Hvx Survey

J

Johny

Well-known member
It would be interesting to me to take a survey on Hvx owners to see how satisfied they are with their purchase on a scale of one to ten. Did it meet their expectations, etc.? It might be especially interesting to hear from people who have had other hd cameras and crossed over to Hvx. It would seem the outcome of this survey is obvious simply because with all the thousands of hvxs out there, you can't find a used one, but it would still be nice to read the comments.
thanks
 
We have a Z1U and a HVX200.

We take most of our stuff to DVD. Panny wins hands down.

Long form is more of an issue with the Panny. Also about twice the cost of the Z1U with archive issues.

We see some noise, but in all fairness, it may be our limited understanding about custom settings.

Perhaps Barry's book will set us straight on this.

Honestly, the Z1U produces some great images as well, but for DVDs, not nearly as good a quality encode.

8.5 out of 10
 
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I'd give it about an 8.5 as well. I'd love to have image flip and a better LCD (which I think sucks, btw). Other than that, I really can't complain. I think Panasonic did a great job. And they've definitely got the best "film look" in the market at this price point.
 
8.5 for me too.

I've been delighted so far... no regrets at all. HVX lives up to my expectations.

Had a Sony FX1 for a couple of months last year, and while I liked it (at that time it was the only game in town) it seemed deliberately crippled.

On the other hand, Panasonice threw everthing into the HVX... and then some.

The only way I'd be unhappy with the HVX is if RED came out next month for less than 10 G's.
 
On my 1000th post... this is as good a spot as any to burn it off.. Gosh what a geek I am...

I'd go with a 9.1 from the East German Judge...

Loving the camera and all that it does. Makes shooting fun again! I've shot with the sony FX1... not too impressed. Shot extensively with the JVC and really really not impressed with that... Pretty much seemed to have a foot in the past with that HDV and the firestore on the JVC was crap. corrupted files and problems with playback... yikes... Plus just no where near the color reproduction.. and YES.. there's noise on the JVC. After using that cam my concept of HD noise on the cheaper cameras has been put in it's place.. The sony may have the least noise.. but the colors look muted and stepped on.. and the design is not very functionall.... and it seems so plastic and flimsy...

I don't think you will see many used HVX's for sale... The camera is in such high demand and it's getting more paid off every month.. Hopefully end of July/August and I'll be in the black... All in less than 6 months..
 
Congrats on the 1000th post! You have won a new HVX!!
Just kidding!
No really I get to see footage from about 30 different HVX's,
a few VariCams and some Sony HDV's....
The HVX produces the best color and motion rendition,
I would not shoot interlaced to save my life!!
Most displays now and in the future will be progressive,
the 1080i camp will be ransacked pretty quick,
as someone over at DVi called it the Sony 1080i conspiracy!
But I give the HVX a solid 8.8!!
 
He's Russian... so ya have to excuse him since he's brandishing an AK.... Those pesky commies..
 
Gentlemen, if I find any judging misconduct in this survey I will commision the fromer East German Womens skating team to beat the crap out of you while I film it in slow motion with a gray market HVX200.
 
I give it a 9.5 If the autofocus actually worked, and if Panny would grow the balls to send that 24pNative signal down the Firewire cable, it'd be a perfect 10 for me! Even if it was a non-standard, propriatary signal, well, just send it! Let the NLE and other software makers line up to add it to their products. It think it'd work.

But, I do love my HVX, I'm really warmed up to my FS-100 nicely, and I'm simply head over heels crazy about my CineSaddle...

In these days of having to strip the hype from the fact when purchasing equipment, the CineSaddle is what it is, and does what it does, it just works, "as advertised". Can't say that about many products these days...
 
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Well, compared to other cameras in it's price range (HD100, XLH1, Z1) I'd give the camera a 9.1 and say that it's pretty much met/exceded my expectations.

I wish the CCDs were higher rez. In 720p I think it holds up just fine compared to the other cameras but in 1080i I find the XLH1 to be the obvious winner. Pansonic chose to make smaller CCDs for more sensativity. I respect that but I'd still like things a bit sharper. I also wish we had a better option for managing footage. P2 store is just too damn much and no native option in firewire output eliminates firestore or laptop for me.

That said, I LOVE everything else to death. Tonally, this camera blows all competition out of the water. The gamma curve and colors are simply much better than anything else I've seen. What's more, 4:2:2 color correction is simply a godsend. There's SO much I can play with the image that would destroy footage from an HD100 (don't know how well Canon HDV holds up since I haven't messed with it in CC)

I also LOVE P2 recording and can never go back to tape. The easy controls and multiple framerates are just iceing on the cake.

Simply put, I'm very happy with my choice and wouldn't change my mind for the world. I wish we could have gotten sharper CCDs and native firewire but ultimatly I still find it the best camera in this price range.
 
I give it a solid 9. LCD could be better....but the camera has succeeded my expectations....70% varicam for very little money.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigMike
It'd be a 10 for me if we could get 1080 PN.

So for me, it's a 9.


If you rate the HVX a 10 (max), then there's no room for the Red camera.
Click to expand...

...Or a Varicam or a Viper...?

I think the Red is a different animal that I can't afford to own right yet. Maybe by the time it's out orwithin the next year, then you guys can have a survey about the Red and, hopefully, I can give my two cents.
 
even given that this is a gifted child and I love it and am getting confirmation from the polish judge that my score is now a 9.2...

but as I love to *****... these are them.

Microphone holder.

Position of power supply hook up and dental floss thin power cabling.

-3 DB gain

orienation of controls.. and focus assist video out option for external LCD focusing...

