hvx200 vs. HDV cameras

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DocuGirl

Member
Hey, I'm shooting a documentary on an HVX200 and am considering buying a second camera in order to be able to cover more ground. We have looked into buying an additional camera that shoots on HDV in order to save some money, and specifically have been looking at the new Sony HVR Z5U. Any thoughts on this camera or on similar, more cost effective cameras?

Also, what kind of problems will i encounter combining the HDV footage with the DVCPRO HD footage? Thanks for the help

Casey
 
Are you using the 200 or 200a? The HMC150 uses the same CCD's as the 200a, so it will run about the same as the Z5U, but will have a similar look as the 200a.
 
Always, always, always ... make sure that if you are mixing formats HDV, DV, HD etc. that they play nicely together in your edit timeline. Don't just take for granted that it all works... it often doesn't. Check it out completely before you commit.
 
The problem with a used HVX200a is the extra $1500-2000 for firestore/p2. That's still minimum $5,000, a little out of our price range. That being said, I feel silly spending $4200 on the HMC-150 when I can get the HVX200 used or gray market for the same price.

Right now I'm leaning a little more towards the Sony hvr z5u. We're shooting mostly sports, so the longer lens is appealing as well as the lower price tag. That being said, I am still hesitant because of the potential problems mixing formats. I know that we can shoot 1080p24 and mix pretty easily with 720p. I am more concerned about mixing HDV and DVCPROHD. How noticable is the actual quality difference between the two, and what problems would this create in data storage and post?

Also, any other cameras that would mesh well in our price range?

Thanks again.
Cheers.
 
DocuGirl said:
The problem with a used HVX200a is the extra $1500-2000 for firestore/p2. That's still minimum $5,000, a little out of our price range. That being said, I feel silly spending $4200 on the HMC-150 when I can get the HVX200 used or gray market for the same price.

Right now I'm leaning a little more towards the Sony hvr z5u. We're shooting mostly sports, so the longer lens is appealing as well as the lower price tag. That being said, I am still hesitant because of the potential problems mixing formats. I know that we can shoot 1080p24 and mix pretty easily with 720p. I am more concerned about mixing HDV and DVCPROHD. How noticable is the actual quality difference between the two, and what problems would this create in data storage and post?

Also, any other cameras that would mesh well in our price range?

Thanks again.
Cheers.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...

My HVX and Firestore together come out at $4,650.00 If you wanted to take them both I might be able to do a little better. LINK
 
DocuGirl,

I'm an HVX owner, I have seen HDV footage look better than my camera for sports and fast action shooting, reason why is the hvx sucks for fast action run n' gun stuff. Worst auto focus camera in the world for fast stuf. I shot on a friends canon A1 last week for an extreme street bike free style tv show and that camera had instant auto focus no matter where you pointed it or how fast things were moving. I'd take that camera or a sony Z7/Z5 or better yet a used A1 can be bought for $2k. You're shooting Sports, the A1's 20x lens is sweet, it has better image stabilization (OIS), instant auto focus and you can roll for an hour before you change the tapes. It's also a CCD camera. If they made it in AVCHD that recorded to an SD card I'd never go back to the hvx, or 150, or even 170 for fast content. I'm hoping they say something at NAB.
 
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