I'm about to buy an HDR-FX1 because I don't know any better.
 

I've been using a GL2 in my business for the past couple of years and it has served me quite well. I've always wanted to move up to an XL, but never pulled the trigger.

I'm about to start a new project and I'm feeling the pull of the FX1. The fact that it's HDV is really cool to me, but I do also like the native 16x9 aspect.

Anyway, I'm not a real technical shooter. I do enough to get a good picture but I don't get as deep as many of you do.

So, this is your chance to talk me out of it. I know that the smart thing to do would be to wait until after NAB, but I've got to finish this project by May 1st so I'd rather not wait.

Do I need this camera for this project? Not really, but I also don't want to use my GL2 as it's not the most impressive looking camera out there and I do need some level of 'wow'.

So talk me out of it and I can rent something else for this project, but I would like to get it.

Please talk me out of it!!!

Why don't you rent a DSR570 if you need native 16X9, and wait for NAB and see what happen, it will definetly add a wow factor for you. You can use full auto on that camera which will work right 70% of the time, but the focus is full manual.
If you have been using the GL2 then the FX1 might be a little more easier for you cuz I don't think it will scare you as much as using DSR570, but I don't think FX1 will wow anybody unless they know a little bit about video since the HDV letters are quite big on the body side. (-:

Well the 'wow' from the FX1 would be to say that we're shooting in high def.

These people would get a huge kick out of that, even if we're going to deliver on SD.

If the project budget is big enough to support renting a camera, and if you really want to do it on the FX1...

... why not go ahead and buy it? Use it on the project, and then if something better comes along, sell it on ebay. Sure you'll take a hit, probably on the order of $1000 or so... but if that's about what you would have spent to rent a camera, then why not? You'll scratch your "HDV" itch, and ... who knows, you may like the camera enough to keep it.

This is really only practical advice if the project you're doing has the budget to support a $1000 camera rental charge, but if it does, it looks like you could theoretically have your cake and eat it too.

Yeah, thanks Barry.

I've had the funds budgeted for a while but have had reservations spending money on a miniDV with HD stuff being so close. And this project is the largest I've had in a few years, so I've got some room to play.

The thing that I'm really researching now is how different it's going to be to edit (if I were to stay in HD) than DV. All my Digital Juice stuff wouldn't be the right size. Stuff like that I've got to think through.

Here's my B&H wishlist that will move over to the shopping cart sometime next week, hopefully.

1. FX1
2. DVRIG Pro
3. Sign Video XLR Pro

A matte box will come, but I'm going to wait until more folks have some feedback on what will work best with the FX1.

One thing that I'd like to find and I'm not sure how to search for it would be a shoe mount for my shotgun mic that moves it over to the side a bit.

Off topic here, but Bryan you didn't happen to go to Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La. did you?

Hello there Bryan,

I was looking at the FX1 just today at samys camera. The girl that worked there had it out showing it so I walked over to have a look at this thing. She's going on about it, and all the time she's talking, the XL2 is is setting in the back behind the glass looking at me winking. I even thought I heard it say... Take me home and I'll treat you right!

Besides, I hear you have to go thru hell and back to get HD/1080i to view on DVD. Just not an easy thing to do... So I was told.

Good luck Bryan.

Bryan, go for it!
 

I've been shooting XL and DVX now for years and now that I'm testing/renting FX1, I find it painful to go back to 500 lines...

I had to re-visit a wedding video I shot for friends last summer pre-FX1 and man, it is now suddenly so "crappy" - reminds of when I compared 1-CCD to 3-CCD...

Renting something first and trying it out beforehand is a good way to figure out how it will work out for you.

What is your editing capability like? Because definitely, HDV editing will be tricky if your computer specs are lacking...

I've come to realize myself that Z1 doesn't offer "enough" advantage over FX1/FX1-E for me to buy it... And now I'm trying to decide if the slight-slight resolution advantage of FX1-E is really worth the hassle (you have to convert from 50i/25fps to 24 or 29.97 to get a useable NTSC SD DVD - more "steps" than just sticking with NTSC FX1)

I think the potential for the FX1 with some sort of good deinterlacer like DVFilm (based on reports here) and some sort of mini35 type system is almost unbeatable...

HDV to SD DVD is NOT hard at all - it looks great and the guy here who did the 2nd music video (Nate?) swears that HDV-to-SD DVD beats DVX/XL2 24p DVD and I have to concur... see "much more"

I did!

You wouldn't happen to be Professor Know-It-All would you? :)

Re: Bryan, go for it!
 

The main editing station is a Dual 2.0 G5 with 1.5 GB RAM and a gazillion GBs of HD space. I've got external drives coming out of my ears.

I'm willing to put some money into the editor to make this work, but everything I've read so far looks like I'll be fine at first.

One concern I've got is figuring out a monitor for the HD footage. I haven't got that worked out yet.

<<<-- Originally posted by Bryan McCullough : I did!

You wouldn't happen to be Professor Know-It-All would you? :) -->>>


Hah, I almost forgot about that. Yes that was me. =)

Re: Bryan, go for it!
 

<<<I had to re-visit a wedding video I shot for friends last summer pre-FX1 and man, it is now suddenly so "crappy" - reminds of when I compared 1-CCD to 3-CCD...>>>

After just a few minutes of shooting the FX1 side-by-side with my GL2 and playing the footage back directly to my HDTV, I find myself wishing I never had to shoot in SD ever again. The image from the FX1 is great, and not just in terms of resolution. Plus the true widescreen nature of the FX1 is a real pleasure: now I know why movies are shot in a wider format.

