Shooting with the HVX in January

Chris Messineo

Chris Messineo

Veteran
I have been on Rush's waiting list for a few months now and I am eager to buy my HVX the day it comes out.

We are planning to use it to shoot our first union (SAG) short this January.

My question is this, I need to start locking down dates (for locations and actors), am I foolish to do that before the camera actually arrives? Or is it a safe assumption that I will have it by January?

Thanks,

Chris
 
Nothing is ever safe when it comes to an unreleased new product.

I would certainly recommend that you have a contingency camera plan (perhaps a rental solution) if your dates are locked down (and if you are using guild actors and a SAG contract, then you will need to be locked down at least 60 days before unless you don't mind paying the penalties).

I am in a similar situation with the HVX but our project won't start shooting until early April, so I feel a bit more confident that we will have gotten our HVXs and had time to work with them for a little time first.

Best of luck on your project!
 
Again, I agree completely with KHMuse. Keep in mind you're talking about using a brand-new product -- there is certainly room for some uncertainty in that scenario. Will it have any issues like the JVC's split-screen? We don't know -- we hope not, but we don't know yet, and won't know until they're in widespread use and people have had a chance to really apply the product in their work. If I were you I'd allow for as much time as possible to get familiar with the tool before committing to working with it in a project like that.
 
I know you're both right. :(

I still have my DVX100A, but we really wanted to shoot this next one with the HDX. I hate to put off the shoot until February, but that is probably the prudent thing to do.

I'd be more confident if we had an actual release date in December but as it stands now, it seems a bit vague (like it could slip another month yet again).

Oh well. Thanks for confirming my fears. :)

Chris
 
Well, the latest issue of American Cinematographer came in the mail yesterday... big full page and for the HVX and plastered across the top was "...here in Decenber".

Too bad it didn't mention filmmaking... like Sony has been doing with the Z1 ad in previous months...

Jim Arthurs
 
The latest I've been hearing is that we'll have presents under our tree at Christmas. So don't go expecting Dec. 1st, I think it'll be more around the third or fourth week of December.
 
Barry_Green said:
The latest I've been hearing is that we'll have presents under our tree at Christmas. So don't go expecting Dec. 1st, I think it'll be more around the third or fourth week of December.
Click to expand...

Barry, any idea when Panasonic will announce a definite date?
 
Barry_Green said:
The latest I've been hearing is that we'll have presents under our tree at Christmas. So don't go expecting Dec. 1st, I think it'll be more around the third or fourth week of December.
Click to expand...
Well, maybe I'll Panasonic another 2 weeks before I make a decision. Perhaps they will announce a date by then. It could happen. :)

Chris
 
Just a personal note about all this. I was in the same boat (ready to shoot in January), but I've pushed my feature until the end of February early March, just to be sure that all things are working right with my new baby. There are computer updates, accessories to buy, etc. I really want to shoot in January as well, but I just can't feel comfortable with that. I'm sure it can be done, but just because I can doesn't mean I should. Making movies is hard enough from a creative and technical standpoint to start with and then to add the pressure of setting everything up on uncertainty is a bit uncomfortable to me.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right and anything worth doing right si worth waiting for.

Best to you on your decision and happy shooting,

J.
 
Barry_Green said:
The latest I've been hearing is that we'll have presents under our tree at Christmas. So don't go expecting Dec. 1st, I think it'll be more around the third or fourth week of December.
Click to expand...

This is what worries me about the delivery date. It's less than 2 months until Christmas, and Panasonic hasn't shown a fully functional model yet. It's got to take them at least 2-3 weeks just to build, test, and ship the cameras to the stores. That gives them about a month to release the camera to production. I don't know what they have in the lab, but judging from the info that has been released so far, I doubt they can deliver by Christmas.

Just my $.02.
 
For all we know, fully-functional production units could be rolling off the assembly line right now and being stockpiled in warehouses. We don't know what's going on in the Japanese factories, all we know is that Jan says it'll be here in December.

I guess we don't have that long to wait to find out.
 
And remember... even after it comes out, there will be a lag time before the accessories are ready, and NLE software is completely tweaked for the camera. I imagine NAB or thereabouts is the most realistic time-frame to expect full "accessories to color correction of finals" workflow...

Sure, Avid and FC and others "support" P2.... but which, if any NLE FULLY supports HVX's full spec P2? For instance, the 24p version of the P2 media with just the 24frames? Can Avid handle that today? I don't know. Or the off speed variants? Or 1080i... which software can RIGHT NOW strip advance pull down out of that?

Just more food for thought. This will take time. That's why I've been wondering about the playback options through analog outs... and what I can expect to do using those to come into my NLE until our popular software NLE's are ready...

Jim Arthurs
 
If it is a succes like the JVC GY-HD101, you could be waiting some time. I preordered a HD101 at the start of July (over here in europe), and I am still waiting - that's about 4 months already... the HD101 doesn't seem be be as readily available as the HD100...
 
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