Sell or keep my HVX200/M2

MAR-10

MAR-10

Active member
I've ordered my AF100 and now I can't decide if I should keep or sell my HVX200/M2.
I don't think I'll be using it allot once I have the AF100, also has it lost most of its $ value?
Could the HVX200 be a good B cam for the AF100 (at 720p)?
Anyone with the same dilemma?

Thanks
 
I'm in the same dilemma ... here in MTL, the best price i can seem to get is 2500 for the camera 3 batteries and 32 gig p2 card ! Tough decision...
 
We have 2 HVX's (also Cinevate adapters - but haven't used those since… can't remember) and will be keeping them after the Af's arrive. There will be work where the HVX is still the right camera.
 
I am thinking most of our HVX200s are only worth about $2500 at best.

So the way I am looking at this is that if I can continue to rent it out.... it would be a good deal in the long run as I have other clients that need the P2 workflow and I would still have a nice B_Camera!
 
The way I evaluate equipment is this:

Am I renting ? Y/N
Do I need it to support an ongoing project? Y/N
Have I used it on a paid project in the last 3 months? Y/N

Chaz
 
I'm keeping mine for now. I'd hate to sell it and then wish I had it back for a zoom rock shots or a solid performer of AF on steadicam.
 
I almost got rid of the HVX last year with all the DSLRs being asked for, but I'm glad I didn't. There's still enough corporate and event work that asks for the HVX that I've made its selling price many times over since then. I don't expect that to change much in the next year, so I'm keeping mine.

Another thing to consider when going out for jobs. A lot of clients don't have the budget/need for a camera like the AF100. If a client comes to you and asks your rate you can say, well for X I can give you the AF100 package, for Y I have an HVX package. If they really need the AF100 they can pay you more then, but if it's not within their need or budget you're still providing them a great camera and not renting your gear out for less than it's worth. I know a ton of people who have REDs that they take on jobs for under $300/day because they need the work and have no alternatives.

I've actually thought about buying a set of Lowell lights for the same reason. I can't put together an Arri/Mole kit for $50/day, but I'd probably rent a basic Lowell one for that price.
 
First of all: the HVX200 is still a great camera. Different than DSLRs and the AF100, but anyway: shoots 1080, 720 in different framerates, shoots standard def, shoots even 4:3. Lots of things many cameras don´t do. It also shoots great images with a colorrendition like no other in its (original) pricerange. If you can afford keeping it and you sometimes have need for a B-Cam or a livecam or a cam with zoom or a P2 workflow or a making of cam or 4:3 cam or a SD cam then...hell yeah..keep it and milk it.

After watching all the AF100 footage and F3 footage lately and seeing HVX and 7D projected on the big screen and working with the HVX a lot again lately I simply think it is a great camera. Many things that we see and pixelpeep about are not seen by the audience. 90% of viewers will not see the difference between the HVX and a 2/3-chip HPX3700. We know the difference, we feel it when we work with the tools, but the audience usually is smart enough to concentrte on the content instead of the technical background of it.
So if your content rocks and your clients are happy with it....keep the HVX. I do. But for all my precious projects (not the ones you make for a living) I will use the AF100.....:p
 
Personally I'm trading my 2 HVX's, P2 Stores, 8GB cards etc for an AF100 while there's still a semblance of a market price for them.
My SGPro goes too, and I for one am looking forward to the huge increase in light I will get, with only lenses to shoot through instead of layers of optics, full chip 1080 (with variable frame rates), shooting with the AF100.

I've been given a reasonable price for part exchange by my original dealer, and seeing the sub £1000 prices with few bids and the like floating around for HVX's,
and the fact I have a GH-13 with fast FD primes and the like already for a B-cam, and have already embraced the whole m4/3 'rds world it all seems like a no-brainer.

times are hard, and in an ideal world I would keep an HVX too, but I need to futureproof myself and button down the hatches for the next few years, while achieving the highest image quality I can get.

So rock-on the AF100!
 
I have an XHA1 that I'll be keeping (or possibly changing out for an HVX) for at least a while after the AF100 gets here, for some of the reasons already mentioned above.
 
mkfotos.com said:
I have an XHA1 that I'll be keeping (or possibly changing out for an HVX) for at least a while after the AF100 gets here, for some of the reasons already mentioned above.
Click to expand...

