Is it worth trading my DVX for a Sony V1?

J

Joshbalti

Active member
Hi, not sure if this is the best place to post this but here go's; has anyone on here had any experience with the Sony HVR-V1? I have the opportunity to get one at quite a cheap price, but would have to sell my DVX B in order to do so. I've never used a V1 or even seen one being used, but have had nothing but good experiences with the old sony DVCAM cameras in the past (very reliable and seem to be able to take a beating which is ideal as i mostly film extreme sports)

I only bought the DVX 2nd hand about 6 months ago, and am beggining to think that buying a 4.3 standard def camera in 2010 was a foolish thing to do, and seen as most of what i output is straight to web, all that extra encoding takes it toll on already low resolution footage, its a great camera for what it is, but it's just not "modern" as it were.

So basicaly if anyone has any experience with the V1 it would be good to hear your oppinions, the reviews all seem pretty good but some first hand knowledge would be nice to hear. I am going to get rid of the DVX soon anyway, but need to know if the V1 is a viable upgrade path, otherwise the other option is the hmc 150 which is nearly twice the price of the V1.
 
The DVX is still an amazing camera, especially for the web. Compressing for the web is a tricky thing, and will take its toll on any format, HD or SD. Lots of folks have had great results "up-rezzing" DVX footage to HD frame size for the web, too.

The Sony HVR-V1 is fine and dandy, but as HD goes it's an older camera. There are so many new things out there that are both better and less expensive.
 
C2V said:
The DVX is still an amazing camera, especially for the web. Compressing for the web is a tricky thing, and will take its toll on any format, HD or SD. Lots of folks have had great results "up-rezzing" DVX footage to HD frame size for the web, too.

The Sony HVR-V1 is fine and dandy, but as HD goes it's an older camera. There are so many new things out there that are both better and less expensive.
Click to expand...

This.

I don't mean to be offend, but if you've only had your DVX for six months are you SURE you're ready to move on from it? To be honest I find it hard to believe that you've really experienced the camera. It was years before I fully made it through the scene files and started using the camera to its real potential. (Also, if you had really unlocked the DVX you'd realize that it and most of Panasonic's cameras are much better than anything else on the market in their price range).

If you're exporting to the web, you can do just fine uprezzing - I uprezz, check out the link to Vimeo in my sig if you wanna see a couple examples.

As far as the camera being 4:3...just shoot squeeze. You lose some resolution but who cares, for me 16:9 is worth it.

All in all, if you HAVE to upgrade to HD, don't limit yourself to the V1U. HDV is dead, or at the very least is dying, and fast. If you're going to film HD, don't do it to tape, because the moment you start writing information to the tape you're losing resolution. You're already on the Panasonic wagon - might as well stay there. If you must upgrade, get a used HMC40. It'll be similar to your setup with the DVX and will outperform the V1U in almost all conditions.

However, I think you should stick with your DVX. Personally I hold the idea that until I know a camera through and through, it is not worth it for me to upgrade. The same may hold true to you. Your money might be better spent elsewhere, like an awesome tripod or a GlideCam (essential if you're doing moving shots in action sports) or an external mic.
 
yup! uprezzing my DVX footage has given it a new life. I've recently discovered and will be using Instant HD in all my post work.

Check out some of the many many uprezzed footage out there and see for yourself the continued value of this camera :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
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