The only reason I can think of not to buy an FX1 at this time would be if you can find a way to rent one instead first, so you can get a better sense if you'll really find it useful for your projects. Otherwise, go for it! You'll have some production challenges to overcome, but they'll be worth it.

:-)

<<I find myself wishing I never had to shoot in SD ever again>>

Ever since I got my FX1, looking at other video sources just isn't the same. It's almost tragic... I can produce beautiful looking footage, but no one will see it because either the internet is not fast enough, or they don't own a HDTV (I don't either).

But when I finally did get a chance to watch my stuff on an HD monitor... the sweet waves of euphoria were pretty nice!

<<-- It's almost tragic... I can produce beautiful looking footage, but no one will see it because either the internet is not fast enough, or they don't own a HDTV (I don't either). -->>

Yeah, but eventually they will see it and also, the SD down-converted video looks way better than standard DV.

Pulling the trigger today on the FX1 along with the DVRIG Pro and a Beachtek XLR box, not sure which yet.

Wish I could also snag a matte box, but I can seem to find a clear answer as to what's the best for the FX1 and what will even fit.

Anyway, pretty excited about this jump.

Placed my order this morning:

FX1
Beachtek DXA-4
DVRig Pro
Pertro Case
UV Filter




Ouch.

At least you made an informed decision. But the price takes a while to get used to, doesn't it.

(Bryan and I got together yesterday and I let him play with my FX1 a bit. )

I did learn one thing. I need to either get better at compressing to WM9, or I need to set up my Linkplayer on the network so I can play Cineform AVI over the network to it. The picture from the camcorder had much less interlacing problems than the WM9.

Thanks for your help Steven.

You also sold me on the bag, so you should contant B&H about your fee. :)

<<<-- Originally posted by Steven Gotz : At least you made an informed decision. But the price takes a while to get used to, doesn't it.

(Bryan and I got together yesterday and I let him play with my FX1 a bit. )

I did learn one thing. I need to either get better at compressing to WM9, or I need to set up my Linkplayer on the network so I can play Cineform AVI over the network to it. The picture from the camcorder had much less interlacing problems than the WM9. -->>>

Whether this is of any use to you I know not; but, I found TMPGEnc 3 XPress (the encoder - not the player) to be the best WMV9 encoder. Simple, straightforward, relatively fast and better quality than trying to find the sweet spot on the options using Microsofts own encoder.

I'll admit I haven't used it on any FX-1e stuff yet, so I'll not vouch for any lack of interlacing problems, but it was the best of the bunch with the 720p 30fps clips from my HD10u.

The value of using the built in Adobe Media Encoder is that it is one step. No encoding to a file and then using another application. But with some practice, I am sure I will find the right settings.

I will give TMPGEnc a try. As well as a few other options.

In the meantime, I also need to get it set up to play the Cineform AVI directly.

Petrol bag
 

Thanks for pointing out the Petrol bag in this thread. I just ordered one from B&H as well. Two commisions are due. I was going to get the Sony bag, but in reading descriptions closely it looks like for $10 more than the Sony@ $149 vs. $159 for the Petrol .....B&H is including what seems to be the $84 Petrol Rain cover for the FX1 free!!!. It's not seemingly in the same bag description at Adorama.
It isn't clear from the Sony description if the the Sony rain cover is for the case or the camera, but the Petrol is definitely for the camera and a professional level cover even if the Sony one is for the camera as well. Thanks again. ....

Didn't even notice about the raincover!

Sweet!

That's new since I bought mine.

So far, they lowered the price $200 and added additional freebies.

I couldn't wait, but it is hard to look at this stuff anymore.

At least with my TV the prices were advertised, so when they went down, I got $200 back just by going in and showing my receipt.

No such luck at B&H since it isn't advertised.

My FX1 and all my goodies are out for delivery according to UPS.



To the wrong address.



Aggghhh!!!

Now that kinda sux huh... But I'll be waiting to hear that your first production with that bad boy is HD broadcast quality.

I don't know anything about the specs of 'HD brodcast quality' but I can say that it will probably be some time before one of our finished productions is in HD.

While we get up to speed on the camera, and waiting on a native HDV solution for FCP, we'll be shooting in HDV and downconverting and editing in SD.

Yeah... DNxHD hardware not doing so well on the MAC I hear. Apple still kinda dragging their feet I guess. Can always go PC. (That was a joke now).

At anyrate... awesome cam. Have fun!

What kind of low light capibilities does the FX1 have. I've heard that it only goes to 5 lux. Is this true?? Also I've heard that the SD video is actually WORSE than the PD 170's video. Can't be can it???

It's got nothing to do with that really. I've been converting and editing the MT2 files in FCP that people have posted and feel very comfortable working with HD in FCP right now. It'll be great when it's got HDV support native, so as to knock out that extra step of conversion.

It's more that my clients aren't going to be able to have HD delivered to them just yet. I'd love to start finishing in HD for them, but until they can play it, it's going to be an SD DVD.

I might go ahead and edit in HD and convert at the end, haven't decided on the workflow yet.

And I switched from PCs about a year ago. Moved the entire office over. I ain't going back. ;)