Small Rant on DVX vs. HD cameras holding up on the big screen

B

banksie312

Well-known member
Hey Guys,
So for the past 2 months or so I have been debating buying an HD camera. I have enough money, but know that the Scarlet is what I really want - due to setbacks (that we knew were coming) I was getting super antsy and just wanted to be able to shoot HD, even if it were just 720! I mean I almost put my DVX up in the marketplace.
I feel completely different now. I still want to shoot in HD, but there is absolutely no need to by any means. I entered a film fest for college students and mine went to the regional grand finale last night (in this fest students were offered to be provided with 1080p24 CMOS handycam style cameras by panasonic, however I opted to shoot on the ol DVX). When I saw the size of the screen mine was about to be shown on, I was a bit angry I hadn't gone with the HD camera. Here's a pic of one that is smaller than the one it was on last night:
CMF08.jpg

Usually this isn't the venue I shoot for, usually it's a computer screen from Vimeo or something. I have to tell you, it stood up fantastically. Granted you could see others were sharper (and some students from NYU clearly used a 35mm adapter on what i believe to be an HVX); however, the colors and other added bonuses of shooting with the DVX in terms of in-camera control and all the little problems you run into when using a Handycam style camera.
I just wanted to let others know that although we all itch for HD and for the new thing, it isn't really needed; especially if you have a good story to go along with it. I know it's been said before and will be said again, but I thought maybe just another story of it might help save some people some cash in the meantime...especially all those considering buying an HD camera for the interim in terms of Scarlet.
So to sum up my long rant...I'm sticking with my DVX and the images it can produce until Scarlet is ready for me to purchase, the world hasn't changed to HD just yet, contrary to popular belief.
 
Congratulations on your screening, the theater sure looks nice!

Yeah I agree, the DVX is still a great camera.
I've seen so many HVX footage at festivals and I would always compare it to my DVX footage and the turth is, I've never really been disappointed.
 
I have been shooting and projecting DVX footage for 5 years now. Look back at my posts and you will see I love championing the idea that you don't need HD.

And you don't if your story is good, acting solid, and lighting is done well. That said, you will notice a difference if you are screening off HD. A lot of smaller festivals are still using a DVD player hooked up to a mid level projector. Get some 1080p footage next to your DVX 480p and even a blind person will be able to tell you the difference.

*I still shoot with my camera (DVX100-A) every week and am constantly impressed by the image. Just saying.*
 
question... is there anything u have to do to the dvx footage for it to hold up on a big screen? Or just encode mpeg2 normally and put on a dvd?
 
jambredz said:
question... is there anything u have to do to the dvx footage for it to hold up on a big screen? Or just encode mpeg2 normally and put on a dvd?
Click to expand...

A lot of people will tell you to uprez the footage and distribute it in HD, but I find the hardware scaling of a regular DVD looks just about the same.
 
Actually I had to use the Apple Intermediate Codec to export and they collected our files. They used a computer based system hooked up to a digital projector. It was just put on full screen and the footage filled out quite nicely.
I wish I had more information for you on that though - I can tell you I set the compression to as little as possible for highest quality and everything of that nature in Compressor, not much else though.
 
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