Questions about buying a used HVX200

[heshit]

hey there,
Im mostly a lurker of these boards. Im a loyal DVX-100b user. I'm in need of some help, maybe i over looked it, but i didnt see any topics covering my specific questions.


1. What is a high and low amount of hours on the HVX?

2. Are the amount of hours on the tape deck shown seperatley from the overall hours? and, is there such thing as high/low hours on the p2 card deck?

3. Questions i should ask about the camera?

(kinda un-related)

4.is there two different kind of firestores? like, an SD one and HD one? (i figure the HD one is the one i want for the HVX)

5. Firestore or p2 cards? pros and cons?

EDIT-
just found this topic from another site, but its very back and forth it seems to me.

 

[Lindquist]

Yeah Id like to know too, soon to buy a hvx200 used.

Thanks for any info guys.

 

[wgzn]

4. the only firestore compatible with the hvx line is the fs100.

5. firestore/p2 pro & con
firestore PRO: large storage capacity. can shoot directly to quicktime (if that matters to you), reasonably easy to use. some people use it with 100% happiness
firestore CON: cable can easily come unplugged in tight/hectic situations, not good in extreme situations, battery life, some people have reliability issues with it.

p2 PRO: extremely reliable, easy, worry-free
P2 CON: price - but when you factor in time savings, this quickly becomes less of an issue

what i love about P2 is (as seen above) there's not a lot to talk about. no issues. no dicking around. it just works.

 

[steev'sHVX]

firestore Is just more gear to carry and setup and believe me there's enough of that as it is

 

[aaron_mandel]

The FS100 didn't allow me to shoot variable frame rates in 720 24 or 30 P/PN and makes noise, if you every have a shotgun mounted on the camera. P2 cards are pricey.

 

[David Saraceno]

P2 cards are pricey.

The E Series 64 GB cards run about $900.00.

They hold 176 minutes of 720/24pN footage.

One PN-AJ-HP126EX DVCProHD tape runs about $100.00.

I won't even mention the cost of a DVCProHD tape deck.

 

[Dick Campbell]

and I don't think hours are an issue, especially if you only plan to shoot P2. The camera is entirely solid state except for the tape drive, that's why Panasonic warranties the HPX-170 for 5 years - no mechanical parts to break down. If you don't plan to use the tape mode, you should just do a thorough ops check of the camera. The only major reported problem with any of these cameras is the loose ribbon cable issue (discussed mucho here), and if you have it, it is obvious because the camera just won't work right.