HDX900 discontinued?

[Robin Probyn]

Hi Jan

So is that official ? the HDX900 is not to be discontinued anytime soon… are they still being made?

Thanks

[John Cummings]

I started this thread so I figure I can hijack it.

I’ll be buying the HDX for a documentary project.
I’m going with tape for the following reasons…

Tape stock is cheap and it’s easier to slam tapes into the camera all day long. I suspect we’ll fill about 10-12 tapes a day for the two and a half weeks we’re in the middle east. I can’t be dicking around with cards while I’m losing good shots and good light.

Eliminating digitizing is just not an issue with me…it’s a budget line item in the project, as well as logging and transcripts, and I’m not paying for it.

I don’t have to lay out thousands of dollars of addtional capital (I’m a freelancer) for the two sets of 32 GB P2 cards (if I could find them) I figure I would need just to keep this shoot moving and on schedule.

I can relax with a beer at the end of a long shoot day and think about tomorrow’s schedule…and not worry about media management.

I’m not a luddite, and I think the product managers that participate in these forums hearts are in the right place, but they have an agenda and I suspect some lack real-world experience in some areas of this business (say documentaries.) They need to realize that one size definately does not fit all. As storage cards get bigger and large media workflows and solutions evolve, I’ll be happy to drink the cool-ade. But’s it’s just not there yet for some projects…witness the 60GB P2 store.

Jan, by the way…if you want to loan me an HVX3000 (and a LOT of big P2 cards for a very large and exciting doco series, you might make me…and a lot of others…a believer!

Cheers-John

J Cummings
DP/Chicago
http://www.cameralogic.tv

[Peter Corbett]

[John Cummings] “I can relax with a beer at the end of a long shoot day and think about tomorrow’s schedule…and not worry about media management.”

This is my main gripe with P2. I’ve gone back to our hotel after a long day’s shoot and literally spent hours in my room backing up, chcking HDD’s then backing up the back-up, while everyone else is down in the bar or out to dinner. On many shoots, there is only a producer, soundo and the camera op. As camera op you have to take responcibilty for the media coming out of your camera.

On a shoot in Indonesia last year, I was shooting 7 to 8 tapes a day. It’s just not possible to do location backups in that sort of situation with limited manpower and/or free time to backup. Plus we don’t have the capital to load up on seven or eight 32gb cards. (which doesn’t solve the backup issue)

Don’t get me wrong, I love the pictures from the P2 cameras and Panasonic cameras in general, but I think of that hotel room every night after the shoot…

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Gary Adcock]

[John Cummings] “I can relax with a beer at the end of a long shoot day and think about tomorrow’s schedule…and not worry about media management.
“

Most places in the ME you will NOT have a beer and you would insult your hosts by asking.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD

[Nick Higgins]

I grew up in Saudi Arabia and went to sleep with the sound of home brewed wine gurgling away quite happily- its actually quite therapeutic. You might not be able to order a beer in a bar but you can certainly get smashed on a daily basis as many expats do.

I’m also no luddite but I’d rather partake in home brew than I would spend countless hours of P2 media management on my lonesome in a hotel room after a long days shoot.

http://www.nickhiggins.com
http://www.doubledogfilms.com

[Peter Corbett]

[gary adcock] “Most places in the ME you will NOT have a beer and you would insult your hosts by asking.”

What the….? No-one said anything about asking for a beer in the Middle East.

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[John Cummings]

[gary adcock] “Most places in the ME you will NOT have a beer and you would insult your hosts by asking.”

According to one study in Israel that studied Arabs and Jews that drink, a higher percentage of Arab men (and women) are more likely to binge drink than Jews.

So Gary, does that mean Arabs are more likely to be less inclined to share?

J Cummings
DP/Chicago
http://www.cameralogic.tv

[Robin Probyn]

Plenty of beer of foreigners dont worry 🙂

I think he,s just making the very valid point that P2,at current prices, is just a non starter for freelancers shooting doco,s.UNLESS you go back to the film days of having an assistant along,to reload as it were, the cards.
Which would be great.. except the bean counters wont be happy,as they got rid of them as soon as video came along in the first place.

[John Cummings]

And let’s not forget I’d need over $13000 (two sets) of P2 media to try to keep up the same shooting pace of tape.
That’s an additional 13 grand outlay that I would need just so I can record frame one. $13K with no apparent ROI for me.

Add in the costs of a transfer device…be it a laptop or P2 reader…and storage devices…more cases to travel with…lost productivity in the field or the expense of an additional crew member.

I’m stuggling to see how this workflow can benefit a freelancer in the field. $13K will buy about 1023 66M videotapes….and I can make a buck of markup on each of those.

Ok. I’ll shut up.
I suspect I’m preaching to the choir here.

J Cummings
DP/Chicago
http://www.cameralogic.tv

[Gary Adcock]

[John Cummings] “So Gary, does that mean Arabs are more likely to be less inclined to share? “

LOL
that would not be my experience working over there…

Heading over again the middle of the month. Outside of Dubai, I have not even seen alcohol being served any place other than in Amman. While I have not traveled all that extensively over there (and not to israel yet), all I have are my own experiences.

Or maybe they think I don’t drink ( ! )

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD