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Varicam vs. HDX900
Fellow DP’s,
I’m seriously considering selling my Varicam with 600 head hours for the HDX 900 for two reasons: 1080I and the SDI portal. I’m in the Northeast market
and it seems that the mere mention of 1080 capability and the immediacy of down loading (converting) for editing is what producers are looking for.
What do you think?Andy C.
Rock Paper Scissors Shoot! LLC
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7 Replies
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I was just in the market to buy a camera. I extensively compared the Varicam with the HDX900. The pluses for the 900 far outweighed the Varicam. Variable shutter speeds being the main difference as we all know. I’ve been shooting a Varicam for over 3 years and the slow ‘blur’ effect was nice, but I didn’t get that many clients asking for it specifically, it was more me offering it to them.
I bought the 900 and am extremely happy with it. PQ is indistinguishable between the two. And as you mentioned the added 1080i, SDI/Firewire, price and better viewfinder (Doesn’t bloom like the early Varicams).
Just my 4
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Thank you very much.
The more I research this the more I am convinced that the 900 is the way to go.
I also have been owning/shooting with the Varicam for three years and think that the 900 will do me better.
Since you have done so much research I wonder if you got a sense for an asking price for a Varicam (“F” series) in great condition with 660 head hours.rock
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I’ve seen a few used ones on the web that were going for between $30-40K (w/out lens and not sure of hours) FYI, I did see a post on the highdef.com forum that had a guy looking for a used one.
https://www.highdef.com/forum/read.asp?forum=wanted&threadid=00000329
Ernie Santella
Santella Film/Video Productions
http://www.santellaproductions.com -
What do you think about the 1080 on the HDX900. Do the 720 chips upconvert OK to 1080?
Is there anywhere that I could see a comparison of the same scene shot with these 2 resolutions off of the HDX900?
Do both settings (720 and 1080) work equally well at 24P or 24pA respectively. -
Believe it or not, I have not shot any 1080i footage yet. All my clients are working in 720p. That’s the main reason I bought the 900. The ability to go 1080i, is a nice-to-have feature right now.
Ernie Santella
Santella Film/Video Productions
http://www.santellaproductions.com -
It also does 1080P 24pA.
I would really like to see some sample video clips from that camera showing what all of the settings look like.
I am renting this camera soon and would like to have some idea how it looks.
I guess I will found out soon enough. -
We just did some tests looking at a 26″ panasonic monitor. Visually could not tell the difference between 1080I and 720p. To my knowledge the camera does not do 1080P. It can shoot 24p over a 1080i recording.
Joseph Farris
Director of Photograhy
Visions of Light, Inc.
http://www.visionsoflightinc.com
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