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P2 cards = Ink Cartridges ?
After reading for months about the price of the P2 cards and camera cost I am wondering if it is like the old Epson printer and ink cartridge set up. They almost give you the printer for free, in some cases you order a new computer and get a free Epson printer so you have to buy the $80 black and color inks which cost them .50 cents to make. I know Xbox did the same thing. Sold the Xbox
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12 Replies
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It’s not the same at all. Epson ink costs more than champagne or decent single malt scotch whisky. A P2 card is very heavily over-engineered for long lasting quality and robustness in the field, hence it’s price, and that along with top of the pile, expensive memory chips for speed and reliability.
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
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Plus, the analogy doesn’t hold given that you have to continuously buy print cartridges in order to use the printer.
Whereas, with P2 cards, you could be fine with 2 or 3 cards for the life of your camera.So, other than the fact that they both may seem expensive, they don’t seem have much else in common.
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With tape, the media is dirt cheap( a string of tape), and the recording/playback hardware is very expensive( rotating drum, multiple heads, servo systems, capstans,…
With P2, it’s the other way round: The media are expensive, but the record/playback hardware is dirt cheap: 1 ( one) industry-standard PCMCIA connector( < $1,-)
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Those that do video for a living only have to add up how much money they have spent on tape over the last 5yrs + the cost of digitising those tapes to work out if P2 makes financial sense for them.
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This is all true. But I hate the feeling with this camera that if you do want to record to DVCPRO 50 or 100 you have to use the cards. Tape and firewire out will not give you 720 @ 24p from what I have read. I understand the tapes needing to flag the frames for 24p. But if the firewire out is only going to be 60i then they are forcing you to buy the P2 cards to do anything other then 60i, unless what I have read is incorrect.
Don’t get me wrong, people who make money doing video production can pay for P2 cards because they will make their money back. But I see it as 3 types of people. Pros would use Varicam, Hobbyist and small biz would use the HVX 200 and Tourists would use the $800 mini dv bought from places like Best Buy.
If the cards were at a right price I would buy this camera day 1 if any were able to be bought. I think for me I will wait to buy to work out the bugs. Like the DVX100 to 100a. Audio sync issues with FCP and need an extra plug in to help.
There is just to much unknown about this camera to invest so much. Better to wait for the bugs to get worked out, plus the cards will be cheaper by the HVX300 camera.
This is just what I think of course.
-Lars
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[doka15] Tape and firewire out will not give you 720 @ 24p from what I have read.
Tape will not record high-def or DVCPRO50, but firewire output definitely will.
But if the firewire out is only going to be 60i then they are forcing you to buy the P2 cards to do anything other then 60i, unless what I have read is incorrect.
What you have read is incorrect (or not understood). The camera outputs everything as firewire, so you get DV, DVCPRO25, DVCPRO50, or DVCPRO-HD out the firewire port. The firewire data stream for 720p is either 720/60p (with frame-removal flags) or 1080/60i (for either 60i, 30p, or 24p with 2:3 or 2:3:3:2 pulldown). It’s exactly the same way as the DVX or XL2 handle their 24P modes.
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Get the most from your DVX camera. The DVX Book and DVX DVD are now available at https://www.dvxuser.com/articles/dvxbook/ and at Amazon (https://tinyurl.com/54u4a) -
The R&D and production costs of X-Box video games is what makes them cost $50… not the price of the media.
If you truly believe your X-Box analogy, us in the film business would be spending millions of dollars for a little bit of vinyl and plastic.
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DK Davis / Editor/ Post Super
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Tape will not record high-def or DVCPRO50, but firewire output definitely will.
Thats right, all those high def tape decks recording 4:4:4 and 4:2:2, and DVCPRO50, and playing back on all the varius HD networks including the broadcast networks, it’s all a lie.
Chris
It was such an easy joke…
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I guess the post I read at this site was incorrect https://www.hdforindies.com/
It stated that Firewire would not handle HD.
It’s good to know that it will be able to handle that.
-Lars
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[Blub] “It was such an easy joke…”
Yes, it could have been phrased better, but you know what I meant…
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Get the most from your DVX camera. The DVX Book and DVX DVD are now available at https://www.dvxuser.com/articles/dvxbook/ and at Amazon (https://tinyurl.com/54u4a)
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