Prospective Buyer: Low-light of the HPX500? Comparable to DVX?

crookedpictures

Active member
Hello,

Run and gun style shooter here. I own an HVX-200. I like the camera, but the biggest let down is the low-light picture quality. Compared to the DVX-100, my 1st camera, which created a beautiful picture in almost any regular situation, the HVX-200 produced an almost unusable result in the exact same circumstances. To clarify, by beautiful picture, I mean that it was a very pleasing look...not quite film, not quite video...but I great look nonetheless...and that's what I'm after, only in HD.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking the camera...I now know that it's just not the right camera for me. With proper lighting, it delivers a beautiful picture. I just can't shoot that way all the time given my setup (small crew, unpayed actors, impromtu shoots, etc...)

What I want is an HD cam that can deliver in the same way that the DVX-100 did in low light situations. Is the HPX500 what I'm looking for? If not, how far off is it? Is it closer to the HVX? (shudders)

I've been conducting searches on this, but I'm finding mixed results. Any help is HUGELY appreciated.

All this being said, I will likely rent one out to test it...but if I can rule it out before the rental process, that would help my bank out big time.
 
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I should add that I have a P2 Card, and I really like the P2 Workflow...but I'm not married to it...and will switch if the 500 isn't the right cam for me.
 
Thanks for the responses.

If either of you, or anyone else, is familiar with the DVX's performance in low light, how would you compare the HPX 500's?

Thanks.
 
We use our 502 for the News Overnight and have not had a problem with the low light capabilities of the camera.
 
The 500 is rated at 800 ISO. The DVX is 640. The 500 is cleaner in noise, you could actually use some gain on the 500 and have a cleaner image than the 100, therefore yes it's noticeably better.

The 200 is rated at 320 ISO. The 500 is substantially better than the 200, and the 100 is noticeably better than the 200.

The 200A and 170 have significantly closed that gap.
 
Crooked, Get your hands on a 500. You'll be amazed at the low light performance. With a nice piece of glass you wont find anything like it for the money.

Tom
 
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