HVX200 for wildelife footage at DVinfo.net

Per Johan Naesje · November 21st, 2006, 04:51 AM

This seem to be a very interesting camcorder for wildelife footage. Especially the variable frame rate from 15-50 fps is what I'm thinking about. Birdfootage in flight of 50 fps reduced to normal speed in post will give a nice slowmotion effect I think?
cons: only 13x zoom, and very limited P2-cards (1080/50i - 8 minutes with one AJ-P2C008GB DVCPRO HD, 720/25p - 16 minutes with DVCPRO HD)

I know that thing will change in the future, extra disks, bigger cards etc.

What are your opinions?

Paul Doherty · November 21st, 2006, 07:11 AM

Wildlife filming in remote locations + 13x lens + 16 minutes recording = an unhappy marriage (expect a divorce as soon as a better camera comes along).

Mike Schrengohst · November 21st, 2006, 08:00 AM

Check out Kevin Railsback's work...
http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/Footage.html
Most of it shot with HVX....
I have seen the Wolves and Mountain Lion in HD
playing on a Pana 27" HD Monitor....
Really awesome clips, Kevin could probably
get great shots with any camera he would choose.

Jason Boyce · November 21st, 2006, 01:23 PM

Loop recording is a very nice function on the HVX as well. If you need a particular shot, you can allocate a 5 minute space on the card (or 10 or whatever) and just continually 'shoot,' the camera deletes the oldest footage automatically as it loops in new footage. when you've got your shot (say, a bird taking off or a lion catching that gazelle), then hit stop, and you've got your shot.

When shooting in loop mode, you effectively never run out of space until you've gotten that shot.

Mike McNeese · November 21st, 2006, 03:26 PM

Plus is has a pre-record function. This lets you sit and point at something and hit record right as/after it happens, and the camera will record the 3:00 previous to that.

The lens is less than perfect for wildlife, tho. Typically, you'll want 40x zoom, and it's only got 13x.

Per Johan Naesje · November 22nd, 2006, 05:43 AM

Thanks all for your replay and comment!
I have learned a lot from your comments. The HVX will be used together with a Canon XLH1, so it's not so important with long focal lenght. We will be shooting seabird and raptors.
At western part of Norway is some amazing bird cliff where you can come near the bird. So I think both camcorders will be fine i such an environment.

One of my concern is how to tweak the camcorders to fit the picture to each other. Any thought?

November 21st, 2006, 04:51 AM	#1
Per Johan Naesje Trustee Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Akershus, Norway Posts: 1,413	HVX200 for wildelife footage This seem to be a very interesting camcorder for wildelife footage. Especially the variable frame rate from 15-50 fps is what I'm thinking about. Birdfootage in flight of 50 fps reduced to normal speed in post will give a nice slowmotion effect I think? cons: only 13x zoom, and very limited P2-cards (1080/50i - 8 minutes with one AJ-P2C008GB DVCPRO HD, 720/25p - 16 minutes with DVCPRO HD) I know that thing will change in the future, extra disks, bigger cards etc. What are your opinions? __________________ - Per Johan

November 21st, 2006, 08:00 AM	#3
Mike Schrengohst Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 355	Check out Kevin Railsback's work... http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/Footage.html Most of it shot with HVX.... I have seen the Wolves and Mountain Lion in HD playing on a Pana 27" HD Monitor.... Really awesome clips, Kevin could probably get great shots with any camera he would choose. __________________ Mike Schrengohst dvd.pro@verizon.net

November 22nd, 2006, 05:43 AM	#6
Per Johan Naesje Trustee Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Akershus, Norway Posts: 1,413	Thanks all for your replay and comment! I have learned a lot from your comments. The HVX will be used together with a Canon XLH1, so it's not so important with long focal lenght. We will be shooting seabird and raptors. At western part of Norway is some amazing bird cliff where you can come near the bird. So I think both camcorders will be fine i such an environment. One of my concern is how to tweak the camcorders to fit the picture to each other. Any thought? __________________ - Per Johan

November 21st, 2006, 07:11 AM	#2
Paul Doherty Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sherburn, England Posts: 136	Wildlife filming in remote locations + 13x lens + 16 minutes recording = an unhappy marriage (expect a divorce as soon as a better camera comes along).

November 21st, 2006, 01:23 PM	#4
Jason Boyce Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 77	Loop recording is a very nice function on the HVX as well. If you need a particular shot, you can allocate a 5 minute space on the card (or 10 or whatever) and just continually 'shoot,' the camera deletes the oldest footage automatically as it loops in new footage. when you've got your shot (say, a bird taking off or a lion catching that gazelle), then hit stop, and you've got your shot. When shooting in loop mode, you effectively never run out of space until you've gotten that shot.

November 21st, 2006, 03:26 PM	#5
Mike McNeese New Boot Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Lancaster, Ohio Posts: 7	Plus is has a pre-record function. This lets you sit and point at something and hit record right as/after it happens, and the camera will record the 3:00 previous to that. The lens is less than perfect for wildlife, tho. Typically, you'll want 40x zoom, and it's only got 13x.