HVX200a

[Wahsleety]

After weeding through the dozens of grey market scammers, I called in the order for my brand spankin new HVX200a yesterday. Now I need to come up with something to shoot! Anyone have any experience with this camera?

[DjfunkmasterG]

Basically it is a DVX100 just with native 16:9 shooting and it does Hi-Def. The Hi-Def system requires Solid State memory cards which run in the hundreds of dollars to capture just 8 minutes of footage. If you shoot on tape you only shoot in Standard Def. One other significant difference is the fact the lens adapter system is 82mm as opposed to the DVX100's 72mm system.

[Wahsleety]

It seems like a fantastic camera for transitioning from mini dv to hd. Panasonic is including a 16gb p2 card with the units now (900$). So basically I can continue working with sd when I need to and be hd ready when I need to be. I'l let you know what I think, and maybe put some test footage online.

[DjfunkmasterG]

They are kick a$$ cameras. Lonnie Martin's Women's Studies was shot on that camera as well as parts of Diary of the Dead. However, My DP for Deadlands 2 preferred the DVX100, or if I shot HD to use the Canon XH-A1, which shoots a compressed HD format to Mini DV tape. He said the in camera picture controls were better on the Canon HD cam than the HVX200... personally, to me shooting HD is pointless unless you just want a good looking master. Anything we do on this level of filmmaking, if it gets distributed will only be on SD-DVD, and will only be put on a DVD-5, so all that footage will have to be compressed to SD anyway, and still have to fit on a 4.7gb DVD. Sucks I know. Studios like TEMPE and other small labels, won't put out Blu-Ray versions as the cost is way too high. Although TEMPE was going to do HD-DVD as they were less costly to produce but the market for HD-DVD went belly up.

[Wahsleety]

Hd may be just out of reach for micro independents. But, i'm looking to the future here, this is a big time investment for me. I want to be competitive for the next few years. With the 4 year extended warranty I should be alright. I plan on doing mostly documentary and wedding work. Mostly on sd for the next year or so. The variable frame rates in 720p are the deciding factor for me here i think, The footage can be converted to sd in camera for getting true slow and fast motion effects.

[DjfunkmasterG]

If you shoot your weddings in HD, or even your Documentary films they will look beautiful. I suggest using Sony Vegas 7.0 or newer as your editor as it really knows how to handle, compress and render HD footage the best so far... next to Final Cut Pro.

[Wahsleety]

I have vegas 8.0, but im a little worried about it not accepting the MXF files, maybe it was a problem that 8.0 addresses. The box says it accepts mxf files, but many places on the web say that it doesnt! Perhaps there is a vegas update that I will need to get. We shall see on wednesday when i plug that bad boy in! I work in Maryland, and live in southern PA by the way if you need another cameraman with his own camera for Deadlands 3. Gotta make some money to pay off this camera that cost me more than my van!

[DjfunkmasterG]

I know Vegas 8.0 didn't come with the MPEG plug-in for some versions which was corrected, but my 8.0, that I rarely use, (I prefer 7.0) does have mxf ability. Make sure you do the latest updates. I will sure keep you in mind for Deadlands 3, if we end up doing it low budget but its looking like the next one will have a real budget this time. Just trying to sort out all the paperwork.

[MinionZombie]

Well if you want somebody super-awesome-mega-cool to shoot behind the scenes, you know where to come.

[Wahsleety]

So far sony vegas will not accept the panasonic mxf files, it will only accept sony mxf files i think. I have to purchase Raylight for 195 bucks, darnit! The hvx200a feels pretty good in my hands though! The sd footage looks great! and the hd footage through my tv looks beautiful! Can't edit it though until i figure that stuff out.