Would you buy a HMC150 right now?

[Noah Kadner]

Hard to say but I’d doubt it would hold that much value in 3 years- that’s an eternity in cameras. 3 years from now any camera that doesn’t offer interchangeable lenses will be a dinosaur. Not to say the HMC150 is not a solid camera to get right now and a good deal but don’t buy it thinking it will hold 70%+ of its value for that long.

Noah

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[Ana maria Suarez]

Yes, you are right, 3 years is a long time and things change fast.
So take that part out of my post. 🙂
So it is good to see you would still buy this camera.

[Guy Mcloughlin]

You buy a camera based upon what you need right now, not what happens 3 years down the road…

Right now there is no better HD camera at $3,000, and I seriously doubt that Panasonic will come out with a newer HMC-150 model in the future.

I agree with Noah that 3 years from now the market will be all about cameras that are like the new Panasonic AF100 ( which will be out at the end of this year ) that offer interchangeable lenses and large-format sensors.

I plan on buying an AF100 camera next May ( I want to be sure that all of the bugs have been shaken out ), and I will still keep my HMC-150 for the quick’n’dirty shoots where I just pick-up the camera and go.

[Al Bergstein]

I tend to agree with Noah, however it will be of some value due to it’s extensive manual customizations, and the ability to shoot decent quality HD.

Remember, the lens is the thing of value, not the body. That’s why Noah says that interchangeable lens are the wave of the future. Since we have reached a point where low cost DSLR cameras are here, shooters are focusing on spending their money on the glass and people like me are willing to buy bodies with the notion that they are somewhat disposible. I paid more for my 70-200 zoom than my body. That’s not unusual.

Certainly with waves of DSLR and the new Panasonic AG100 cameras, the future will be more like those than the 150, but the 150 will be fine for industrial work for some years. Heck there are a lot of people still shooting on quite old DV cameras, but they don’t expect to resell them for much.

Alf

[Noah Kadner]

I love the HMC150 but I’d argue the point that there’s no better HD shooting camera for $3K or less. Personally I think that in some circumstances the Canon 5D and 7D completely blow it away in terms of what you can achieve cinematographically though at a cost of ergonomics and ease of use.

And that’s precisely what’s led Panasonic to the AF100. It’s a solid enough HD camera but it’s also very much middle of the road. It will give you fine dependable HD footage but it’s not state of the art. Just my $.02.

Noah

Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D.

[Daniel Schultz]

Just to throw in my bit as well, having owned the 150 for about a year.
I love the cam, and it takes sweet images. I feel it was a great learning tool for me.
Biggest drawback is the SD card–both in terms of dependability and colorspace quality.
Which is making me consider selling and buying a used HPX170 before embarking on a serious project I’m planning.

Dan S.

[Guy Mcloughlin]

…For shallow DOF ( depth of field ) shots and for low-light video work the Canon DSLRs are great, especially considering that you can get in the game for as little as a $1,000.

But as professional video cameras they suck in these areas:

– Low HD resolution compared to HD video cameras
– Bad image aliasing when shooting curved and diagonal shapes
– Bad image moire when shooting detailed wide shots or subjects with complex patterns
– Lots of rolling shutter problems, making shots with fast motion impossible
– No servo-zoom controls
– Limited zoom range compared to video cameras
– Slower f-stop zoom lenses ( f1.6 zoom does not exist for DSLR )
– Bad audio pre-amps
– No audio power ( does not provide phantom 48 volt )
– No exposure zebras
– No color vectorscope
– 12 minute maximum length for any shot, making the camera bad for long format and live event shoots
– Does not provide clean HDMI output, so you ares still stuck with the red recording dot in all your shots
– Image stabilization inferior to some video cameras ( especially the new high end consumer cameras like the Panasonic TM700 )
– No 4 hour high capacity batteries

I could go on, but you get the idea…

The Panasonic AF100 is something brand new. It’s a camera that combines all of the features of the prosumer video camera format with the large-sensor shallow DOF of a DSLR camera, providing the best of both worlds. I personally think it will have huge impact on the marketplace and will likely kill-off several prosumer competitors. It also brings prosumer video firmly in to the world of cinematographic film making. I definitely plan on buying an AF100 around May next year ( once I am sure that all of the bugs have been shaken out ), but I will be keeping my HMC-150 for my regular video work, and I will keep my Canon 60D camera to use as an excellent stills camera.

[Guy Mcloughlin]

>>>Biggest drawback is the SD card–both in terms of dependability and colorspace quality.

I would check this out very carefully before you buy the HPX170. Personally I have had ZERO issues with SDHC cards over the past 18 months, but I was careful to test about 6 different brands, and only buy the brand that performed the best for me. ( which was the Patriot IRIS SDHC Class 6 cards, which are specifically built for professional video work )

As far as colorspace quality, make sure you do tests, because every side-by-side test I have seen between the HMC-150 and the HPX-170 the color and image quality was virtually identical with the same settings. The HPX-170 makes green-screen and CGI composite film-making easier, but the difference is not as much as you might expect. There are lots of people doing professional green-screen work with the HMC-150 with no problems at all.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the HMC-150 camera records a slightly higher resolution image than either the HPX-170 or HVX-200A cameras, so don’t expect to see better resolution than you are already getting with the HMC-150.

If I was looking to get a better ENG style camera I would look at the new Canon XF300/305 cameras that start at $6,500, or if I could afford it the $8,500+ Panasonic HPX-370 camera which is the only under $10,000 prosumer camera that records 10-bit color without a HD recorder deck. ( the Sony EX-1R/EX-3 output 10-bit color but require an external deck to record this image ) These are full res cameras, so they will look a bit sharper than the HMC-150 / HPX-170 cameras.

[Noah Kadner]

Total Agreement from me on the drawbacks from the Canons. If you don’t want Shallow DOF- they pretty much suck as ‘video cameras’. 🙂

Noah

Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D.

[Daniel Schultz]

I have to say I really appreciate your post.
It will make me think twice about trading “up”
Though my experience with the “Check Card” message has not been as rosy as yours.
I’ve treated my SanDisk Extreme Class 10 with TLC, and I still get the scary message from time to time.

Dan S.