Same here. I wonder how the panavision preset will look matching up the A1 to the AF100?
 
MAR-10 said:
I've ordered my AF100 and now I can't decide if I should keep or sell my HVX200/M2.
I don't think I'll be using it allot once I have the AF100, also has it lost most of its $ value?
Could the HVX200 be a good B cam for the AF100 (at 720p)?
Anyone with the same dilemma?

Thanks
Click to expand...
I found myself in a similar situation a couple years back with my XL1 when I purchased my HVX200. I ended up hanging onto my XL1 thinking that I would use it as a second camera but never did... in retrospect I probably hung onto it more for sentimental reasons. As the price plummeted on the XL1 I found myself wishing that I had sold it when it was more valuable. Eventually its sentimental value to me was worth more than its street value so alas I will never be able to sell it and to this day it sits on a shelf in my closet taking up space and collecting dust.

I didn't want to loose out on my HVX in a similar manor as I did with my XL1, so I put it up for sale and sold it with my letus adaptor for $3500 a couple weeks back.

The HVX and I have had some good times and it was sad to see her go.
I nearly backed out of the sale at the last minute for sentimental reason once again but I'm glad that I was able to stay strong and part with her.
The last thing I need is another camera sitting on the shelf in the closet loosing value not getting used and collecting dust.
 
I plan on having our HPX170's compliment our AF100s. 170 is the perfect run and gun cam with the 1/3" chip and CCD, while the AF100 is perfect at everything else (low light, shallow DoF, cinema-feel). I'm guessing the AF100 at 1920x1080 will be noticably sharper than the 170 at 1080p, but I'm guess 720p modes will mix together like PB&J when there is enough light for the 170s.
 
TheReverend said:
I plan on having our HPX170's compliment our AF100s. 170 is the perfect run and gun cam with the 1/3" chip and CCD, while the AF100 is perfect at everything else (low light, shallow DoF, cinema-feel). I'm guessing the AF100 at 1920x1080 will be noticably sharper than the 170 at 1080p, but I'm guess 720p modes will mix together like PB&J when there is enough light for the 170s.
Click to expand...

Ditto. I also joke that my 170 has made more movies than I have because I've also loaned/rented it out to fellow indie shoots. In the 18 months that I've owned it, I've made back the purchase price and then some, and I know I will continue to earn money from it. In fact, I'm doing a project for a local school that the AF100 would just be overkill for. The AF100 is just a different kind of camera. I'm not seeing it as a replacement for my 170, but a compliment to it.
 
AmyO said:
Ditto. I also joke that my 170 has made more movies than I have because I've also loaned/rented it out to fellow indie shoots. In the 18 months that I've owned it, I've made back the purchase price and then some, and I know I will continue to earn money from it. In fact, I'm doing a project for a local school that the AF100 would just be overkill for. The AF100 is just a different kind of camera. I'm not seeing it as a replacement for my 170, but a compliment to it.
Click to expand...
In total agreement.

4:2:2 for green screen on 170. CCD for no rolling shutter. DVCPROHD for highest-grade aquisition. 1/3", servo zoom, and fixed lens for fast shooting.
1920x1080 for highest resolution on AF100. CMOS capable of high ISOs. AVCHD for small files/long recording. 4/3", shallow DoF, and manual everything for precise shooting.
Same scene files, same ports, same HDSDI, same general layout.

Seriously, a perfect match IMO.
(except for the batteries :( )
 
I think if I had a 170 the situation would be different, but I have an original HVX, not an A, and I almost always use with a lens adapter nowadays,
but have been getting increasingly frustrated with the resolution falloff of a pixel-doubled CCD, with mid to distant stuff often dissapointingly soft.
Close-up it's fantastic, but place a subject a mid distance away, and there's an annoying softness that I'm beginning to find I'm apologising for
more than I'd like in this age of DSLR's and full chip cameras.

For the 4:2:2 for greenscreen, I've got my eye on an AJA Ki Mini to use as rear ballast for the AF100, with ProRes422 on Compact flash, straight into FCP for editing.
 
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