HVX200a v. HPX170 - But i have to buy in September...

C

crza

New member
Greetings -- this is my first post [after having read and received help from countless posts]

I have a weeklong shoot in Europe that I leave for on Sept. 21. I anticipate with international insurance and a weeklong rental, I would spend close to $3k on an HVX rental.

After reading about the HPX170, I know it has everything I need on it - and I know I don't need a tape deck or the extra weight on the 200a. But to roll the dice and think I could have a brand new Panasonic product on the month they claim it will come out might be a little chancy.

So my options are:
- Rent an HVX200A and throw away the $3k, wait for the HPX170 and buy that
- Buy an HVX200A (basically the same camera - but with more stuff, bulkier, and no HD/SDI out), and put the $3k towards what is still a good camera - but will suffer market value immediately after the HPX comes out
- OR...someone knows it will come out before Sept. 21 and I can get it and it will have no problems [wishful]

Perhaps this comes down to a financial question, but I know there are those of you out there who run your own companies and buy equipment. I hate buying at the end of a technology cycle! And I hate wasting money on a rental when I could be halfway to owning.

Thoughts?
 
HVX200a and HPX170 are both valued $5199 new, right (or close enough)? So if you buy an HVX200a, use it for your shoot, then sell it, you'll be able to sell it for more than $2199, so it doesn't make sense to rent for $3k and then buy the HPX170.

The HPX170 is going to be a brand new product, never field tested, and possibly not even available for 9/21. The HVX200a is out, and we know it works great. This is a no-brainer to me. Get the 200a, wait and see how the HPX170 peforms in the real world. There will still be a market for the 200a if/when you decide to sell it.
 
I second that point... Get what you can afford right now, and wait and see if an upgrade is necessary (all based on your needs).
 
The HVX rental shouldn't be that much either. I'd say maybe 1500 bucks max for a week long rental and that would cover insurance at 10 percent of the rental. There's places that will rent for a month for what you were saying or much less. I rented some P2 cards from cali and was more reaonsable than buying them at the time
 
I agree, there's no reason to throw away money on a rental when you can afford to rent one. Just buy the 200a, and when the 170 comes out, sell the 200a. People looking for a "barely used camera" are prepared to pay pretty close to the retail price. They're just trying to save a few bucks. So think about what's the most you'll lose off buying? $500? Even if you luck out and get to rent for $1000 (you said it would cost 3), renting would still waste more of your money.
 
I am in a similar situation as I have a shoot in Italy the first week of October but I will need to shoot PAL. When I spec'd the project out, it was going to be shot HD but that has now been changed to SD as of today.

I don't want to even remotely plan around the 170 being available because that just would not be responsible planning for this project as the timing is too close. I had already made arrangements to rent an EX1, which is simply PAL/NTSC switchable out of the box... but it doesn't do SD so that camera will not work for me now.

So, if I had an upgraded 170 in hand, it would certainly be great to say "no problem" to this but now I am basically pricing SD PAL cameras to buy for perhaps this one use. Certainly bad timing for this event versus the possible release of the 170 as it would be perfect for this. I don't see myself investing in a 200E but maybe a DVX100BE....

Any recommendations? Thanks!
 
CW-35 said:
I am in a similar situation as I have a shoot in Italy the first week of October but I will need to shoot PAL. When I spec'd the project out, it was going to be shot HD but that has now been changed to SD as of today.

I don't want to even remotely plan around the 170 being available because that just would not be responsible planning for this project as the timing is too close. I had already made arrangements to rent an EX1, which is simply PAL/NTSC switchable out of the box... but it doesn't do SD so that camera will not work for me now.

So, if I had an upgraded 170 in hand, it would certainly be great to say "no problem" to this but now I am basically pricing SD PAL cameras to buy for perhaps this one use. Certainly bad timing for this event versus the possible release of the 170 as it would be perfect for this. I don't see myself investing in a 200E but maybe a DVX100BE....

Any recommendations? Thanks!
Click to expand...

DO you need to imediately deliver the footage? You can always downconvert the HD footage from the EX1, for example..
 
Yes, I will be creating event videos on a daily basis and time will be of the essence.

Downcoverting with the EX1 shooting HD PAL is really my only working solution at the moment which will be okay. I was hoping to put that rental fee toward my 170 purchase but I may just go ahead a purchase an EX1 and see if the need for a 170 actually ever comes up in the future.



SPZ said:
DO you need to imediately deliver the footage? You can always downconvert the HD footage from the EX1, for example..
Click to expand...
 
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