Panasonic AG-DVX100A

I finally pulled the trigger. After over seven years in the media world, I am now the proud owner of my own 3CCD legitimate video camera. I can't believe the list of jobs and productions that I have somehow been able to pull off through the years without actually owning a camera.

Every time I've ever had a job offer or show come up, I have always had ways of getting my hands on a camera in time for the gig. Through renting and borrowing I have dodged the bullet on this several-thousand dollar purchase for long enough. I received my Panasonic video camera in the mail this weekend.

I love it. I have shot with this camera for years, with it always being my #1 choice in the borrowing land. I've been nothing but nerdy on this blog for about a 5 week streak, so I will keep the nerd facts to a minimum today and focus on the personal joy and benefits this will bring.

Just like finding a place to live, everyone always faces the decision to either rent or buy. Either you pay a monthly rate to a landlord, or pay a monthly payment to a mortgage. The difference of course is, at the end of it all, you have something to show for it. With a landlord, he eats all the money, but with a mortgage, you've actually got a house after it all.

For years I have been renting. I have been sending my money to a "landlord" to rent my video gear from. Slowly, I have purchased items one at a time to avoid renting any longer. At this point, I have bought a lot of the external gear it takes to pull off the productions I do. However, I've never pulled the trigger on the minor, insignificant item called the camera.

Well no longer. I finally decided to move on the camera about two years ago, but was unsatisfied with the prices at the time. I am not a huge fan of running out and buying everything new. I'm a very interested used buyer, and am willing to forfeit the patience to be one. Two years ago I wanted this Panasonic 100A, but couldn't find any spectacular deals, new or used. So I waited. Well last week I found my deal. If I would have run out and bought this camera two years ago, sure it would have been awesome, but it would have run about $3500. By waiting, I found a spectacular deal.

I stumbled upon a company called "Zoompoint" on eBay for my camera purchase. They are a small company out of Nevada that buys and sells used professional video gear. What I liked about Zoompoint more than anyone else is that they knew what they were talking about. I called and spoke with Mike over the phone who had inspected the four or five 100A's they had at the time to make sure they were all in 100% working order. Over the phone he gave me personal advice on the differenced between the units they had in stock, and helped my make my decision on the best-valued camera they had.

They had a couple that were definitely used. They were a couple of years old, had some signs of use, but worked. That's Zoompoint. They're not going to sell you something that doesn't work. They're not idiots. One camera stuck out to me in particular from the other four. This camera had 2hrs of use. TWO HOURS?! The other bodies were 300+ hrs each, and this one had two. Weird. Normally I would suspect fraud or something and move on, but I trust Zoompoint.

I got my "used" (should I even call it that?) camera with 2hrs on it in on Friday, and let me tell you. There's nothing used about it. I don't know who gave this camera to Zoompoint to sell, but they didn't even take the accessories out of the plastic. The camera might as well be brand new. Oh, and forget about that $3500 price tag I mentioned earlier. My DVX100A cost me $1900.

I love Panasonic for making this camera. I love eBay for finding it for me. And most importantly I love Zoompoint Inc. for doing such a great job with the entire process. Zoompoint will definitely be getting my business in the future. There are not many companies out there that you can trust to trade used video gear like this. You get excellent gear at low rates because it's technically "used", but with Zoompoint taking care of everything, you know you're getting items that are as good as new.

Now that I've got my camera, I will be "renting" it to myself and anybody else who needs it. Before I've always had to account for the expense of renting a camera and sending the money to California. Now I will rent it from myself, making a mature business move to still keep track of expenses as well as renting to anyone else around here who needs a nice camera for a day or two. Give me a call if you do. I've rented enough gear to know how to be the guy on the other end, and look forward to providing the convenience of being local, cutting out the shipping cost altogether.

my Mother is Expecting!

My mother has decided to add another member to the family. The Apple family. That's right, my PC-loving, die hard XP-using, Compaq owning mother has decided to abandon a sinking ship and jump to the Apple Macintosh family vessel. This marks a momentous occasion in history as my mother will be the first Magee to go mac after myself.

On Monday, Apple released an entire new lineup of notebooks. They replaced or updated every laptop they manufacture, making some extremely fast and portable machines now available. This is exciting for the new machines, but even more exciting for the day-old machines.

Now that Apple has released these computers, they will begin their intense marketing making the machines that were "so cool" the day before be "so lame". The machines that the company was so proud of on Sunday night are now old news, and the newer, faster machines are their pride and joy. There was nothing wrong with them, and them aging one day has not changed that. What I mean is, sure computers are getting faster and lighter, but how fast do we need them? And more importantly, why won't they get any cheaper?

