[Dan Brockett]

Hi Walter:

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. I thought the same thing and I know when setting up a real hardware-based RAID that I would contact the manufacturers.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi Walter:

I appreciate the advice, but not sure if you read the details in my inquiry? This is for a friend who is setting up the smallest, lowest budget RAID possible, an internal SATA RAID on a new Mac Pro. No controller, no cards, no hardware other than the drives, just a couple of SATA drives and the drive utility, there is no hardware manufacturer to ask unless you think I should call Hitachi?

Thanks,

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Thanks for that David, I didn’t have a clue about it.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hiya:

Glad you found it helpful. I just did a shoot this morning with my 170, an EMT Fire rescue exercise for the city of LA. Beautiful footage, shot a lot of 48 and 60fps, it just looks awesome. Highly recommend this camera.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

I have some Zacuto gear, it is top notch, handmade in the USA stuff. It is expensive but worth it if you are a pro and make a living with it.

If you are a hobbyist, I agree with Rick, check out other stuff. I guess it all depends on what you need. If you price out a shoulder mount for a smaller camera like an EX1 or HPX170, the Zacuto version is pretty expensive, if it were me, I would buy the Red Rock version, it is almost as practical and costs about half the price.

If you are building up a 35mm adapter system, their rod mount, baseplate and all of the little fittings and accessories are superb, better than anything else on the market IMHO.

I have tried the Letus, Cavision, Cinevate stuff and while it is okay, it isn’t in the same league as the Zacuto stuff. In the case of 35mm adapter system fittings, risers, baseplates, Israeli Arms, etc. they are the best money can buy.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi Adam:

I can’t think of many cameras less suited to ENG than the HPX170, as Steve suggested, 1/3″ cameras are not optimal for that sort of environment but you have to work with what you have I guess.

1. Raise the master pedestal. I wouldn’t raise it a lot, but it will turn your inky blacks to dark gray which may give a perception of not being such a black hole.

2. Use B-Press gamma. It is proven to be the least noisy setting out of all of them. At least your darks won’t have as much noise as the other settings, Cine D is especially noisy.

3. Assuming you shoot 720 60p or 1080i for news, you can try the DRS. While it will increase some noise, it may also allow you to see into the blacks more as it increases perceived shadow detail and black level.

it is just a matter of shooting some tests and experimenting to get the most out of the camera that it is capable of for your situation. You are a prime candidate for an HPX500 though, a 2/3″ imager would make your life and pictures much better as would real lens, shoulder mount, four channels of usable audio, etc. HPX170 is not the right tool for the job, you should tell your bosses.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi Dexter:

I have a lot of experience with the HVX200 and the HPX170. You may find this to be a helpful read if you really want the nitty gritty details of the 170/171: https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/hpx_170_evolution_brockett.html

It is a great camera, I am in the midst of shooting a project that you may be hearing about in the industry trades on the HPX170 and the HPX300.

Enjoy!

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi:

Sure, there are a lot of cameras that will work much better. Unfortunately all of them are out of your price range, at least in the sense of low light response. Any 2/3″ camera will blow away any of the sub $10k camcorders in low light response by the sheer size and light gathering ability of their larger pixels.

Both the Sony EX1 and the Panasonic HPX170 better the HVX200 in low light ability but only by about .5 stop and both still pale in comparison to cameras like the HPX500, 2000, 2700 or 3700 in low light ability with less noise. You cannot get around the physics that larger sensors are more sensitive to light with less noise.

Either the 170 or EX1 are also superior if you go into live switching as both feature SDI output which is vastly superior to the HVX’s analog component and FW only output as far as live switching. While there are FW switchers, the best switchers use HD SDI.

Another avenue to explore might be the Panasonic HMC150, if you need a small, cheap and simple switched setup. The HMC150 features HDMI output and there are cheap and simple options for switching with HDMI using the BlackMagic Design cards and several other methods with carious combinations of computer, software and cards.

Dan
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[Dan Brockett]

Arty:

Here is something to consider. The time is ripe right now for scoring some amazing deals on used HVX-200s, if you think that is the camera for your needs. I have seen clean ones with less than 200 P2 hours and no tape hours on them go for under $2,200.00.

Also keep in mind that if you are going to be doing available/crappy lighting types of events that are basically not professionally lit, the HVX-200 is not your best candidate.

Good luck,

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

I will second the Video Clinic, the guy is old school European and does the work right. He brought my sick HVX200 back from the edge and it lived happily ever after.

Dan

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