I'm doing quite a bit of preliminary research for a business I'm planning to start with some people and have recently started looking into the HVX more. What I'm curious about is, am I misunderstanding the length of footage that can be stored on a P2 card at a given time? Because those cards are ridiculously expensive for only being able to hold +/- 30 minutes of footage.

That'd make for a pretty bad situation when doing, say, wedding videography when one camera can easily record 2-3+ hours of footage throughout the event. Was I looking at the wrong information and can the P2 cards in fact contain more DV footage or do they truly only hold about a half hour?

I appreciate any help you guys can give me to clear this up. Thanks! :)

Storage depends upon card size (8, 16, 32, 64) & format data rate (DV, DV50, DVCProHD, etc). Here's the storage for 4 x 16GB cards (in my HPX500):
3 hrs @ 720/24pN in DVCPRO HD
2 hrs @ Pro50
4 hrs @ DVCPro

But the main thing you need to change in thinking when working with P2 (or Sony's Sxss) media is that it's NOT tape - it's temporary re-useable storage media. So if you re-use that $1000 media 1000 times, it's $1 per use. (Of course, there's still archive storage cost to consider.)

Consider what it'd cost to shoot that wedding in full-resolution HD (**not** HDV) without using memory-based media.... not only a HD tape camera, but also a HD VTR. VERY COSTLY.

Memory media is still expensive, no argument there, so you'll need to decide your own cost-benefit. If all we shot was DV or DV50, there's no way we'd have invested in the HPX500. But the 200/500 bring full-resolution HD to the table at a fraction of the cost of prior cameras. (ok, don't get into chip resolution discussion, I'm skipping that point)

Andrew:

Bob definitely has the right idea. Honestly though, if you are planning on shooting DV, I would buy a used DVX-100 or something. Using the HVX for only DV recording is sort of a waste, it is a much slower camera than the DVX (requires more light), it's bigger, heavier and more expensive.

Shooting DV25 on P2 for events to me is counterproductive. I own an HVX but also own a DVX and for SD projects that don't benefit or have the budget to shoot DVCPro50, I just use the DVX, it's still a great camera and is a steal right now at around $2,000.00

I would only buy an HVX if you are planning on shooting HD.

If you can wait, the new Panasonic HMC-150 that is coming out in the Fall sounds like an ideal camcorder for you. MUCh longer run times, cheaper media, cheaper, smaller camera.

Just my .02,

Dan

See http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/p2misc/p2cardcaps.php

A 16GB card will record the same amount of DV or DVCPRO video as a standard tape cassette. However, unlike tape cassettes, P2 cards will pay for themselves.

We get 44 minutes of 720/24pN on a 16 GB card, which comes as part of the package when you buy Panasonic authorized.

We don't need a tape deck. We don't need to digitize. We transfer footage 2 or more real time.

A 16 GB card runs $800.00

Two years ago, an 8 GB card ran $1200.00.

Ridiculously expensive?

I don't think so.

with P2, the capture or ingest time IS the recording time, i.e. you transfer files from a P2 to your NLE; you don't have to "play" a tape to capture it.

Having used both, I much prefer the time savings of P2, and wish I had the $$ to buy more, and larger, cards.

Until the P2 cards price remain so high the possibility to shot HD on P2 and DV on tape is one of the most interesting features of this great camera in my opinion.
For some projects (like the next one I'm going to shoot) it's very
nice to have the chance to record very good DV on tape aside the main
P2 recorded HD footage. With a bit of creativity you can mix them with very interesting results (maybe for a wedding video project too).

Andrew:

Bob definitely has the right idea. Honestly though, if you are planning on shooting DV, I would buy a used DVX-100 or something. Using the HVX for only DV recording is sort of a waste, it is a much slower camera than the DVX (requires more light), it's bigger, heavier and more expensive.

Shooting DV25 on P2 for events to me is counterproductive. I own an HVX but also own a DVX and for SD projects that don't benefit or have the budget to shoot DVCPro50, I just use the DVX, it's still a great camera and is a steal right now at around $2,000.00

I would only buy an HVX if you are planning on shooting HD.

If you can wait, the new Panasonic HMC-150 that is coming out in the Fall sounds like an ideal camcorder for you. MUCh longer run times, cheaper media, cheaper, smaller camera.

Just my .02,

Dan

Yeah, my whole plan for the business is kind of centered around offering HD content (HD cameras coupled with DOF adapters) for a competitively low price. But perhaps going with a Canon (or even a JVC) is a better option for me. Whatever I end up getting, it's pretty important that it's HD/HDV. Thanks for the input!

We get 44 minutes of 720/24pN on a 16 GB card, which comes as part of the package when you buy Panasonic authorized.

We don't need a tape deck. We don't need to digitize. We transfer footage 2 or more real time.

A 16 GB card runs $800.00

Two years ago, an 8 GB card ran $1200.00.

Ridiculously expensive?

I don't think so.

Man that's crazy, it's great that the prices have come down. I just find the prices of solid state storage kind of off putting... oh well though. It does have some great benefits as you mentioned.

Thanks everyone for the explanations and advice! :)