HVX200 vs HVX200a -- a side-by-side low-light comparison

TwistedLincoln said:
Yep, he's not exaggerating. I have always been amazed at the quality of footage the HVX can provide. But the 200a provides so much of it...out of the box. I've never even started tweaking it using the manual settings, and already, having done nothing but turn it on, it is about as good as I could get from my standard HVX even after tweaking...

As I mentioned, the test I did was with only two standard 100watt light bulbs. That's it. That's what I have in my bedroom. Even weddings are lit better than that. I really can't see the 200a providing unusably grainy footage in any environment other than almost total darkness...

Someone asked if I black-balanced the cameras before the test. No, I didn't. I didn't even manually white balance -- I let the cameras do that automatically. That was the point of the test: to compare both cameras in their "point & shoot" capacity. And the 200a basically reached the ease of use level of a consumer camera -- I didn't have to do anything, and the picture still looked good. I never had that experience with my original HVX.
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Mirroring for truth. It only gets better when you tweak. Post sharpening,etc. should be fantastic with this camera. And I'm finally complacent with the way my Pana camera renders colors. I've NEVER been a fan of the "overtly" gold tone that it kicked out. Now it's spot on for flesh tones and how they ought'a look IMO.

Deliciously clean. I'll be borrowing another Extreme and SGpro in the next few days and doing some lighting fun.
 
On the color rendering point, I am so exited to see Panasonic making their color any better for $5500! And I bet the new DVX will have this tweak too!
Now you can shoot SD for SD and HD for SD for practically nothing for the camera and have it fit into any commercial spot without it looking any worse than what's on TV at the time without any shame even to trained eyes.

what do you mean borrowing an other Extreme? You have one.

I will be waiting for your posts if you will please!
 
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USLatin said:
On the color rendering point, I am so exited to see Panasonic making their color any better for $5500! And I bet the new DVX will have this tweak too!
Now you can shoot SD for SD and HD for SD for practically nothing for the camera and have it fit into any commercial spot without it looking any worse than what's on TV at the time without any shame even to trained eyes.

what do you mean borrowing an other Extreme? You have one.

I will be waiting for your posts if you will please!
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Correction. I sold my Extreme in preparation for the Letus Ultimate. :B Gotta Has Ultimate, mang.
 
Good job dude... sell early... how the wife feeling about the purchase? :)

170 + Ultimate + Nice Glass = Broadcast Quality when downconverted

170 + Ultimate + Nice Glass = Pro Spanker of indie films in Blockbuster
 
I think when you need tape and low light you have to buy the 200A, when you need a little more low light sensitivity than the 200 and the other nice software updates like lcd flip, more frame rates (without heck), last clip delete etc. etc. as well as the better formfactor/lesser weight you will need the 170.


Cees Mutsaers said:
Maybe the 170 is in between the 200 and 200A regarding sensitivity because the 170 has smaller glass !!
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I really hope the 170 is as sensitive as the 200a.. still even if its better than the current 200 it will still be worth the upgrade.
 
Any chance of some frame grabs with both cams under B-Press? What I'm looking for is the cleanest setting you have for the 200, and match it with the 200A... to see how much 'cleaner' it can get - thanks.
 
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It would be great to see a comparison with white/black balance, manual stop matching, focal length etc.

Some of us don't just do run and gun.

But thanks for taking the time, Twisted.
 
The 170 has the same sensors so the only difference should theoretically be the glass. One could only speculate on how much that would matter until someone who's got one can do some actual testing. Probably gonna be a while before that happens.
 
danny dale said:
Any chance of some frame grabs with both cams under B-Press? What I'm looking for is the cleanest setting you have for the 200, and match it with the 200A... to see how much 'cleaner' it can get - thanks.
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jimpatro said:
It would be great to see a comparison with white/black balance, manual stop matching, focal length etc.

Some of us don't just do run and gun.

But thanks for taking the time, Twisted.
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If I have some time this weekend, I'll re-do the tests with a variety of manual settings, such as has been suggested. I'll also try re-doing the same video with a split-screen effect, as Barry suggested.
 
I dig the HVX200A but was going to pass on it in anticipation of the HPX170. But, it looks like I may be hired to shoot an upcoming feature this summer in Prague. And the film is made up entirely of night scenes. So, I think I may first have to sell my HVX200 and upgrade to the HVX200A. I'll cross the HPX170 bridge when I come to it. :)
 
DC said:
I dig the HVX200A but was going to pass on it in anticipation of the HPX170. But, it looks like I may be hired to shoot an upcoming feature this summer in Prague. And the film is made up entirely of night scenes. So, I think I may first have to sell my HVX200 and upgrade to the HVX200A. I'll cross the HPX170 bridge when I come to it. :)
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Nice man, hope you get a nice chunk after the camera too

Hey, I like your "music player" DC...
where can I get it? :thumbsup:

nah, kiddin' I more than one player
where is the animated 5.1 from Vegas?

:D

hey what's up with the coffee and beer?!? I want that function!
 
sorry if this is a little off topic but how does the 200a compare to the dvx in low light in progressive mode?
We have a decent commission for a documentary coming up & were initially thinking of getting the sony ex1 but from what I've read the 200a has comparable light sensitivity. It would make more sense to use the 200a as I was going to use my dvx for b roll stuff - low light capability was my main worry before with the hvx
 
ade4all said:
sorry if this is a little off topic but how does the 200a compare to the dvx in low light in progressive mode?
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Haven't compared them side by side. From the numbers, the DVX should be ever so slightly faster (about 1/4 stop faster) but it should be close. I'd wager the HVX200A is a lot cleaner in noise though.
 
wow! So think back to when you were playing with a DVX, so, oh so happy! And now we are back to that sense of nirvana (after a few more thousand), yet at 1080p and less noisy!!! :faint:

Barry, how likely/UN-likely do you think might be that the 170 ends up being a little more sensitive and/or having wider dynamic range than the 200a?
 
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