Panasonic HVX 200

[Anonymous]

Hi my name is jimmy from Guatemala,firs of all, sorry for my english,i been planed to make a movie and will be a low budget project, but i have to buy equipment, i prefer to film in HD, so i need to know what kind of camera have to buy, some friend told me about the panasonic HVX 200 p2 but i would like to give it a film look,(35mm lens), can i get the result that i have with this camera? or do i have to buy some adapter like the m2 from redrock? also i dont know if the m2 have already the 35mm lens with the bundle pack or do i have to buy the lens for apart? please help me whit this doubt, cause i dont wanna waste my money in something that could be useless. thank you very much.

[Rob]

The Redrock is OK, but I’ve heard better things about the Letus Ultimate, which can be bought in a bundle with 35mm Zeiss Lenses.

http://www.letusdirect.com/cart/letus35-ultimate-bundle.html

If you haven’t already planned to buy lights, I suggest using a DVX100B with this 35mm adapter bundle instead of the HVX. The money you save should be put toward lights since proper lighting will dramatically increase image quality, and using a 35mm lens adapter requires a lot of light anyway.

[Rob]

Also, you may want to invest in a matte box and a follow focus too.

[Anonymous]

Yeah the DVX is still awesome for creative video. But he said he wants to shoot in HD, so stick with the HVX.

Its a great camera and pretty much the standard for low budget films because of the image control options. The only thing you have to worry about is the P2 media, as it stands it is very exspensive. So instead of buying a bunch of P2 Cards I would recommend having a laptop(or desktop even) on set where you can dump all the footage onto to clear the cards up.

You CAN get some short depth of field (film look) on the stock HVX200 lens if the scene is set up right. But to get that true 35mm Film look you will need an adapter.

I have the Letus Extreme on my Canon XH-A1. I have been pretty happy with it. Although I do get a lot of grain issues (where you see the ground glass grain). The difference between the Letus Extreme and Redrock M2 is that the Letus uses a vibrating glass, while the Redrock uses a vibrating glass. They both have thier benefits.

I have tested both and I find the Redrock gives a nicer film look. The letus is too “dreamy”. The only thing about the Redrock is that it uses up a lot of light, A LOT of light. Make sure you can light the scene enough.

Another adapter I hear good things about is the SG Blade (www.shoot35.com)

Hopefully that helps you out.

ld.

[Rob]

But he said he wants to shoot in HD, so stick with the HVX.

Yea, but everyone wants to shoot in HD….doesn’t mean they should. If he hasn’t planned to buy lights, he should shoot SD and use the saved money for lights. Shooting SD with proper lighting techniques will look better than shooting HD and trying to shoot using available light.

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much to all for resolved my doubt, i dint know about the high demand of ligth when ill use this kind of adapter, ill goin to research about it, and what kind of ligths i need to use. i really apreciate your help. ill check the diferent links that you sent to me too.

[Author]

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