As much as I enjoy the DVX100, I haven't been able to put together one good film because I don't have a good editing program or a better way to capture other than the DVX itself. I have all these raw footage that is just sitting there and the thought of selling for a prosumer quality camcorder that records on cards rather than tapes is appealing to me. The question is- while going tapeless is so much easier, is there anything that's equivalent to the DVX100? If there is, I would probably sell it and upgrade later. Any input is greatly appreciated.
Should I sell my DVX100b?
- Thread starter LONEMAN
- Start date
jambredz
Veteran
I dont understand ur question at all. If u dont have a good editing program then get one. If capturing the footage with the dvx is a prob then get a cheap mini dv cam to capture the footage, as many of us (including me) do. I have a sub $200 mini dv consumer cam for that.
Cards are appealing you say but if ur going to upgrade to a card based system the next step is an hmc150 which is the dvx HD successor. howevr that is about $3500(new) and you are going to need to upgrade your PC more than likely and still need a better editing program than what you are using now (or maybe not...i dont know wat u use).
I dont think u fully understand what the whole recording to card process( i could be totally wrong) means so u should research that. Quite likely u are going to be shooting h.264 codec and will have to transcode footage and that whole workflow is a whole new ballgame. So if capturing with the dvx is a prob now...do ur research well.
Cards are appealing you say but if ur going to upgrade to a card based system the next step is an hmc150 which is the dvx HD successor. howevr that is about $3500(new) and you are going to need to upgrade your PC more than likely and still need a better editing program than what you are using now (or maybe not...i dont know wat u use).
I dont think u fully understand what the whole recording to card process( i could be totally wrong) means so u should research that. Quite likely u are going to be shooting h.264 codec and will have to transcode footage and that whole workflow is a whole new ballgame. So if capturing with the dvx is a prob now...do ur research well.
Thanks for the reply. Nevermind what I said about the editing system. The HMC150 is what I was thinking about. Cards seem like less work than tapes and last longer with a lot less maintenance. I obviously need to do my research on transcoding footage, but that sounds like a process from what it sounds although probably less work than with tapes.
jambredz
Veteran
well trasncoding means ur changing the h.264 file to a more edit friendly format like say neoscene avi for example or apple prores if ur on apple. there are alot of other ones but those seem to be really good. It can be anywhere from real time to transcode to halving your time depending on how fast your pc is. The h.264 file is very pc intensive and it also doesnt hold up well to colour grading...but for fast edits if ur pc can handle it then u can edit the native files.
The card system does offer more time and more convenience in recording...however that does come with its own problems. Head over to the hmc150 section and read up on woes of card failures. Last i checked it was alot of speculating and testing to see what was causing the issues but it was a huge guessing game. But people were losing footage from it and that scary when u have paid work. Some issues were user error also...so not enough research on their part i guess. Also if u are transcoding ur file size will ballon triple the size of the original file and then u have to have alot of harddrive space.
That said....its pretty nice to be able to record almost 3 hrs of footage to a 16g card on the highest quality HD on the hmc150 (someone correct me if i;m wrong here)
The card system does offer more time and more convenience in recording...however that does come with its own problems. Head over to the hmc150 section and read up on woes of card failures. Last i checked it was alot of speculating and testing to see what was causing the issues but it was a huge guessing game. But people were losing footage from it and that scary when u have paid work. Some issues were user error also...so not enough research on their part i guess. Also if u are transcoding ur file size will ballon triple the size of the original file and then u have to have alot of harddrive space.
That said....its pretty nice to be able to record almost 3 hrs of footage to a 16g card on the highest quality HD on the hmc150 (someone correct me if i;m wrong here)
jambredz
Veteran
dont get me wrong...alot of people shoot to SD and CF cards and i guess for the most part they are reliable....but it seemed every other day someone posted about losing footage. That can seem like alot when ur on the boards looking evryday but in the large scheme of things i guess thats a small percent of the population. there are things u can do to avoid some of these problems like always formatting the card in camera...choosing what seems to be the more reliable cards like patriot brand which seems to be quite reliable, even though i have heard the occasional failure. There are others measures u can take to avoid failures...just cant remember right now. Some people have never had a card fail. I personally dont use one of these cameras so i go off what they say but u can head over there and ask them urself for more first hand info if u like. Cards are where its going or really where it has gone now...in whatever format, SD, CF, P2 ect
To be honest unless ur going with p2 (which is costly) ur goin to end up shooting to an SDHC or CF card
So just try to take the proper measures to handle ur cards well and choose more trusted brands...and have a clause in your contract that covers such occurances.
To be honest unless ur going with p2 (which is costly) ur goin to end up shooting to an SDHC or CF card
So just try to take the proper measures to handle ur cards well and choose more trusted brands...and have a clause in your contract that covers such occurances.
SPrimeau
Well-known member
The HMC150 can record 1h30 (99 min) on a 16 GB card. You need a 32 GB card to be able to record 3 hours of footage (199 min) in PH mode (21 Mb/s vbr (max 24 Mb/s)).
SPrimeau
Well-known member
You're welcome!
I have both cameras. A DVX100b and a HMC150.
You need a much faster computer to be able to edit the HMC150 footage. It is easier to edit the footage if you transcode the files in DVCProHD or other formats compared to AVCHD.
But it is still much longer when you need to create your DVD or Blu-Ray from the HD files vs DV files.
I have both cameras. A DVX100b and a HMC150.
You need a much faster computer to be able to edit the HMC150 footage. It is easier to edit the footage if you transcode the files in DVCProHD or other formats compared to AVCHD.
But it is still much longer when you need to create your DVD or Blu-Ray from the HD files vs DV files.
SPrimeau
Well-known member
I like both cameras. The HMC150 is really similar to the DVX100. And it has more options like a waveform and vectorscope.
As I said, for the editing, the HMC150 codec is harder to work with than DV. But if I wish to work with it in DV, I simply capture it like a tape with a Break Out Box.
An advantage of the HMC150 is it's 16:9 CCD's vs the DVX100b in squeeze mode. You will loose some quality with the DVX100b when using the squeeze mode vs it's own 4:3 mode.
Also, I found out that the DVX100b has a hard time with black light. It falls out of focus. But the HMC150 stays perfectly sharp in the same situation.
As I said, for the editing, the HMC150 codec is harder to work with than DV. But if I wish to work with it in DV, I simply capture it like a tape with a Break Out Box.
An advantage of the HMC150 is it's 16:9 CCD's vs the DVX100b in squeeze mode. You will loose some quality with the DVX100b when using the squeeze mode vs it's own 4:3 mode.
Also, I found out that the DVX100b has a hard time with black light. It falls out of focus. But the HMC150 stays perfectly sharp in the same situation.
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there are alot of great projects out there shot on the dvx100... i dont know why ur having that problem... this forum is called DVXusers for a reason.... if u have footage then edit... unless u have no idea what ur shooting... its not about the camera all the time... its what u can do with the camera bro...
I was reading this post, and if you are having problems with capturing the footage, i would suggest that you go out and buy adobe premiere pro cs3 or better. I think its around 280-300 bucks right now. Since the DVX100 has amazing colors (i have it), i wouldnt sell it unless something significantly better came out in the same price range.