Beat Takeshi
Two-Hip Shakur
is that you in your avatar from the Ubermicro vids?
Is it even worth buying a DVX100b at this point?
- Thread starter RyanKR
- Start date
ericengland33
Active member
I was having the same problem, but I bit the bullet and was glad I did. I got mine from Abel Cine with the DVX user discount. I got it for $3,407 shipped to my door.
DChang
Well-known member
To each their own, but what other cameras did you look into before jumping from a DVX to a HVX? Was money an issue?
Ive been looking at these two cams but then the A1 forums were making alot of noise so I checked that out. It's definitely in the right price range, at least for me, but even now it is too close to NAB to actually buy anything at this point. But thats just me, everyone has different uses for their equipment not to mention in different financial situations. Enjoy your HVX.
Ive been looking at these two cams but then the A1 forums were making alot of noise so I checked that out. It's definitely in the right price range, at least for me, but even now it is too close to NAB to actually buy anything at this point. But thats just me, everyone has different uses for their equipment not to mention in different financial situations. Enjoy your HVX.
RyanKR
Active member
Well I am aware with the other cameras out that are competing with the HVX but none of them can really compare. The P2 cards are a way better format than other companies are running, considering its only going to get better such as more memory on the cards as well as their price dropping. I am aware of canons HD model, it is a bit cheeper but their compression isn't as near as native as the HVX's. The only bad talk that is going on is from sony about the HVX and its because they think their HD format is better than the P2 cards, while many people are switching to the P2 cards. I did a lot of research this past few months and the HVX and by what I read it is by far better than other HD model cameras on the market in its price range. But this is just my opinion and I feel happy with my choice in camera. Most of it is just personal preference.
I'm not the original poster but, 2 main things (as well as a few other factors) sold me on the HVX:
1. P2, A complete digital pipeline.
I've been doing CG and digital art for so long that involving an analog step (minidv tape) to integrate it into live footage didn't really make sense to me. I can handle a file based, and even framebased workflow. Working with and organizing 100s of thousands of files doesn't intimidate me. Terrabytes of backed up data doesn't either. I don't have a lifetime of tape based workflow experience to keep me in a tape based comfort zone, in fact I think I specifically waited to buy a solidstate camera because I see it as one of the last steps in the "analog/digital divide"
2. DVCPROHD and DVCPRO50 shoot to 4:2:2 color, HDV shoots [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]4:2:0. [/FONT]
The only camera options for shooting in HD in a similar price range as the HVX shoot to HDV. HDV uses the same minivd tape and use mpeg compression to get to tape. and not suffering from HDV compression and color loss. The clean CG rendering out of Maya and Max just looks way better when integrated with smooth footage shot on the HVX.
On the other hand DVtape is cheap and disposable and currently has longer recording times. Unless you can afford the overhead of a bunch of P2 cards, shooting long format live events and sports can be more challenging for those with a non-professional budget. You can't just use one tape and continiously record. I shoot mostly shot based footage, so I have plenty of time to swap out cards or have one offloading while shooting the other. I think I adapted to the formats recording length because I still remember changing BetacamSP every 18 minutes. Once the 16gb and 32gb P2 cards come out that may a non issue.
Keep in mind I am not in the professional budget category, nor the starving student category. If you have a budget behind you then your purchase choices would obviously lean towards the more robust tools, and if you were in the student category then you would obviously be trying to get the most bang for your buck. Therefore your need may vary from mine. I chose highest quality image and color depth, and sacrificed cheap and easy tape formats to do so. I never have to digitize though, and backing up data is easier, cheaper and faster than backing up tape footage.
1. P2, A complete digital pipeline.
I've been doing CG and digital art for so long that involving an analog step (minidv tape) to integrate it into live footage didn't really make sense to me. I can handle a file based, and even framebased workflow. Working with and organizing 100s of thousands of files doesn't intimidate me. Terrabytes of backed up data doesn't either. I don't have a lifetime of tape based workflow experience to keep me in a tape based comfort zone, in fact I think I specifically waited to buy a solidstate camera because I see it as one of the last steps in the "analog/digital divide"
2. DVCPROHD and DVCPRO50 shoot to 4:2:2 color, HDV shoots [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]4:2:0. [/FONT]
The only camera options for shooting in HD in a similar price range as the HVX shoot to HDV. HDV uses the same minivd tape and use mpeg compression to get to tape. and not suffering from HDV compression and color loss. The clean CG rendering out of Maya and Max just looks way better when integrated with smooth footage shot on the HVX.
On the other hand DVtape is cheap and disposable and currently has longer recording times. Unless you can afford the overhead of a bunch of P2 cards, shooting long format live events and sports can be more challenging for those with a non-professional budget. You can't just use one tape and continiously record. I shoot mostly shot based footage, so I have plenty of time to swap out cards or have one offloading while shooting the other. I think I adapted to the formats recording length because I still remember changing BetacamSP every 18 minutes. Once the 16gb and 32gb P2 cards come out that may a non issue.
Keep in mind I am not in the professional budget category, nor the starving student category. If you have a budget behind you then your purchase choices would obviously lean towards the more robust tools, and if you were in the student category then you would obviously be trying to get the most bang for your buck. Therefore your need may vary from mine. I chose highest quality image and color depth, and sacrificed cheap and easy tape formats to do so. I never have to digitize though, and backing up data is easier, cheaper and faster than backing up tape footage.
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The original question was about buying a DVX at this point in time. At least "almost" everybody seems to agree that the dvx is overpriced compare to the A1.
I am sure Pana is aware of that. For me the question is when to buy an A1, and I choose to give Pana a chance to announce something for us at the NAB.
I am sure Pana is aware of that. For me the question is when to buy an A1, and I choose to give Pana a chance to announce something for us at the NAB.