Purchasing a HVX 200

[Jan Crittenden livingston]

Actually you really can’t trust the vendors that are offering at such great deals. Why, because there are no such great deals. I tried to order one at $2595, and was asked if I wanted a lens with the camera. I said, but it comes with a lens and they said that the lesns was extra. I tried to buy one at $4695 and they wanted to charge me $500 insurance on the shipping which was also overpriced. I was told by one of these vendors that the unit that was cheap they were out of stock on, and I would have to wait 2 months to get it, or I could have one of the more expensive ones that they had right now.

This is just a taste of what gray market camera purchasing is like and here is what you get if you do end up with a camera at a cheaper price, no US warranty, no P2 Card and no Barry Green Book. These are all items that come with the US model. The warranty for any camera is in the country that it was originally shipped to from the factory.

Lastly, not sure how many HVX200s are left out there, and only the US models are valid for the $400 rebate in the US. The HVX200A has better lowlight, better signal to noise and better clamping on the smear that happens when you hit a bright light source.

Hope this helps,

Jan

Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, HPX500, HVX200, DVX100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems

[Noah Kadner]

Yeah search the forum- this question comes up once a week. It’s penny wise and pound foolish. I.e. you will get scammed…

Noah

My FCP Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color and Win a Free Letus Extreme.
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[Tom Klein]

Hello Jan,

Your examples of “greys” maybe a tad extreem, Manufacturers/Dealers tell prospective buyers this all the time to instill fear if they buy products from Grey Importers or the like.
I purchased a New SONY DSR570 a few years ago as a “Grey Import” and to this day it has given, and still gives great pictures, it has had NO issues whatsoever.
At That time I could not afford the “dealers selling price” the grey import purchase saved me spending from a Sony dealer $27,000 compared to the “Grey” at $18.500. I worked out that the savings would buy me a good New Lens which I Purchased from a local Fujinon dealer.

My previous camera prior to the DSR570, was a Sony DSR300 (Purchased New from Sony dealer)it failed just two weeks after the 12 month warranty ran out, I had to scream very loud and long for a warranty repair, it took them nearly three months to affect the repairs and when i got it back it had more problematic issues.

There are no doubt shonky “grey” sellers are out there , its up to a buyer to do their homework on products.
Also, There is no doubt Shonky Authorised dealers exist too, also the buyer has to do their homework on them too.

I believe that Product Warranties today leave a lot to be desired. lets face it , we live in a throw away society, todays cameras are only good for just a few years, then they are out dated.

My current main workhorse is a Panasonic SPX800 , it’s a brilliant piece of technology, I also bought it secondhand (ex Olympics) from a authorised dealer, the savings on this camera have provided spare dollars to buy P2 cards.

Today when I buy gear I assess if it can pay for itself in 12 months, If it cannot then it’s not considered.

Cheers
Tom K
olinevideo.com.au

[Jan Crittenden livingston]

Hi Tom,

I do not believe that I said anywhere in my post that the product would not perform as well. I only said that in the US, the warranty work will be free only for Authorized product here in the US. The warranty on the HVX200 is one year parts and labor, 2 years on the CCD, this is a very good warranty. And this is the warranty on all of the product regardless of origin, it just happens to be in the country of origin.

As far as the dealers of grey product, I have made the purchase calls myself and have had them ask if I wanted a lens included. I have had the tell me that they were going to charge me $300 for shipping from Brookly to NJ and then try to explain that with saying it was the insurance that was going to cost that much. I have had them tell me that the camera they sell at that really low price is out of stoch and because they are made in China they won’t have any more for a month or so, but they have a slightly higher priced one readily available.

Yes it is a buyer beware, and yes we may have some dealers that are less helpful than others that are authorized, if you have a problem with the product, they have the ability and in my survey, they always do help you resolve it.

Best,

Jan

Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, HPX500, HVX200, DVX100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems

[Tom Klein]

Hello Jan,

“Yes it is a buyer beware,”

This we both agree on.

Cheers
Tom K
olinevideo.com.au

[Patrick Forestell]

I agree with your assessment of the AJ-SPX800.

Question: Have you noticed the detail to be so great that when shooting a moving object with trees in the background that the effcet on video (DVD viewing) is ringing in the trees that stablizes when the pan/motion is stopped ?

It makes no difference if shooting 24p or 60o, progressive or interlaced.

IS the spx800 capable of upconverting a decent signal for BluRay, I have yet to try this but repordely many TV news operations use the technique with this camera for upconverting talking heads around true HD studio cameras for the talent.

Patrick

[Tom Klein]

Hi Patrick,

I have now had the SPX800 for nearly two years, lots of my news vision and some production is played out here in Australia on all networks. Our National Broadcaster ABC TV has also been using a simmilar model camera the SPX900, (only difference is the Filter wheel is twin set up).
All vision is shot in Standard def PAL 720×575 16:9 usually DVCPro50, all that vision is up converted and played out at HD with no complaints I’ve heard of.
I have as yet not been asked for HD and don’t want to “re-build” my complete kit to satisfy a market that is Minimal at this point in time.
No I have’t seen any issues you ask about, all is good when shooting DVCPro50
Cheers
Tom K
olinevideo.com.au

[Patrick Forestell]

Hi Tom, Thats for your info, I have a question,

Is there a way to get S-Video Y-C out of the spx800 ?

I see the Y output function, but how can I get the C output ?

One menu selects No Component, or SMPTE or Betacam
Why do they offer those options for Component when the output is not component unless you have an SDI card on-board ?

What am I missing /
Thanks (again), Patrick

[Tom Klein]

Hi Patrick,

I had the SDI “onboard” card installed when I bought the SPX800 , it was very cheap, from memory about $850 AUD, that is CHEAP. I had this done because of my NEWS commitments, it’s brilliant to feed SDI out from remote field links and quality is just as good.
to get Y/C I bought a AJA convertor (D4E) it is great when having to output Y/C to a monitor or to my DSR11 out in the field.
It has SDI in and Y/C out, was about $400 AUD.
Nothing is “Dirt Cheap” when your messing about with Broadcast cameras, The initial outlay of these early P2 cams is amazing it does cost you to get the “extras”, But hey, it’s much much cheaper overall than buying Sony gear. (Been there done that have a storage room full of redundant sony stuff).
Cheers
Tom K
olinevideo.com.au

[Patrick Forestell]

Hi, I got the D10CEA AJA convertor, using the SDI output from the spx800 I can get a Y-C signal but it won’t lock, I assume it should be narrow blanking ?

Patrick