Vortex Sony EX3 DVDs

[Jay Gladwell]

Originally Posted by Mark David Williams

I bought my DVD recorder when they were fairly new out I actually paid over a thousand pounds for it.

Mark, that's Simon's point. Your player is so old that it is not as compatable as are the today's players.

Now you can buy a very nice DVD player that will play just about anything you put in it (except for a grilled cheese sandwich). It will cost you a small fraction of what you paid many years ago.

[Steven Rupert]

Originally Posted by Brooks Graham

Tons of assumptions in that statement, the most significant one is market size. I wonder if Doug priced his DVDs at $2 if he'd really sell 1,000,000 units. Somehow I doubt it. Marketing 101.

Like others, I bought my Vortex EX3 DVD a few weeks before my EX3 arrived and yes, it's more expensive than my "Star Wars Holiday Special" bootleg DVD (the worst production *ever*) but it's all about value. The cost of Doug's DVDs are noise when compared with the time I have saved not re-inventing wheels, not beating my head against various walls, and most dangerous of all, not developing incorrect superstitions on how things work.

Going from 0 to 60 for $125 in training on a $10,000 camera. Bargain of the century.

Thanks to Doug and the crew at Vortex, I was comfortable enough with the EX3 and its workflow that I was shooting almost immediately and used it on its first real gig within a couple of weeks.

Time is money and so is knowledge.

Excellent viewpoint.

I've been considering the EX3, but knowledge and cost of recording media were the two road blocks. Amazing thing is that in 2 days of being online here at DV (i) I found the solution to both problems.

For me personally going from "0 to 60" is priceless. Add that with the media reader and use of regular Sandisc 32gb memory cards and I'm golden. :)

What a great time to be a videographer.

[Bob Jackson]

Perhaps Sony should be including one of these disks with each camera sold.

[Mark David Williams]

QUOTE
Now you can buy a very nice DVD player that will play just about anything you put in it (except for a grilled cheese sandwich). It will cost you a small fraction of what you paid many years ago.

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Why? I have a perfectly good DVD player. I certainly wouldn't buy one specificly to play the Vortex DVD's .

A DVD player is on my near term shopping list though because Im poised to make the leap into HD home entertainment from my current setup although I cant really see any reason.. I currently have a 53" 4:3 Sony rear projection TV which is excellent when set up right. HD TV is not yet broadcast mainstream here and I get as good a picture probably better than ordinary plasma or LCD. I also have a Seleco 350 CRT projector running an RGB signal with anamorphic on an eight foot screen. I can tell you that this is a darn sight better than any Consumer cheap HD projection that I have seen. The quality is like being in the cinema. Probably many experts will tell me Im wrong and I need glasses who cares because its what I can see Maybe I'm as blind as a bat? BUT Im a happy bat. So for now for me HD is more of a downgrade. My other concern monitoring HD film I have a 1920 laptop and am thinking of buying the dell monitor for color correction.. Maybe my birthday.. We'll see.

[Jay Gladwell]

Originally Posted by Mark David Williams

Why? I have a perfectly good DVD player. I certainly wouldn't buy one specificly to play the Vortex DVD's.

Evidently, you don't, based on what you've said above regarding the problems you're having playing a variety of DVDs.

[Vincent Oliver]

Besides Vortex, there are many other NTSC DVDs available, including many fine Opera and Ballet performances. Not forgetting to mention RAMBO 9, 10, 11, 12 etc.

In short, having the facility to play DVDs from all over the world is a bonus. You can buy a good DVD player for less than £50 from most supermarkets that will play NTSC and PAL.

However, after spending over £1000 for your current DVD player, I can see your point about not wanting to splash out on a new player :-)

[Mark David Williams]

QUOTE
Besides Vortex, there are many other NTSC DVDs available, including many fine Opera and Ballet performances. Not forgetting to mention RAMBO 9, 10, 11, 12 etc.

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This xmas I watched the Dark Knight St Trinians Transformers Rambo 4 all on poor old region two.. I never found a need to buy any other region than region two DVDs.. In fact all the latest releases get released on Version two as well.

