Panasonic AG HMC150 Camcorder – Alternative

[Noah Kadner]

Depends on what’s most important to you in terms of features/operation- but at that price point I’d look at the Panasonic GH2.

Noah

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[Guy Mcloughlin]

$1,500 doesn’t buy much these days. Even in the used market you can only buy a used DVX-100 at this price. ( DVX-100 is a really nice camera, but it’s not HD )

If you don’t want to wait until you can afford to buy a HMC-150, then I would recommend buying the Panasonic TM900 or HS900 consumer camera which is a beautiful HD starter camera in the $1,000 – 1,500 price range.

I own HMC-150 and GH-2 cameras which I use for shorter / higher quality shoots, and I also own a HS700 for long format shoots with smaller budgets. ( i.e. all day university / business conferences ) Because of the hard-drive this camera can shoot about 40 hours of full resolution video before the hard-drive is full, it makes it a perfect match for these all day / lower budget shoots.

[Mike Jones]

Thanks Noah

[Mike Jones]

Thanks Guy

[William Dedula]

Hi Guy;
I actually have a HMC-150 that I bought for work but I have my eyes on some of the newer Pro cameras from Canon and Sony and maybe even the newer models coming out from panasonic.

However, right now I am looking for a lower cost camcorder that shoots nearly the quality of Pro cameras while I save up for the larger, more capable one. I am going to view the Space Shuttle Launch later in the week and I’ll be about 6 miles away. Do you think the TM900 will do a nice job at capturing the launch and ascent until it disappears from sight ?

I did some research and read some reviews about some fan noise that can be heard while the unit is running – Anyone find this is a problem ?

I want to get a more reasonably priced camcorder that does an awesome job at video and color reproduction (Close to a pro camera) while waiting to save up for a more more pro camera.

Tim

[Guy Mcloughlin]

[William Dedula] “I actually have a HMC-150 that I bought for work but I have my eyes on some of the newer Pro cameras from Canon and Sony and maybe even the newer models coming out from panasonic.”

For smaller sensor cameras the new Panasonic HPX-250 looks like the one to beat ( 10-bit 4:2:2 100 Mbit AVC-Intra internal recording and a 21x Zoom Lens ), but it won’t be out until the Fall.

[William Dedula] “right now I am looking for a lower cost camcorder that shoots nearly the quality of Pro cameras while I save up for the larger, more capable one.”

Then I would definitely look at the Panasonic TM900 or HS900.

[William Dedula] “Do you think the TM900 will do a nice job at capturing the launch and ascent until it disappears from sight ?”

Yes, most definitely, though you might want to investigate add-on tele-lenses to extend the zoom range, all of these consumer cameras have a limited telephoto range.

Raynox DCR-1541PRO High Definition Telephoto Conversion Lens (1.54x)

NOTE: You will need to buy a 46mm to 52mm step-up ring to mount this lens

[William Dedula] I did some research and read some reviews about some fan noise that can be heard while the unit is running – Anyone find this is a problem ?

I’ve never had the fan turn on when shooting with the HS700, but then I rarely ever shoot 1080 60P, which is when the fan will switch on. If you want to shoot a lot of 1080 60P footage, then you might want to add a Rode Video Pro Mic to be sure that the fan noise won’t be picked up. The Rode will also record better audio than the camera mics will.

Rode VideoMic Pro Compact Shotgun Microphone

[William Dedula]

Thanks, Great info, Guy.

I have a few questions … Why would you want to ever shoot in 60P (Would this be for fast moving scenes)? And if I get the TM900, what mode would I normally shoot at assure compatibility with both HDTVs and Computers In the United States ? I’ve heard stories of dropped frames and jumpiness if using the incorrect mode and I think I’ve experienced some of that with the HMC-150 which has many modes. I would likely edit in FCP. Would I normally use 30P or 30i ?

Also, would the telephoto conversion lens likely be at a local camera store and would the adapter be there too ?

Could you give me a link to a source for the adapter ?

I need links to a company other than B&H Photo/Video or Adarama because they both won’t be back until Wednesday. It seems like everytime I log onto their website (B&H), they’re not accepting orders due to some sort of vacation or another. I do like them and buy from them on occaision but they just seem to take too many days off (in my opinion).

Tim

[Guy Mcloughlin]

[William Dedula] “Why would you want to ever shoot in 60P (Would this be for fast moving scenes)?”

Mainly for slow-motion, where you can conform the 60P in to a 24P video and see a 2.5 times slow-motion effect. Some people like the smoothness of 60P video.

[William Dedula] “TM900, what mode would I normally shoot at assure compatibility with both HDTVs and Computers In the United States?”

I prefer to shoot 24P for everything, but I think your options are 24P, 60i, and 60P. 60i can be conformed to 30P with most NLEs.

For what you are shooting, I would go with either 24P or 60i for regular shots, and 60P for anything slow-motion, which might be good for the actual launch. Make sure you test everything out before you need to shoot.

[William Dedula] “Also, would the telephoto conversion lens likely be at a local camera store and would the adapter be there too ?”

The 46mm – 52mm adapter can be found almost anywhere. Finding a HD telephoto adapter might be very hard to find, so you might want to test out the digital zoom built-in to the camera to see if this is good enough for your needs. A small amount of digital zoom might be fine.

[Danny Hays]

I have the TM700. I have never heard the fan in any recording, although I heard if you capture in a completly quiet room you can. Who does that? If you did, you can always Gate it out in your NLE.
As far as shooting 60p, that’s all I use. You will have to see some of it playing back fast moving video on a large 1080p HDTV to understand. I do alot of Music video work in front of a greenscreen and interlaced video is unacceptable after keying 1080 60p in my opinion. Just the movement of my hand strumming a guitar with 1080i. the interlacing is noticable. I work at Universal Studios FL Audio/Video dept and most of our newer venue video servers play 1080 60p. If you plan on distributing it on BluRay, then maybe it’s not right for that although some have found a few BR players that play 60p. I use my i7 to play my videos and have no problem with the 60p.
You can always step it down to 1080i in your NLE but can’t step up from 1080i to 60p. Don’t knock it until you’ve seen it.

[Dave Petteruto]

Is it my imagination or has the Panasonic HDC-TM700 gone from around $750.00 to $1,000.00?

Thanks
Dave P.