HVX200a Lens Comparing

B

bigox

Well-known member
Does anyone have any links or stills to show the differences between what different lenses will get you on an HVX200a?

There's a lot of youtube videos out there of people testing new lenses, but without seeing what the same footage looks like with the stock lens, I really have no clue what the difference is.

Anyone have any samples of the stock fixed lens view vs the most commonly used lenses for the HVX200a so I can see what the differences are?

Thanks!
 
Big,

If i am reading you correctly, you seem to think that the hvx200a has an interchangeable lens mount. it doesn't.

Apologies if I have misunderstood you.

Grant
 
Okay, I thought they were as I've seen some 35mm lens examples on occasion. So you can't use any other lens with an HVX200a except for its fixed lens? Is that correct?
 
That is correct. You can use a 35mm adaptor on the front end, which can look pretty sweet on that camrea (but not sharp), but you're stuck shooting through that lens no matter what.
 
Great! Thanks for the info, it's very helpful. Is this the case with most Panasonic cameras that are similar to the HVX, such as the HPX, do you know?
 
the "handycam" style of panasonic cameras dvx100, hvx200, hmc150, hpx170, hpx250 (and all their a, b and other variants) are ALL fixed-lens cameras.
if you want to use 35mm style lenses on any of those, you need to attach any of the variety of 35mm adapter systems to the front of the lens.

they were a really cool way to get film-like depth of field. and the footage looked really nice when the systems were set up, and dialed-in properly. but they were pretty clumsy looking and tended to be a little wonky to work with. each of the brands on the market had their own "look" and accompanying "eccentricities"

the entire market for them quickly died 4-5 years ago when video DSLRs became popular and rendered them more or less obsolete.

google search for redrock micro, letus35, shoot35, sgpro, cinevate brevis, cinemek. they were all favorites when that kind of thing was popular.
(most of those manufacturers have evolved to producing DSLR and other type camera and support accessories)

at one point in the recent past, you could find adapter rigs that once cost $2000 - $3000 or more every day on ebay and craigslist for like $300 - $500 simply because EVERYONE was abandoning them in favor of the MUCH simpler DSLR route. now you can hardly find them at all. mainly because you can get something like a used t2i or gh2 for less than $500 and achieve the same general end result with a LOT less effort

with that said. there are still logical arguments to choosing an adapter on say an HPX170.
if you got your hands on a better unit like a letus extreme or sg pro r3 you would get ALL of the benefit of the 170 (3CCD so no rolling shutter issues, pro-level audio ins, built-in ND, better audio monitoring...) AND get the DOF control of a DSLR. HOWEVER, there are TWO, VERY BIG down sides of that:

a. it's 5 years old or older technology, no longer being made and if it breaks you may find yourself out of luck for parts or repair
b. you wouldnt have anywhere near the low light performance (or small footprint) of a decent semi-current DLSR.
 
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