You know what? If I had been missing out I would have bought a new DVD player and the thought has crossed my mind but in the end my reasoning and logic has determined its not for me.. Believe me I'm very hot on making sure I get what I need when it comes to all things film and a new DVD player is pocket money But even pocket money can be wasted When you dont need something.

Thanks for your concern.. Don't worry.. Really I'm not missing out here and I wouldn't have bought the Vortex DVD anyway unless it had been available as a download. And then I would have only watched it on my computer..

[Vincent Oliver]

I'm sure your DVD player will do what you want for the forseeable future. Save the money.

[Mark David Williams]

QUOTE
I'm sure your DVD player will do what you want for the forseeable future. Save the money.

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I'm sure too!

[Roger Akers]

I purchased Vortex's 'Master the Ex 1' DVD even tho I had just purchased the EX3. (The EX3 DVD wasn't out yet) It was a great purchase and familiarized me right away.

I would like to know if any information has been updated enough to justify another purchase. I'm sure you'll wonder what I think is "enough" and I guess the answer to that is anything more than the cosmetic changes. Updated Picture Profiles would be nice / other settings, etc.

[Vincent Oliver]

I have just received notice from Parcel Force that my Vortex DVDs (Sony EX3) has arrived in the UK and is ready for delivery. The only problem is that they want £29.04 for this service. I have allready paid $125 for the DVDs and $22 for postage this would make a grand total of £132 or $188.00.

Sorry Doug, I tried to support you with my purchase, but this is the straw that has broken the camels back, I have decided not to pay the extra amount and the DVDs will be making their way back to you. No doubt the DVDs are excellent, I will never know.

[Matt San]

I think a downloadable file would be the best way forward for non-USA users.

Wonder if Doug realises the future is the internet :)

(hes managed a nice 75min intro on his web site so suggests the know how is there)

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Vincent Oliver

I have just received notice from Parcel Force that my Vortex DVDs (Sony EX3) has arrived in the UK and is ready for delivery. The only problem is that they want £29.04 for this service.

Hi Vincent,
I'm sorry to hear about the fee, but you are NOT being charged for delivery service. I’m sure it is a customs tax, or a VAT tax, or whatever the UK calls it. We have no control over it, and we assume that customers in foreign countries are aware that their country may tax incoming goods. We don’t like it anymore than you do!

We try to offset it a little by not charging the full price that it actually costs to ship a package, but beyond that there isn’t anything we can do to get around it.

For many reasons that I won’t get into here, distributing over the Internet is not a viable option at this time.

FYI, we do have a page on our website that lists our International Resellers so that customers can buy within their own country whenever possible.

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Matt San

I think a downloadable file would be the best way forward for non-USA users. Wonder if Doug realises the future is the internet :) (hes managed a nice 75min intro on his web site so suggests the know how is there)

Hi Matt,
The future, as you say, might be the Internet but this isn't the future. This is today.

The free 75 minute video I put online works okay for what it is, but it would be way too small to make an effective training presentation where it’s necessary to read camera menus, computer screens, see subtle changes in picture profile settings, the differences between shutter speeds, etc.

And who wants to sit in front of a computer for three hours?? Not me. I want to kick back and watch videos on a big screen.

I feel very limited by releasing on DVD, let alone on the web. I’d love to ship on Blu-ray. That would be great!!! But it’s not a viable option at this time, either.

Thank for the suggestion, but I have to respectfully say no thanks.

If anyone thinks they have better idea for me, pelase contact me offline. This subject is not appropriate for this forum and I won't be discussing it further here. Please understand if I don't reply anymore to this thread.

Doug

[Vincent Oliver]

Thanks for your reply Doug,

Actually it is £15.54 for Customs duty (vat) and £13.50 for delivery. I know this is beyond your control, but after having paid $22 for delivery I am not prepared to pay again for the same.

I wish you the best of luck with your fine products and if you get a UK distribution on this DVD then I will buy it.

Don't worry about a refund, just donate my money to a charity of your choice