nothing wrong with my canon

T

Tlalconetl

Well-known member
I really like the AG-DVX 100A, however, I really don't want to spend all that cash on one. So, I'm thinking of buying a Mac G5 instead and shooting my first feature on my old Canon Ultura MiniDV. Am I nuts? Can I get away with this?
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

Definitely. If you know how to light a scene and, more importantly, write a good screenplay, you can get good results with just about any camera. Good luck with the production.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

Definitely to which question? :D ;D

You can make a movie with pretty much anything. Of course, you know what sort of quality footage you can get from your camera. I wouldn't expect too much of it but with good production values it should come out alright :).
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

What are your goals for said feature? To learn and have fun, to show friends and family, or bigger, better goals?

A good camera naturally can't make a project better but a crappy camera can ruin a good project. The difference from one 1/6 inch CCD to 3 1/4 inch or 1/3 inch CCDs is pretty substantial.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

[quote author=Dakota link=board=Offtopic;num=1105758556;start=0#3 date=01/14/05 at 23:13:01]What are your goals for said feature? To learn and have fun, to show friends and family, or bigger, better goals?

A good camera naturally can't make a project better but a crappy camera can ruin a good project. The difference from one 1/6 inch CCD to 3 1/4 inch or 1/3 inch CCDs is pretty substantial.[/quote]

My goal? To be a great filmmaker! I want to learn as much as I can about moviemaking as well as tell a good story with this feature. I figured I'd shoot with my canon ultura and use the $6500 I have to to buy a good mic with field recorder and a Mac G5 to edit. I hope that if I concentrated on telling a great story, the decision to shoot on a consumer camcorder will be forgiven.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

I had the same struggle. It just seemd like a lot of money to spend. I looked at a lot of footage shot with the DVX. I thought it looked great, but I didn't know how much of that was lighting, filters and post. SO I went down to a place where they rent out the DVX and brought my zr-20. I asked if I could shoot around the rental room with the DVX and they agreed. I then took out the tape and shot the same stuff with my zr-20. When I got home and reviewed the footage I was really kind of pissed because I thought "great, now I HAVE to buy this camera."

I'm sure that the larger chip, and the fact that there are 3 of them instead of one make a big difference. But what sold me was the 24P. I set the camera to F5 (24P) and just shot. The difference was ridiculous. I did 2 shorts with my zr-20. It was a great tool to learn about certain aspects of filmmaking and it was nice having no pressure because I hadn't dumped any money into the production. But I don't think I'd put the amount of time, energy and effort it takes to make a feature, and use anything less capable than the DVX.

Just my .02. Good luck with the project, whatever you decide.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

Ask yourself this...

What will your movie look like if you shot it with a DVX and edited on an old G4 or an iMac?

What will your movie look like if you shot it with your Canon and edited on a new G5?

Spend the money where it will make the difference...get the DVX.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

Yeah, you are basically talking quality vs time. IT may take more time to edit the project but the quality would be higher. I am however, a strong believer in the fact that it is not the camera that makes the film maker, it is the film maker himself, or herself :). However, you have a lot of money to spend, you might as well spend it on the things that will give you the highest quality production, unless you are really in a tight spot for time.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

I agree with ExFilms. While content is king, you're really emphasizing the wrong thing, monetarily speaking. A kick-ass computer is no substitute for kick-ass footage. No one will care what machine you edited it on -- they only care about what they're watching.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

..hmmm. i agree with the statements that the DVX could make your film alot better then a new g5, but the main word is "could". it wont just do it for you. I would buy whatever you need to fit your  needs and what you think you wil need in the future. if  youve outgrown your old mac and need a bigger better one, then you might want to get a new one. if you havent outgrown your camra, and dont see whats "wrong with it" then buying the DVX may just give you an expensive camera to make the same quality films with.  while you would obviously see the gain from a faster mac.   .. hard to say. if your serious about filmmaking and want to get better. get the DVX..  it will urge you to learn and open new doors in production value and cinematography choices. the new mac will not. it will only make things a little quicker for you.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

I didn't know you had the money to spend. With $6500, I'd go the DVX route (hell, I did go the DVX route with less money than that).
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

It was the raw, side by side footage that sold me. There was no comparison. Bring the computer into the equation though, my brother was in town last night, so I showed him my last 2 films. One was shot on my ZR-20, edited on my P4 PC. The other was shot on a my DVX and edited by my partner on his old G4. The computers aren't very different in rendering time and RAM. The difference was still very noticable.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

I'd rather edit on a machine that could barely run Vegas (which would be an extremely old computer) than go back to shooting with my TRV38 exclusively. How did I live like that? ;D
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

You guys make some good points. I think I'm turning around on this issue. I suppose I could still edit on my old G4 iMac or figure out something else later. Thanks again.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

1st let me tell you a 1 chip 1/6 camera is **** compared to the dvx. I used to say to my buddy, another filmmaker who had a gl1 at the time and I had a 1 chip 1/6 inch JVC, If my script is good enough people won't care and so on and so on. ( classic denial). Since I invested (note the word) cause that's what buying a DVX is, an investment in you, you said it your self ( my goal? to be a great filmmaker). A 1 chip camera is maybe 20-25% the shooting power of the dvx. Anytime I look back at my older work it's just terrible the image that I was living with.

If I was looking at uping the anti for $6500 here's what I'd do.

1. Buy a dvx off this board from someone who's giv'n up or decided it's not worth the money to own one, I'd say $2000-2700 for an average used dvx with 50-150 hours on the heads, remember the heads are rated for a lot of hours most people will never get to that many.

2. but a Microphone, an azden sx1 is $150 new at BHphoto.com, again you could find a higher quality used mic around this price.

3. One or Two DVX batteries $120 from this site. they work great.

4. Barry's greens ultimate guide $70

5.Other nick nacks, that is if the person sellling there camera isn't trying to unloaded them as well. a 72mm uv filter for protecting your lens, XLR cables short one if mounting to camera, long one 25'or more if you use a boom pole.

6. I know you said your a mac user, you could buy the new mini mac, and get apple to custom it, load the pig up. OR get a used G5 I know I've seen em you just have to search. don't know what kind of system you have I:E power mac or what? here's a guy selling a g5. http://www.ehmac.ca/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=115&sort=1&cat=2&page=1

Or you could easily build a PC for $1000 or so even if you don't know how. the computer.. shop that I bought my parts allows you to buy the parts and for $50 they'll put it all together, I'm sure you can find a place like that where ever you are.

6. Editing - Vegas video - ive used all the main editors, love final cut but vegas is an amazing achievment. $800 new, again get it used or find someone who's a teacher or student and get it discounted. at studica.ca in canada it's $469 canadian for vegas + dvd package.

you could either blow all your money and sit at home playing with one toy for $6500 or you could take a little time, search out a few deals ( alway's use PayPal never send some one your money) or you could get it all, have a sweet camera, sweet editing system, and start showing you'r work. it's like Dakota said, where do you want to show your work? cause a 1 chip will seriously ruin your chances of success if you shot something great. remember there's thousands of aspiring filmmakers in the world and the people who get noticed are the ones who stand out

Just a thought
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

I had the same dilemma when i bought my dvx.

Either get:
The DVX with a good tirpod
or
DP2.5 ghz G5

I owned a Sony TRV25 camcorder and an athlon 2400xp system. seeing as how my pc isnt that bad and can do the job of editing (not as niicely as a g5 though) I got the DVX.

I made a great choice, the quality of video is amazing. and now that the camera is bought, im saving up to get the G5.
 
Re: nothing wrong with my canon

But wait! IF you agree, we can't go on and on about how great the DVX is! ;D
 
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