WARNING: Plans on buying an HVX200? Read this first.
Here's a bit of information for all those interested in buying the new aghvx200. If your like me, and interested in finding a cheaper, easier alternative to film and buying this camera from panasonic (lowercase intentional), be forewarned.
Prepare yourself for a little wisdom (and plenty of bloviating) from this document.
First, you must know that I have experience only with film cameras (Pana, Arri, etc.), besides those typical videotaped birthday parties, and other social gatherings.
I didn't know 24p from dog pee.
However, I am interested in inexpensive and easier alternatives IF THE QUALITY IS THERE! So I heard about this new supposed Godsend called the aghvx200 and all its prophesized miracles that will shake the foundations of the Earth and the film community.
I was dazzled by their claims. Could it be true?! Is there truly something on the horizon that will put an end to lugging around temperate, costly stock; end the cost and anxiety of waiting for dallies from the lab to know if your shots are any good, and many other costly, nail-biting and time-consuming processes associated with film? And if so, how would one utilize such a gift from God?
I figured I'd give it a shot (pun intended) and bought one. Now as you all may know, they promised the world, but can they deliver; and more importantly, how?
Well my friends, the answer is (drum roll please)... I don't know. And apparently, neither do any of the so called techs at panasonic's tech department.
Before I made the first of many calls to their clown -I mean tech department, at (800) 524-1448, I first read their operators manual cover to cover. Okay, good. This did cover most of the operation and how to put the media on your hard drive. After that, nothing. Okay... But what about the other operations not covered in the manual? And what do you do with this strange, new file so full of high-tech lusciousness known as an mxf file?
Well, surely the great minds that created such a device at panasonic would devise a plan to deal with this contingency before releasing such a product. Surely they would provide support for their $6,000 piece of equipment. I doubted very seriously that a respectable company like panasonic would ever conceive a notion that would make them look more interested in improving their bottom line, than providing a solid product and its support for all the hardworking customers who paid their good money for it.
Well, what can I say; I thought wrong. Oh, they do in fact have a tech department, and that is the number, but what is the extent of their knowledge for this sweet nectar of science known as the aghvx200? Answer: About the equivalence of a teen promoted to fries at McBurger King's.
Wait a minute, this raises a good question. Just where do they get these intellects that provide knowledge about the mighty aghvx200? Maybe their lifecycle breaks down like this:
1- Born into the world (cute little baby).
2- Turn thirteen and become interested in the opposite sex (or in the case of gays, the same sex).
3- Turn sixteen.
4- Try desperately to get laid.
5- In the meantime, get an after school job at McBurger King.
6- Cop feels and hit on the girls (or boys) at McBurger King while pretending to work for a couple of months.
7- Get promoted to fries, burn yourself on hot grease while paying attention to big boobs Beth (or bulging Brian) instead of the fryer and quit in humiliation.
8- The next day, get hired at panasonic's tech department and jerk-off while wasting customer's time and annoying them with juvenile arrogance and useless drivel.
I think this is a correct assessment, because when I called, I had to navigate through the typical annoying phone prompts that companies put out like stone walls to discourage customers from calling about their lousy products and services.
After all, they've got your money, which is all they're interested in, and you're nothing more than stupid sheep (customers) that will resort to web-based forums to figure out (graze) these problems and think that it is cool until the next time comes to drain you of more of your hard earned money (shearing).
For those of us who are more tenacious (pain-in-the-ass), they've provided their tech department.
The first person I spoke to from this circle of intelligence informed me (after I heard him thumbing through paper) that the camera has an auto and manual focus like a consumer model, and there is no way to measure focal points. Hmmm... I recall darting through the menus on the camera and finding a way to measure in feet! I asked if I could ask another question about the camera, and his reply was No.
Me: What?!
Him: No. I don't know anything about that camera, so I'm not answering any more questions.
Me: What is your name?
Him: I don't think so.
Me: What?!
Him: How about Gene, (laughs) yeah, Gene.
He hangs up. That's right, he hangs up on me. I call back, and speak to a different person who admits up front he hasn't a clue about the camera, and says he will give a message to Tony, who knows more about the camera.
Tony didn't call back, even after wasting more time with the ex-McBurger King employees and leaving more messages for him (over the period of almost two weeks).
Finally, I called back and asked for Tony again, and the guy said This is Tony. After introducing himself as Jack. When I questioned him about the name reversal, he laughed and said We have phone names. Phone names? Phone names like the ones phone sex operators have in a cheesy movie? What kind of company is this anyway?
Anyhow, he had limited knowledge as well, and told me that a girl would be calling me back to discuss it further.
The next day, I received a call from her (can't remember her name) and she had one of those arrogant personalities (no duh type) that was so dominating; I was barely able to get a word in edgewise.interestingly though, she did point out that there was only three guys in that whole department (tech department). Three guys? That's it?
Anyway, she had some information (mostly arrogant bragging about this famous person and that famous person having the camera), but didn't answer any of my questions about converting the mxf file or 24p etc.
This lack of support is apparent (no offense to dim-wits) from some of the footage I've seen on the web where morons have posted clips from their movies (term used loosely) that looks like jittery crap, and I'm not just referring to the content, but the quality of the actual picture. Despite this, they rave about the qualitypoor souls.
On the flipside though, there are some really good-looking clips (referring to picture quality) posted as well. These people must've held the engineers at panasonic at gun-point, or grazed in the forums to figure it out.
The bottom line: Why should a customer have to figure out how to use a $6000 product on his own? If it's supposed to be one way; and is not, they should at least be able to point you in the right direction. It's as if they're saying; Give us your money; you figure it out. It's supposed to be a camera; not a Rubik's Cube.
In closing, it would appear that Panasonic itself has no clue about the aghvx200.
Perhaps it fell from the sky like the coke bottle from the plane to the bushman in The Gods Must be Crazy. Panavision is the bushman, but instead of traveling to the end of the Earth to throw it off, they're selling it to us (other bushmen), who haven't a clue of what to do with it either.
Maybe we should do the aforementioned.
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