XH A1 or DVX100B

I am also very stastified with my A1-
it is a great machine by all means- I just shot some art gallery stuff on sunday and captured this morning and BOY was it really looking sweet on an apple cinemea display
Shot over 6 hours of various stuff through out the day and I was was content.

The only problem is the deck issues, I would feel very wery using my A1 to capture but hopefully it will change when I get a DTD recorder.

I'll post video later


phally
 
We keep going on about not wearing out the tape mechanisms, but I actually haven't met anyone yet that actually wore out the tape drive on their cam. I'm sure it happens, but truthfully how many hours would you have to use the cam before the deck gives out?

I finally just stopped worrying about it and use the camera as the deck. I only have two complaints:
1. The cam is pretty large to set into my video editing nook.
2. Capture off tape sucks regardless of which cam or deck is being used.

An HV10 would solve problem #1, but I think in the future I'll spring for a firestore and be done with it.
 
Well considering I'm completely green with both cameras, which one would be better to start out with? (i.e. which one has a less steep learning curve).

I was thinking maybe since I don't need HD right now I would start with a DVX and then sell it for something better in a few years. Do ya think a used dvx100b will be worth much money in a few years (hard for me to sell?). Like does anyone see these things becoming completely obsolete in the near future?
 
This Is Dave said:
Do ya think a used dvx100b will be worth much money in a few years (hard for me to sell?). Like does anyone see these things becoming completely obsolete in the near future?
Click to expand...

No one could do much more than speculate on that. But think about the ROI (return on investment) - how much can you learn shooting with a DVX? A hell of a lot. Can you earn money with a DVX? Hell yeah. So sale in a few years could be a moot point anyway.
 
The Canon HDV codec is 25 mbit and you use the DV tape. But it is a highly efficient and intelligent codec, it is amazing to see the image and stream it produces and you can edit the HDV format with any editing software on PC and Mac. If tape drifts away, the need for 25 mbit drifts away and you see new highly efficient codecs appear, all are not DV based but some remain in the long GOP area like AVC-HD.

The DVCPRO100 codec Panasonic uses, is a classic codec, it is aged with the start of DV ten years ago, in fact it is the same 8 bit DV codec now four of them working parallel. It is frame independent but not efficient while we are using tapeless systems, Panasonic is working hard to renew the DVCPRO100 codec with another codec: 10 bit AVC-Intra.

Now you better do not sit on your little brother and be nice: Canon started the interest from filmmakers with small DV camcorders years ago, I know many TV drama, documentaries shot with a Canon, it gives the opportunity to use real lenses long before Panasonic started with the DVX100. Soon Canon introduces their superior CMOS sensor technology in the small cam market. I will remember the days that the DVX100 was the 24p progressive king.

I think this Canon A1 gives you a $ lot for the money and is here to serve your needs for years to come, you always can step in tapeless recording with a harddisk recorder attached. The 20 x wide and long lens gives you many shooting opportunities you can edit it -today- the form factor is good and it will worthful for time to come. Personally I like its outline 'the look' , more.
 
I wonder if one can benefit from HDV cam like A1 when used with DOF adaptor for SD DVD production?

Any thoughts?
T
 
Ok what about smooth looking slow motion. I've noticed that the slow mo quality on the hvx is far better than the dvx . . .so where does the A1 fall in this realm? Better than the dvx?
 
The A1 can shoot mini-dv, too. Nowadays, its very hard to recommend the DVX with the A1 on the market. In this case, even the "Mojo" is not enough. Now HVX vs A1, that's a different story.

Go for the A1. If you can't shoot HD or Edit, just do Mini-dv on it.
 
This Is Dave said:
Ok what about smooth looking slow motion. I've noticed that the slow mo quality on the hvx is far better than the dvx . . .so where does the A1 fall in this realm? Better than the dvx?
Click to expand...


http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=79155

It requires some work in post, however you can get a pretty good overcrank look in HD...but only three slowmo looks are possible: 30p to 24p (very slight slow mo), 50i (requires PAL upgrade) converted to 50p in post and conformed to 24 fps playback, and 60i to 60p conformed to 24p. The last two usually look best when downconverted to the 720 format, however in the link above I was able to make pretty good slowmo at a frame size of 1600x900 which can uprez to 1080 and be intercuttable with 24F material fairly seamlessly.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top