Should I buy an HVX200?

W

wied81

Member
Hey all,

New to the forums but love what you guys are doing here. Would love to get some advice if any of ya'll have a free second.

Here are my needs and some quick information:

I am looking to get a professional level camera that records in HD/SD and onto P2 cards as well. If possible, I'd like to have an option to use tapes as well as P2 cards. I will be filming a lot of fast moving sports (Football, Lacrosse, Soccer, Basketball) as well as some more relaxed scenes such as people talking during conferences and events.

I have had trouble previously with filming sports on an HDV camera I had and would not like to duplicate that experience. I have heard that HDV is especially bad for sports because of the massive compression being used, and that makes sense.

My budget is about $2K-4K.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.
 
Yup, HVX would work for all that, and because you can adjust the frame rates up to 60 you should have no problem with the sports aspect.

There are better cameras of course but for your budget the HVX fits good.
 
if you need both P2 and SD to tape. the hvx is the ONLY option in your price range.

and its a good option. remember though, you want an hvx200a not an hvx200

i do have to ask why you NEED, and IF you really NEED SD to tape? - the hvx line doesnt shoot HD to tape. thats what HDV does. spit, cough, wheeze!
 
hmmm...didn't know that HVX200 didn't record HD to tape. That mixes things up a little bit.

I mean what do you guys think. I am a little hesitant about just diving head first into the P2 storage solution, primarily because I have never used it before and have always worked with SD/HDV tapes and a tape deck.

Do you think it is necessary to have a tape deck and the P2 storage solution or just P2 is fine? If I just need P2, then what other options do I have given my previously stated needs?

Thanks again guys for all the help.
 
the day i tested DVCPROHD on P2 from the hvx200 i put all my SD camera and decks upfor sale... i liked it that much. that was 3+ years ago and i havent regretted it for a second.

the P2 workflow is so smooth, reliable and trouble free.

the only real drawback to P2 is if you do a lot of LONNNNGGGG single take projects like weddings business conventions or live classical music, etc... places where you may have to roll for over an hour non-stop. youd need at least a pair of 32 gig cards (if not bigger) or something like a firestore or shoot direct to a computer. all of which have their own good and bad points.

do a forum search. this is a broad topic and may be hard to find info in one place. but we have talked a lot about it - i know because ive talked about it ; )

you can go all P2 or keep some decks around. it just depends on if you want to watch or have old clients who are going to recapture from their old tapes. i keep a cheapo mini DV camera around for when a client brings me a dv tape
 
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all P2 is is a storage medium. it has no effect on how or what you shoot - aside from how much you can shoot at one time of any given format. but thats true for any format/ storage medium...
 
Hey wied81,

I would get either an HVX200a or an HPX170 (which has no tape drive).
I guess you could say I love the P2 format.

Just to clear up some confusion, HDV cameras are able to squeeze HD video
onto a miniDV tape by doing some pretty nasty compression, which you have noticed.
The tape mechanism on the HVX200 is for SD miniDV only.

Since I got my HVX200 4 years ago, the only time I've used tape is when
clients (still living in the SD past) requested it. Then it was useful,
but for myself, I always shoot to P2 or direct to laptop, even if I'm shooting SD.
It's so much safer and convenient. More and more of my clients want HD,
so the tape drive is becoming vestigial.

Since tape is really no longer necessary, I would strongly suggest you get an HPX170.
Check out the detailed comparison here:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/hpx_170_evolution_brockett.html
 
Thanks guys for all the replies, greatly appreciated.

It looks like at this point I am headed towards getting an HVX200, not the a, or the HVX170. From what I have heard around here and other places it looks like P2 will treat me just fine and I won't necessarily need a tape deck on the camera, especially if its just shooting HD to tape and not HDV. However, on the other hand, I am looking at Firestone drives and those look like a potential option as well. Can anyone give me a quick breakdown on the P2 vs. Firestore option? It looks like P2 cards are extremely expensive as well as Firestore drives and since I will be needing a fair amount of storage space for my sports events (doing long takes) this is a big issue.



Thanks an advance guys, really appreciate it.
 
on firestores...

1. some people have had issues with them failing. i.e. its a hard drive and sometimes hard drives to lose data. i however, have owned two of them and never had a problem. so every person has their own experience ; )

2. the firewire cable that connects the cam to the device can be a liability. in tight or hectic conditions, there is a very realistic chance it could become unplugged.

you might benefit from doing some forum searches on this subject. it has been discussed at great length - repeatedly.
 
Thanks for the comments. It looks to me like the HPX170 is a bit more expensive than the HVX200, that is the main stumbling block. Why are you such a big proponent of it over the HVX200? It looks like at this point I'm going to go with the P2 cards for reliability, however I am going to need 64GB P2 cards because I am shooting sports events and those are so expensive (around 1,000 per). Anywhere you can get them for cheaper?

Thanks so much.
 
wgzn said:
and its a good option. remember though, you want an hvx200a not an hvx200
Click to expand...

Ideally if you can afford a 200a by all means, but I just shot with two 200's for a doc in europe and I thought to myself, 5 years ago anyone would have been over the moon to be shooting this with two 200's.

The 200 hasn't gotten any worse, just the image quality has gotten a bit better with 200a and the newer chipset. If you budget is 2-4K, buy a used HVX200 in the marketplace on this site from a dvxuser who has a significant record of posting on the site.
 
Why are you such a big proponent of it over the HVX200?
Click to expand...
for me, it all comes down to 4 things. in order from most to least important:
- better low-light performance
- less grain
- sdi output (for client monitoring)
- saved weight and bulkiness from lack of tape drives
 
wied81 said:
Why are you such a big proponent of it over the HVX200?
Click to expand...
Smaller size, much better handheld ergonomics, a lot lighter, waveform monitor, HD-SDI output, last-clip-delete button, almost-auto-switching of playback format, and (as compared to the original HVX200) a little brighter with less noise and better color accuracy. Although that last point is moot as compared to the HVX200A.
 
Well it certainly does look like the HPX170 does have some upgrades over the HVX200. However, for the extra $1k I will have to spend to upgrade it doesn't quite seem enough to justify the extra cost. I am sure it is a great camera but the HVX200 just seems more practical for me right now.

With that being said, I am looking to get two 64GB P2 cards which it looks like will run me around $2k. Is there somewhere you guys know of where you can get P2 cards for cheaper? This seems like a lot for two 64GB cards. I have read about Firestore but it seems like P2 is going to be the most practical for me with what I will be doing, however, I would love to find somewhere or somehow to knock the price down a little bit for those P2 cards.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again guys.
 
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