Fact it's not 99.99 and comes with free mcnuggets
 
As the camera compares to the other cams in its price range, I give it a 10. I've had mine for 4 1/2 months now, and since there is simply no other camera I would choose over it in the same price range (and more importantly, in the range of what I can afford), 10 is the only score I can consider.
It depends on what you're after, but for me, 4:2:2 color sampling would be enough on its own to not give the other cameras another look. So when you add P2 and frame rates to the mix, you find me forgetting what Sony, JVC and Canon make... was it refrigerators, or blenders maybe?

If I forget about the price range and think about my satisfaction alone, I'd drop to the 8.5 (which seems to be the growing consensus :) )

- Mainly, the soft LCD irks me. When you consider how important it is to an HD camera, what we got doesn't really even qualify as an effort, let alone a success. And with that in mind, the focus assist button would allow one to limp along in a run and gun situation if it was placed in a position as accessible as the record button so it could be toggled instantly, without having to even think, whenever the need arises. Or perhaps an optional mode in which focuss assist pops on when the ring is moved - that could make life easier in some situations

- I get a bit concerned for the SD card slot as I like to shoot with the focus/iris/zoom remote on and off the tripod (fixed to the handle), and so the protective cover to the shared SD card/remote connector area is always off. That's a pretty basic design flaw.
- Yes, the actual resolving power of the system falls short for 1080, but not enough for me to lose a minute of sleep over, and not enough for me to consider the Canon as an option.

- I find the audio level dials well positioned but too sensitive - getting the right level is often a matter of trying to move the dial with your thumb with hair's width precision. Slightly bigger dials or greater range on the dials would help: it wouldn't take much to improve it to within reason

On the positive side:

- For reasons repeated more times than I can bear to count, P2 rocks the world. Beyond the obvious, I just have to tell you that the feeling of confidence I have when I remove or insert a p2 card is worth all the expense, even at the current high cost of the media. From the stand point of reliablity alone, I can barely stand to look at a tape now.
I have only 4gb cards (3 of them), and can get by perfectly with this setup. So much so that I'll only consider getting higher capacity cards when the prices have at least halved.
For questions of non-linear advantage and speed of ingestion, please read any of a billion other posts on the site!

- 4:2:2
All 4:1:1 and 4:2:0 footage sincerely looks flat, compressed and empoverished to me now that my eyes have accustomed to HVX footage. I can't wait to get into post on my current project! The tests I've done so far tell me I'm in for a treat :)

- Overall robustness
The camera feels like it can take a beating. I still treat it with the utmost care, but I enjoy the peace of mind that the construction affords me. It feels... padded. Strange how a rigid, hard surfaced object can feel padded, but it does. Probably has to do with all controls being snuggly sunk into the frame, rounded edges and a matte plastic that feels high-impact.

- Panasonic
Call me a principled fool, but I don't like giving my money to corporations, period. So when it comes to buying a video camera, and having no choice in the matter because there aren't any boutique operations out there that can compete, I prefer to put my buck with companies that show a human face. I know that if I have problems with the camera, either Jan C or NZ rep Pete Fullerton will do what they can to set things right. That's another sizeable chunk of piece of mind right there.
Against my better judgement, I bought a Sony AIT tape archive solution a few months ago, and it came without the promised backup software CD (a tape drive without backup software on a non-unix system is pretty much a paper weight). Sony couldn't give a flying funk. I talked to a customer relations guy at Sony Australia about how their 2500 dollar drive had been useless to me for two and a half weeks before the CD was finally sent to me, and he refused to even give me a blank AIT tape as compensation. Not even a gesture. If Sony doesn't care about its brand image, why should I?

- Versatility
From my vantage point, the camera seems by far the most versatile of anything remotely within the price range. If you want interchangeable lenses, you can get a 35mm adapter. If you want shoulder shooting, you can get a brace. If you want to shoot SD, you can. If you want to shoot HD you can. What frame rate did you want? The HVX can give you practically anything up to 60 progressive frames per second. Whether you are delivering to the web or to film, the camera will do the job. If you want to shoot events, DVCrack or one of the hard drive solutions will work for you.
Want to do involved post work? The color sampling will give you more information and better keying capability than any other video camera available for even twice the price of the HVX. I've seen tests out there that conclude HDV keys as well as 4:2:2 DVCHDpro, but the numbers tell you that's simply not possible. There may be situations where you won't see much of a difference, particularly if you are not a compositor and you are trying to accomplish very straight forward keys in forgiving situations, with well shot footage. But if you are setting out to shoot a project that will rely fairly heavily on post color grading and compositing to achieve the final result, I insist, the extra color information will make a noticeable and appreciated difference.
Cineform seems to be succesful at cleaning up some of the color bleeding that occurs with HDV's 4:2:0 as it converts it to its 4:2:2 intermediate codec, but the filtering it uses in doing so averages out the color information over a broad enough area to lose important edge pixels. So in a situation where you had green spilling into hair, many pixels that have a bit of green spill on them will become unambiguously green after conversion, and keyed out more readily, losing you precious hair pixels!

Damn, I didn't mean to ramble like this. I've been gaining perspective on my purchase as I wrote and the happy notion that my months of research led me to a decision I am still very confident about caused me to get a bit carried away :)

So a conclusion: if funds and life circumstances permit, I'll upgrade to a camera with bigger sensors when Panny comes out with that flavor of HVX... but I can see the HVX doing everything I want to do for years to come and although it is too young a model to tell, it feels as if it is built to last long enough to match my need for it, and robustly enough to survive the more demanding environments I want to take it into.

M.
 
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