Is the DVX100A obsolete already?

[Chris Hurd]

<< As long as you are getting really good quality images and clean sound... no camera is obsolete. >>

Woah... print that on a T-shirt, because out of all the good points made in this thread, this one is the smartest. I love it. If the camera works, it ain't obsolete. The DVX100A will continue to be a mainstay of affordable production long after Panasonic discontinues it.

[Cieonatechori Michelieve]

It's never going to be obsolete for those who have it in their hands and using it. I think it's going to make a lot of difference for the first time buyers. Before it was DVX or maybe XL1s, now people looking to purchase something new are going to lean towards FX1. It's going to give a tough run to DVX unless the price of DVX is going to be reduced.

[Joe Carney]

this FX1 is the camera the JVC should have been. The latest, greatest toy for the bimmer set and their large HD tvs. Because it's a Sony, it will sell much better than the JVC. Brand name is part of the yuppie/bimmer lifestyle. Many of the new HD sets, even the more affordable ones, are coming with firewire interface and support for mpeg2 decoding , so no need for an expensive playback device just yet. And blueray will probably be a favorite among those same people.

Even some of the future HD cable boxes will offer 1394 pass through. Most of this coming out early next year too. so the timing is pretty good, much better than when JVC released theirs.

Nothing like watching Junior scoring a goal in HD!
Or throwup.
I shudder to think about home made porno, hehehe.

[Michael Struthers]

Do you consider the vx1000 obsolete?

Because the dvx100a will be there very soon.

[Jun Tang]

Preferences, Preferences, Preferences!

Some people like blue, some like red. When Avid was out, and it's capabilities other NLE systems didn't seem like they had the chance.

There came Final Cut Pro and Premiere. With AVid, FCP, and Premiere, how can other NLE system survive? But there are others like in-Sync Speed Razor and now the infamous SONY VEGAS 5.0.

You ask any of it's users, there are pros and cons to each.

As for the camera, same idea. Star Wars was shot on Panavision, Lords of the Rings shot on Arriflex and MovieCam. The prequel of Star Wars on Sony HDf900.

There all great movies and all great cameras. It boils down to the PERSON behind the camera.

Sony HD FX1 "MIGHT" in your opinion make the DVX100A obsolete, but I don't think -others would agree - Panasonic won't sit back and do nothing. Panasonic will continue to upgrade, then eventually make the Sony obsolete.

If you keep waiting, you'll never have a camera. Research and practice with the camera YOU FEEL MOST COMFORTABLE WITH.

Then we'll see your movie on the big screen!

[Simon Wyndham]

I wonder whether the introduction of HD at a consumer level might be a way to freeze some people out of having their work distributed. For example video distributers might require a HD master as standard.

The ability to shoot HD at this kind of level begins to be a threat to professionals too. I've seen many DV shorts where I have imagined what they could have done with better equipment. Imagine if Open Water was shot on an FX1.

I also wonder if there might be something going on behind the scenes that we don't know about yet. HDCAM and Cinealta for example still don't match the resolution of a master film print. Maybe they are developing a digital version with the same resolution as that, or even 70mm film. Imagine a digital version of 70mm!

There must be something going on or being developed that will retain the traditional 3 tier heiarchy between the average Joe, the lower end prosumer/professional and the truly high end guys.

But I suppose even if there isn't, the FX1 might have a higher resolution, but if the person operating it doesn't know a thing about lighting etc then it's not going to help them any in getting a professional look. I've seen a lot of really amateur looking productions from the DVX100 because some people thought that 24p would magically make their production look 'big'.

I think we may just end up seeing a lot of HD home movies being produced. Not a very enticing prospect!

[Andre Andreev]

No it's not obsolete.

Having newer and meaner gear on the market does not automatically make older gear obsolete.

The real question is: what does my project need and does this current camera cover that need at an acceptable level. If not, can I *borrow* or rent one which does?

If the goal shifts towards latest features and gadgets etc. then we are joining the ranks of geeks dedicated to geekery and not filmmaking.

This reminds me of an audiophile friend with $10k speakers and $2k amplifier who is more passionate about his audiosystem than about the music he plays on it.

No offense intended, I am a geek myself.
It takes discipline on my side to take myself out of the bottomless pit of endless features and technical details of hardware and software and reconnect to my passion of making films.

And when I think about it - some of the greatest films were made on cameras which *are* obsolete.

By the way, make sure to rent "Supersize me." Shot on a VX2000 & PD-150 (I believe) with often abysmal sound, it gets its point through in an involving and touching way which had me forget about the media.

Cheers
-- Andre