Camcorder RIP

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to pay last respects to HVX200 and so many others like him. Yes, for Mr. HVX, life had been good. He was the one the young filmmakers hung out with. He set the standard. He had uprooted Mr. XL1 as the coca-cola of the industry, but sadly his time is passed.

You see, HVX and all his camcorder buddies are going to disappear. Those upstart DSLR's are taking over. And the manufacturers know it. The shelves are lined with all sorts of DSLR goodies. The HVX accessories are stuff for back shelves and eBay.

I was worried about my friend Red when my DP bought a couple of DSLR's and sold his HVX. My DP also has a Red. Could it be these DSLR's are better? Not even close. If they can ever solve the data wrangling, maybe someday... But Red still has that beautiful 4K going for it. But people are choosing the DSLR's for what the "filmmaker" camcorders were doing. Low budget indies... corporate videos... music videos. This seriously crimps the HVX market.

So project forward, what do you see? I see HVX200's selling really cheap on eBay. I see a world of DSLR accessories. I see Canon all but abandoning their camcorder market for the DSLR market. It's a reemergence for all the still camera manufacturers as they all get into this game.

Yes, the pro line of camcorders will continue-- broadcasters aren't going to change to DSLR's with that unwieldy shallow depth of field... But for the filmmaking side, from commercials, to low budget features, it's goodbye to camcorder and hello DSLR.