Apple sells MacBooks starting at $1200. No matter the technology of the time, they make the laptops as fast as they can for $1200. When memory gets a little cheaper, instead of dropping the same computer down $100 in price, they double the memory and market how fast their new computers are, "at the same great price". Well that price is OK, but not great. I would rather see them drop the price $100 on the computer that is already PLENTY fast for 90% of users. But that's not how it works.

To pull off this dream, I watch for special instances where this occurs. For instance, they will never leave the technology and drop the price, unless...

One minute they have warehouses full of great computers. The next minute those great computers are "lame" and room needs to be made for the newer cooler ones. So, these great computers, THAT ARE STILL GREAT, get discounted. Bingo. Exactly what I wanted. The same great computer, for less money.

Some people will say, "but I really need that newer more powerful machine". But I disagree. Let's say Apple releases all new notebooks every June and December. You buy a December model, the day they release them. Six months later this machine is lame. You will keep the machine though, for probably a total of three years, because it still works fine, and is plenty fast. After all, six months ago it was as fast as they got! Now, with the idea that your six-month old computer has and is still fine, what if you hadn't bought it six months ago. What if you bought it today, the day the new ones just came out. You said yourself it's perfectly fine, and still will be for another 2.5 years, if you hadn't bought it in December, you could buy it today. For WAY LESS. It's still the plenty fast computer you need, and will still use for another 2.5 years.

Since these computers are lame, they are discounted. I just learned about this discounting last November, or we would have done Aubrey's MacBook differently. We bought Aubrey's MacBook for $1500, and upgraded it from 2GB of memory to 4GB for $200. That was last June. Today, one year later, she still loves her machine. It's crazy fast, and works the same as day one. After releasing new machines in December, and again yesterday, her machines is now 2 rounds of lame. Nobody wants THAT computer, it's not newer faster better. BUT, hers is crazy fast, plenty fast. I would still suggest people to her computer today, because it rocks. However, today, Apple is trying to sell her lame computer to make room. Today, they are selling the exact same $1500 computer for $750. WHOA. One year later, and a perfect machine, but HALF OFF. If we keep with the three-year model, this machine still has two years of good life! Plus, that $200 memory upgrade, with how fast technology prices are, could be done today for $50. WHOA. If we would have known, Aubrey could have gotten last year's lame model for half price, one year old, used it for this past year, and still had another year, for half price.

This is basically what I did with my MacBook. I own a June 2008 MacBook. I bought it the day after new ones released in December 2008. I got a six-month old computer, wait, technically ONE DAY OLD, because "yesterday" it was cool, for a great deal. One day earlier my June computer was $1700. I got it for $1200, just because it was one day (six months) lame. After the yesterdays new computers, my computer, like Aubrey's, is now two rounds of lame. They sold more of mine today for $1000. WHOA. The same machine I'm on right now, that I've had for 6 months, love, and will use for another two years, for $1000. dang. The trick here is not to go six months waiting for a computer. The trick is when you're ready to buy a new one, buy one that's one generation of uncool. Save hundreds.

I love my computers. I push them hard, but I love them. With this little $1200 computer I am editing multi-camera video shoots, professional photography images, storing movies, listening to over 7000 songs, and of course surfing the internet. I am on my computer constantly, and it goes everywhere with me. If this little six-month old lame computer is fast and strong enough for the demands of a professional like myself, it's definitely fast enough for my mom. She could have picked it up for $1000, but she doesn't even need THIS much, she got a slightly slower machine, that's still CRAZY fast for the average user, for $750. Praise God.

That's exactly what I found for my mom. My mom bought Aubrey's $1500 computer (no 4GB upgrade) for $750. Maybe she'll upgrade the memory when it gets here for $50 and make it just the same as Aubrey Ella's for $800 total instead of the $1700 it was a year ago. Maybe she won't! Today, it's screaming fast, maybe in six months she'll want a speed boost and I can upgrade it for $25! Who knows!

Humility and patience. You don't need the latest fastest computer, because in six months it'll be uncool anyway. Wait a while, and buy the "uncool" one the day they release the latest greatest. It'll take people two months to even notice it, and you'll save hundreds of dollars. By saving so much, you can upgrade your computer every three years, keeping it "new" (six months old at the time). If you bought the newest fastest every time, it'll still get old, and maybe you could only upgrade every four years.

Praise the LORD, my mother uses a mac.

Travis Cottrell's "Jesus Saves (Live)"!

The current time is 11:26pm on Monday night, the first of June. Tomorrow Travis Cottrell releases his latest album entitled "Jesus Saves (Live)", his second CD in the past year. No normal human can crank out two entire albums in less than 12 months. The man is a beast.

