Thinking buying one... insight please?

S

SaintDemure

Member
At the moment, I am a bit torn between the HVX and the XH A1. I wasn't too impressed with the XL2 so I am slightly weary about the XH A1.

Upong purchasing a camera, I will also be getting either a Redrock, Letus, or Brevis Adaptor, not sure which one I want yet. Possibly some FD lenses too.

Anyway, I definitely want a very film look, I know the HVX shoots slow motion beautifully, how does the Canon compare?

All in all, if you had the cash, which camera setup would you spend your hard earned money for? I plan to shoot music videos right away and eventually some short films.

Any insight would be great, thanks!
 
Anyway, I definitely want a very film look, I know the HVX shoots slow motion beautifully, how does the Canon compare?
Click to expand...
the canon xh-a1 does well in this department too. I believe there was a post in this section showing two children running down hill. It was very fluid.
 
You can never compare the A1's slow motion ability to that of the HVX. That's simply because the camera cannot do slow motion. Whatever slow-motion you do have to be done in post production which inevitably cause a resolution loss.

The HVX shoots native variable framerates up to 60p in 720p that doesn't have to be manipulated in post. Now does that mean it's a better camera for you? Not sure. A year ago if I have the cash I would pony up for an HVX, P2 cards AND an HD monitor, because to be kind, the HVX LCD is a POS. I can focus on my Letus Extreme using just the on board A1's LCD, but noway can I hope to do that on the HVX.

Now though, for the same amount of money, I would be taking a long, hard look at the Sony EX1 before deciding.
 
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Here is a comparison list that I did when I was debating the same thing.

Canon A1:

Pro:
Sharp 1080
20x Zoom

Con:
4:2:0
HDV Tape
MPEG Audio

-----------------------------------------------------------------

HVX200:

Pro:
4:2:2
Uncompressed Audio
I-Frame DVCproHD
Tapeless P2
Variable Frame Rates
Instant Take Playback

Con:
Bad Low Light
Laptop to dump
Soft 720p
Low Rez LCD

-----------------------------------------------------------------

I ended up choosing the A1, and I'm glad I did. HVX is a great camera, but it wasn't for me, plus I have no laptop. I'm not a big fan of the 1080 image of the camera either, looks like garbage since its uprezzed from the 720p. The 720p image is native and gorgeous but I wanted something different. The 1080 image on the A1 is something I can't give up, even if I had the dough right now I wouldn't buy the HVX because of that. I just can't get rid of that sharp Discovery Channel picture. HDV didn't bug me because I knew it wasn't the HDV that was in the FX1....it's a much improved HDV and the issues a lot of people talk about aren't gone but I've yet to notice them with my own eye so who cares. Either way I bought the camera that was good for me, you should do the same. Price also was a factor.

Sharp 1080 - HULK BABY lol.
 
I've used both.
HVX has fantastic colors out of the box, but has very huge noise and banding. The definition is not HD, it's mid way between HD and SD. If you are only working for internet or SD tv, it may last.

I sold the HVX for the XH A1 for the following reasons:

More resolution (a lot of resolution!)
Less noise
There are so many image controls that you can achieve fantastic colors too. Maybe even better than HVX.
Tape based. (because i don't have to worry for archiving. The tape is already the archive.
HDV , if edited i and colored in a ProRes sequence is fantastic.
 
Thanks so much guys. I am considering the XH A1 more seriously now. The major drawback is the HVX's ability to shoot slow motion so fluidly. To me, that's VERY important. Looking like film, and shooting beautiful slow motion without losing resolution.

I have been researching both cameras for about a week now, looking for footage and whatnot, problem is, most people don't know how to shoot, or are just plain unfamiliar with their cameras.

In my opinion, the best film like HVX stuff can be seen here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3f9irdDX7iw

and here: (watch the snow video)
http://www.caleglendening.com/film.php

Both cameras use an M2 adaptor

Can anyone show me the most film-like XH A1 footage? I will be purchasing a DOF adaptor too, not quite sure the brand yet...

All inquiries are appreciated. Thanks guys.
 
I agree, those clips are nice.
But you should see them at native resolution. You would be quite disappointed by noise, banding and resolution.
HVX is all about image look, which is great, but at the price of image quality.
 
Thanks jmc. I will be going with the A1!

I just need to figure out the proper settings which to shoot so my slo-mo will be as fluid!
 
SaintDemure said:
Thanks jmc. I will be going with the A1!

I just need to figure out the proper settings which to shoot so my slo-mo will be as fluid!
Click to expand...

If you know a certain section is going to be slo-mo, you shoot it in 60i which will give you the best fluidity of motion, albeit at the expense of some vertical resolution loss (softening of the image). If you slow that down to 24 fps it will match full-speed 24p very well.
 
HVX has 3 x 960 px CCD, great SD camera but pixel shifting 960px CCD doesn't make an HD camera. I used it for 6 months and i was always deeply disappointed by the lack of resolution.

Don't trust specs! Only trust what you see.
 
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