New owner - in praise of the HVX-200 at DVinfo.net

Mark Donnell · October 27th, 2006, 12:52 PM

This may not be worthy of a thread, but I had been debating over how or whether to enter HD or HDV for over a year. This forum gave me enough information to make a decision. I bought the HVX-200, and I am extremely happy with the decision. I shoot mostly sports events and outdoor activities, for my own enjoyment as a hobby, rather than as a business. Last week I was in Austin and shot my first files with the HVX, some at the botanic garden, and some of a regional high school band competition, all in 720p60. Getting used to the P2 cards with the P2 Store was not difficult at all, although I'm still in the early learning phase. The camera, mounted on a monopod, is easy to handle and small enough to be truly portable. At times the 13X lens is a bit undersized for close-ups, but better than the 10X on the DVX-100. After shooting, I took the camera with its component-out cable to Best Buy and Circuit City and played some of the video back on a few of the large plasma screens (for which I am also shopping). The results were amazing ! The manager of the video section at one store said he wished that he could keep some of the botanic garden footage as a demo tape for his plasma TVs. As for criticisms, I have only a couple minor ones. I have nearly lost the rubber EVF eyepiece cap several times already, because it doesn't travel well on the camera and I remove it during transport. Panasonic should have made either a flat rubber or solid cover cap for the EVF. I plan to order a few more of their rubber eyepieces because I know I'll lose one soon. Second, there is no lens cap. The lens is well-protected by a large bulky matte-box type of attachment, but this also makes the camera considerably longer for travel purposes. I have ordered an 82 mm lens cap from B & H. My one other complaint is that the P2 Store is very sensitive to movement while downloading files from the P2 cards. It really does need to be flat and motionless during the downloads. If it senses movement it stops transferring and auto-starts again when the movement stops. Maybe the high data rate makes this unavoidable, but I have used laptops with shock-mounted hard drives that you could jog with during hard drive access without problems. Anyway, thanks to everyone on this forum who so generously provided endless information to help me make the switch to HD. I will try to pay it back to others in the future.

Dick Campbell · October 27th, 2006, 01:53 PM

My HVX200 from B&H came with a rectangular lens cap over the matte box. You should have received one. Or did you order a "used" camera? I have not had the same problem with my rubber eyecup.

Mark Donnell · October 28th, 2006, 04:52 PM

Hi Dick ! Yes, it was new, and yes I did get the matte box cover, but it would be much easier to transport the camcorder with the matte box removed and just a lens cap on the lens. Oh well, nothing is perfect !

Cassidy Bisher · October 28th, 2006, 07:21 PM

That's great mark, i too have watched footage on an HDTV. (Sharp aquos HD TV), direct from the camera... it's really breathtaking...

I would like to see some of your stuff when you have a chance..

cass

Mark Donnell · October 30th, 2006, 12:10 AM

Cassidy - I'd be happy to put up a few clips, but I have no idea how to do that. The computer that I use for video is not connected to the internet, but I could move the files on an external hard drive to an internet-connected computer. What then ?

October 27th, 2006, 12:52 PM	#1
Mark Donnell Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Silver City, NM Posts: 385	New owner - in praise of the HVX-200 This may not be worthy of a thread, but I had been debating over how or whether to enter HD or HDV for over a year. This forum gave me enough information to make a decision. I bought the HVX-200, and I am extremely happy with the decision. I shoot mostly sports events and outdoor activities, for my own enjoyment as a hobby, rather than as a business. Last week I was in Austin and shot my first files with the HVX, some at the botanic garden, and some of a regional high school band competition, all in 720p60. Getting used to the P2 cards with the P2 Store was not difficult at all, although I'm still in the early learning phase. The camera, mounted on a monopod, is easy to handle and small enough to be truly portable. At times the 13X lens is a bit undersized for close-ups, but better than the 10X on the DVX-100. After shooting, I took the camera with its component-out cable to Best Buy and Circuit City and played some of the video back on a few of the large plasma screens (for which I am also shopping). The results were amazing ! The manager of the video section at one store said he wished that he could keep some of the botanic garden footage as a demo tape for his plasma TVs. As for criticisms, I have only a couple minor ones. I have nearly lost the rubber EVF eyepiece cap several times already, because it doesn't travel well on the camera and I remove it during transport. Panasonic should have made either a flat rubber or solid cover cap for the EVF. I plan to order a few more of their rubber eyepieces because I know I'll lose one soon. Second, there is no lens cap. The lens is well-protected by a large bulky matte-box type of attachment, but this also makes the camera considerably longer for travel purposes. I have ordered an 82 mm lens cap from B & H. My one other complaint is that the P2 Store is very sensitive to movement while downloading files from the P2 cards. It really does need to be flat and motionless during the downloads. If it senses movement it stops transferring and auto-starts again when the movement stops. Maybe the high data rate makes this unavoidable, but I have used laptops with shock-mounted hard drives that you could jog with during hard drive access without problems. Anyway, thanks to everyone on this forum who so generously provided endless information to help me make the switch to HD. I will try to pay it back to others in the future.

October 28th, 2006, 07:21 PM	#4
Cassidy Bisher Regular Crew Join Date: May 2005 Location: Grand Rapids MI Posts: 198	That's great mark, i too have watched footage on an HDTV. (Sharp aquos HD TV), direct from the camera... it's really breathtaking... I would like to see some of your stuff when you have a chance.. cass __________________ Cassidy Bisher http://dropdropstudios.com

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October 27th, 2006, 01:53 PM	#2
Dick Campbell Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 117	My HVX200 from B&H came with a rectangular lens cap over the matte box. You should have received one. Or did you order a "used" camera? I have not had the same problem with my rubber eyecup.

October 28th, 2006, 04:52 PM	#3
Mark Donnell Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Silver City, NM Posts: 385	Hi Dick ! Yes, it was new, and yes I did get the matte box cover, but it would be much easier to transport the camcorder with the matte box removed and just a lens cap on the lens. Oh well, nothing is perfect !

October 30th, 2006, 12:10 AM	#5
Mark Donnell Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Silver City, NM Posts: 385	Cassidy - I'd be happy to put up a few clips, but I have no idea how to do that. The computer that I use for video is not connected to the internet, but I could move the files on an external hard drive to an internet-connected computer. What then ?