I really don't have much more to say about the CD, as it is still downloading. DOWNLOADING?! I thought it was only 11:30pm?? It shouldn't be released for another 30mins!? Well my friends, iTunes published the album early, trying to get to bed a few minutes earlier I guess. They thought nobody would notice the difference, but they don't know who they're messing with. I hit that page like a turtle on lettuce and am on my way to having it downloaded before midnight. booya, iTunes. booya.

I can't WAIT to hear it! I'm sure while the rest of the world lines up at their local christian bookstores at opening time tomorrow I will be peacefully enjoying my copy from the comfort and embarrassing site of my bedroom.

Travis was kind enough to invite me into his home back in March, overly kind based on the schedule he was maintaining at the time. To get the tracks extra clean, Travis spent a few days in the studio re-recording a few lines. Artists can spend days recording one song at a time, while Travis had to pull off the entire album in one night, with one take on each song, sung back to back straight through. With a challenge like that, some small flukes may occur that fly under the radar live, but are a different story in playback. Stuff that blends in live can be fine, but under the fine comb of the studio, and by listening to only one mic at a time, problems are bound to be discovered. In the studio...

Travis was kind enough to take care of me for a couple of days, while I took up couch space on in the studio and tried to act cool. Travis has always been much too kind to me, as you probably have already seen through the numerous mentions throughout this blog. I compiled a page of all the Travis Cottrell content I've published here:

/search?q=Travis+Cottrell

Thank you for reading, but get out and go get in line for this CD! It'll be out in a matter of hours!

Aubrey's at the Pool!

I thought I was doing pretty good this summer with all the freelance work I've got scheduled, but then Aubrey had to go and show me up with a "real job". I've always wanted a "real job" but have just always been blessed enough through freelance opportunities to avoid the time-card-punching machine.

Aubrey is a Music Education major down at OBU, and decided if she worked her butt off this summer she could buy one heck of a Flute just before her Sophomore year began.

My parents ran across a random job through the city, and told Aubrey about it. She checked into it, got her name on the interview list, and SHIZAM she's hired. I don't know exactly what happened, but I'm sure one look at her resume made them cancel the other peoples' interviews. She's legit.

She's working for the City of Bentonville as the Public Pool Cashier. So, if you're in the NWA area, and are about to suffer a heat stroke, maybe you should head over to the pool, located by Memorial Park. Aubrey's smile and about 2 million gallons of water will be waiting for you. Oh and be sure to pay with a $100 bill, and as she's counting out $98 in change, tell her you read this blog. :D

Uh-Cymbaling my Cymbals

My friend Daniel Potter had asked me recently about what kind of deal I had found on my cymbals. I figured it was complicated enough to devote a post.

First I started looking at a $750 box set of Zildjian A Custom cymbals. After some patience, and my Dad being an internet-searching animal, he found some in OK. The store was crazy, and sold me this box for

$500

This box came with:

14in HiHats
16in Medium Crash
18in Fast Crash
20in Medium Ride
Cheap Cymbal Bag

The set was supposed to come with a nice cymbal bag, so I called Zildjian. They apologized and shipped me the nicer bag for free, and didn't want their cheap one back. So I sold it on eBay. It went for about $12. Let the magic begin.

$500 - $12 = $488.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted 12in HiHats, so when the box came from UPS, I didn't lay a finger on the 14in Hats in the set. I kept the other three cymbals, and sold the 14in Hats on eBay. They went for about $213.

$488 - $213 = $275.

So as of that point, I had my two crashes and ride, plus a nice cymbal bag from Zildjian, for under three hundred bucks. But, no HiHats, so I got online and SEARCHED SEARCHED for 12in Hats. I wanted a pair of Zildjian A Custom 12in Mastersound HiHats in the Brilliant finish. Well, turns out nobody else in the United States does, so they don't make them anymore. hmmph. I managed to track down the Mastersound top, but no bottom. So, I SEARCHED and found a Zildjian "A" 12in Bottom Hat. It's not the Mastersound, which stinks. But, to go MS I would still be looking right now. And not have any HiHats to be playing. So, not an option. The two cymbals added up to about $180.

$275 + $180 = $455.

That's all the cymbals I'll be buying. The only adjustments the future holds is a possible addition of a 14in Crash. Oh, and if I ever find a Mastersound bottom, with it's lovely wavy edges, that'd just be swell.

There's the tale of how I pulled all my cymbals, all Zildjian A Customs, for less than $500. I just checked MusiciansFriend.com, and found my Ride alone to be $285. Dang. I'd hate to buy them separately. Patience. Oh my goodness it took some patience. thanks for reading!