the 7300 is just fine for video.

Don't buy any RAM from the seller of the computer.

Don't what is costing you, but I have a 2.66 with 5 GBs of RAM and four drives and the 7300 for about $3K
 
Of course my friend who bought the Mac Pro for $11,000 happens to be very rich and it was just a new toy for him, purchased totally on a whim!!!!!!

Thanks to me he's now buying an HVX ... lol

I priced out the Mac Pro fully loaded (maxed-out RAM, hard drives, video card, etc) and it's around $17,000.
 
Thanks for your input on the camera, it's an HVX I'll be ordering next week. Next step will be sifting through all the threads to find as much info as possible for ordering a laptop with what I need. Saw Barry's post about necessities (!) and that was really helpful for a guideline. Now the decision between pc - mac...
 
NeverColdCall said:
I priced out the Mac Pro fully loaded (maxed-out RAM, hard drives, video card, etc) and it's around $17,000.
Click to expand...

And you would need that for????????


I checked all the options for the MacPro 3.0 Ghz, and I got only $13000.

However, to edit DVCProHD comfortably on a new MacPro, you need only spend $3,000.00 including RAM and second internal SATA drive.
 
DVX: more light ,less res ,less color-
HVX: less light ,more res, more color

Lots of other factors but these were the ones that helped me make my choice...
 
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