does the hvx200...?
 

record HD on to miniDV as well as the P2 cards? because $1200 for a card that only holds 16 min of footage seems a little pointless to me...you would need to spend thousands of $ just on the cards... thanks for the help....

No. P2 only.

The P2 cards are not a one-time fill em up and shelve em solution.
4 gig cards are about $450 now. In the 720 24pN mode you can record 10 min per card. You set-up a work flow and dump your cards to a computer or a device like the P2 store. The alternative is HDV tape. We tested all major HDV cameras and where not happy with the results of shooting 60i or any of the other pseudo 24F modes. We are shooting, editing and delivering HD now, using HVX200's. We have rented VariCam and HDCAM in the past but the $500 per day deck rentals to digitize footage was always a killer.
We have been using the Avel HD players to deliver deliver signage for a major university and a large hospital. The difference between the results we are getting vs. if we had produced these shows on SD is a big difference. We are now editing a show that will be synced up and shown on 5 50" plasma screens at a college visitors center. We are using MPEG2 appliances for playback and again the difference between HD and SD is something our non-techie type customers can see.

ok so then the camaras like canon a1 which records HD onto miniDV tapes arn't as good ?

You mean HDV...I did not say they were not as good.
To each his own. Interlaced footage on progressive displays
does not look good. We tested each camera and found the
720 and 1080p modes of the HVX delivered the best picture
for what we were producing.....If we did have the budgets
we would shoot VariCam but on week long shoots I can pay off my HVX in short order vs. renting an entire VariCam package for $1000 per day.
This one project did have some VariCam shots in it that another crew did and the HVX footage matched up very well.
The HVX is not for everyone....
long form docs where you need hours & hours of interview footage
or are shooting in places where power is at a premium could be
a challenge with the HVX....
There are devices like the Firestore that allow much longer
HD record times than the P2 card allows are also available.

It's not as simple as good/bad, each has their own advantages and applications. It sounds like you would benefit from a basic understanding of HDV and P2- they are both great tools.

There are great resources for both at www.dvinfo.net...If you're considering the $7K+ investment of an HVX200, it will be worth your time to do the research.

ok so you can use other external drives like firestore with this camara as well...and it will still capture good quality HD like the P2 cards?

Yes, the only limitation with the Hard Drive recording devices is that you cannot record in the native 24pN frame rate as you can with the P2 cards. However you should check that out as well, I remember reading somewhere about some new firmware updates that address this issue.....
Either way like the last poster stated: It would be a good idea to do some research and try to see footage from all the cameras first hand and get an understanding of the post-production workflows of each.

Now you can get an HVX with an 8gb P2 card free if purchased in the US. This means 5220 dollars with one 8gb card. If you get two extra cards, which are selling for 1100 USD, you'll be with a budget of 7420 dollars. Add a P2 store, which should be 1600 or less, and the totall would be aprox 9000 USD. With this setup, you can have continuous long form recording on the HVX. And the price should be equal to the Canon XL-H1. And you'll be working in DVCPRO-HD, which is 4:2:2 color compared to HDV's 4:2:0.

See but if I just go with XH-A1 and only pay 4000 no where near 10,000 dollars and according to others I have spoken to get the same quality picture..I might be wrong,I am just explaining from what I understand from what others have told me and reading info from numerous website's...

Here's a suggestion: Download footage posted on the web. Compare the best looking HVX footage with the best looking A1 footage. I would suggest you to look at Cassidy's and Motivity picture's videos. As for A1, I believe Barlow Elton has good examples with it. Compare them, and see which one you like most. Of course, you are also looking into the skills of the people shooting, but you will certainly get an idea.

If you can, try them both. But don't judge the picture from the camera's lcd's.

I love my HVX. Compared to a SOny Z1 and JVC H100, which I tried and saw, the HVX is better imagewise.

I guess you didn't see my reply to this exact same question that you've asked elsewhere on this site, so I'll repeat what I told you before: you really need to do some very simple research first, starting with the P2 F.A.Q. that I wrote, located here: http://www.p2info.net/p2faq.php -- it answers all of these basic questions.

Meanwhile, I'm closing this thread. Everything in here has *already* been discussed on this forum *numerous* times in the past. Sorry but I just don't have very much patience on this issue. It's been done. Many times. Please, please, please *read* the topics in this forum and read my P2 Articles section. It's linked in the blue bar at the top of the page.

Once again: P2 Frequently. Asked. Questions. http://www.p2info.net/p2faq.php

Thread closed!