Which do you prefer? A1 or DVX?

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superhardrocker

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Which picture do you guys prefer. Do you guys like the film look of the dvx or the sharpness of the A1?

I'm going to be shooting a film soon. I have both of these cameras and I'm deciding which camera I should use. I like both of them, but wondering what you guys prefer.
 
I personally prefer the A1's picture, but sometimes when people see my dvx footage. They're like, "wow, that looks soo good!" But I think otherwise..
I probably have bad eyes, I don't really notice the "film look"
I may use both cameras.
But anyway, which do you think should be the main camera?
If you guys are shooting a film and you have to pick A1 or Dvx what would you choose?
 
A1 all the way. Assuming you go to SD then both cameras are neck and neck but the native 16:9 would have clinched it for me.
 
Asking a question like that is so generic, I'm not sure how you expect an accurate answer. It would depend on what kind of film you are shooting. Is it going to be HD or SD? 16x9 or 4x3? What is your audience? Mostly widescreen TVs, Standard 4x3 TVs, Theater? Internet?

For every question I have asked, there are at least 10 more related to it so, instead of recommending which camera you should use, I'm going to recommend that you answer all of these questions and the choice should then be obvious.

Beyond all the technical stuff, it's going to come down to your subjective opinion as to what you want your film to look like.
 
Assuming you have the computer power to edit HD without any problems, I would go with the A1 because:

1. Shoot HD now, so that you have it for the future (HD-DVD or Blu-ray). HD from the A1 looks as good or potentialy better than the DVX when properly downconverted to SD for DVD.

2. The A1's HD can also be downconverted to true 16x9 SD. The DVX is stuck in 4x3, and if you scale that to 16x9 for DVD, then you are stretching the image, and degrading it.

3. The A1 has other benefits as well. In most cases less noise, longer zoom, stock lens allows greater control over depth-of-field (vs. the DVX stock lens), and more image customization.

I figure that if you are going to put in the time, effort, and money to make your film, why not use the highest quality camera available to you, which allows you the most flexibility for future distribution?
 
Really you have two great cameras

the dvx is an old skool work horse, that paid its dues and will go down forever as one of the best

the A1 is a new age prosumer camera with over 4 years of tech improvments compared to the dvx

Now you can move foward or stay where you are its really all up to you
 
Thanks

Thanks

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

I will definitely make the A1 my main camera. I like the 16x9 and the noise from the dvx really annoys me. You watch the low budget TV shows on mtv and other shows that use the DVX, the noise is terrible(unless you're shooting with tons of light)
The A1 you can get away with shooting night scenes/dark shadows.
 
superhardrocker said:
The A1 you can get away with shooting night scenes/dark shadows.
Click to expand...

You do realized that the DVX is at least 2-3 stops faster than the A1 right? As an SD camera it uses larger pixel that drinks in more light whereas the A1 uses high density pixels to achieve HD resolution, meaning it's a lot less sensitive to light.
 
I'd take that pepsi challenge with my HVX against A1.. which is a good cam, but NOT in the HVX league by a long shot. Excpet as pointed out.. has a much much nicer LCD than the HVX... but is anything else better, hmmm?
 
Justyn said:
I'd take that pepsi challenge with my HVX against A1.. which is a good cam, but NOT in the HVX league by a long shot. Excpet as pointed out.. has a much much nicer LCD than the HVX... but is anything else better, hmmm?
Click to expand...

Oh god, let's not start this again. But if you want just a few things in which the A1 does better here it is:

1) 20x zoom vs. 13x
2) Cheap tape that let me get an hour of HD footage vs. spending $900 for a 16GB P2 card. And yea, this IS a big deal because I simply can't afford the P2 workflow period.
3) More extensive image control option
4) Excellent power zoom with 16 variable speeds vs. 3 speeds for the HVX
5) Better LCD screen as already mentioned.

And hey, just put the overall image up against each other and I doubt it'll be obvious that the A1 is "not in the HVX league."

This has been discussed to death already; at least one of the above is a deal breaker for me with the HVX. Bottom line is that I'm happy with my purchase and you're happy with your purchase. Why get into a my-camera-is-better-than-your-camera debate.
 
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Just part of the thread that's fun to engage in a couple of more times.


How about these for HVX advantages and they are expansive.


Real film style lens for smooth manual zooms.
A1 lens is aweful floating point canon lens.
black and white PRO viewfinder
NEVER having a single dropped frame, tape glitch, or error in over a year and a half.
NEVER having my important footage dependent on anything cheap.
NEVER having to digitizie.
DVCPRO HD codec.
true 4:2:2
True 24p progessive
no stobing and flutter on moving/tracking shots.
and the biggest dealbreak ever, true Slow-motion that you can't duplicate in post and most telling

A complete adoption into the mainstream professional commercial, industrial, and TV markets where I have yet to see an A1 on set. EVER. Now you could walk around town and guarantee to see several HVXs dilligently working and delivering pro footage and not consumer footie. Different league completely
 
I recently have had the choice of buying an A1 (have a DVX now) this summer, or waiting a year and buying an HVX.

It took me all of 2 seconds to decide. The two things that made it were:

True manual lens. (well, a lot closer then the A1's)
Intraframe Compression with 4:2:2 color space

Waiting a year sucks for sure, and yes the A1 puts out gorgeous images, but features on a camera just cannot be beat. The DVX is still a proven workhorse and I would rather shoot films on it then any other sub 10K HD cam except for the HVX. Yeah, it's still that good.
 
Justyn said:
Just part of the thread that's fun to engage in a couple of more times.


How about these for HVX advantages and they are expansive.


Real film style lens for smooth manual zooms.
A1 lens is aweful floating point canon lens.
black and white PRO viewfinder
NEVER having a single dropped frame, tape glitch, or error in over a year and a half.
NEVER having my important footage dependent on anything cheap.
NEVER having to digitizie.
DVCPRO HD codec.
true 4:2:2
True 24p progessive
no stobing and flutter on moving/tracking shots.
and the biggest dealbreak ever, true Slow-motion that you can't duplicate in post and most telling

A complete adoption into the mainstream professional commercial, industrial, and TV markets where I have yet to see an A1 on set. EVER. Now you could walk around town and guarantee to see several HVXs dilligently working and delivering pro footage and not consumer footie. Different league completely
Click to expand...


What an old, played out, discussion.

Your list of HVX "advantages" is studded with misconceptions that reflect a natural bias toward the camera you've invested in.

They're both good cams.

That's all I'm gonna say.
 
Justyn said:
Just part of the thread that's fun to engage in a couple of more times.


How about these for HVX advantages and they are expansive.


Real film style lens for smooth manual zooms.
A1 lens is aweful floating point canon lens.
black and white PRO viewfinder
NEVER having a single dropped frame, tape glitch, or error in over a year and a half.
NEVER having my important footage dependent on anything cheap.
NEVER having to digitizie.
DVCPRO HD codec.
true 4:2:2
True 24p progessive
no stobing and flutter on moving/tracking shots.
and the biggest dealbreak ever, true Slow-motion that you can't duplicate in post and most telling

A complete adoption into the mainstream professional commercial, industrial, and TV markets where I have yet to see an A1 on set. EVER. Now you could walk around town and guarantee to see several HVXs dilligently working and delivering pro footage and not consumer footie. Different league completely
Click to expand...

Seriously Justyn. This is trolling.
 
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