150 vs 170

DCTBrad,

You can do some slow - fast motion switching between 24, 30, and 60p, but no doubt, it is much more limiting.

Grant
 
WAV audio much better than AAC.
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Theoretically, yes. But when using only the on camera mic, do you really hear the difference on the final Blu-ray? Enough to justify such a large price gap?
 
your clients will see a HUGE difference by capturing those moments in real fast/slow motion through the cameras variable frame rates.
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A fair point, Brad. I do use slow-motion in my weddings and other productions. It has always been done in post. While I agree that it is theoretically better to shoot such things in the camera, I can see a couple of potholes in that argument.

The first is that I'll be using Premier Pro CS5 with GPU acceleration. While I have yet to test any type of speed remapping on the system with HD, from my reading it seems that the GPU acceleration of CS5 uses very high quality frame blending producing very natural looking speed changes.

Second is that when done in post, as is often the case, you have more freedom than when done in-camera.

Third is that some cameras do not allow multiple frame rates on the same card. You have to format the card for the frame rate you wish to shoot at, and if you wish to change the frame rate, you need to change cards. Does that caveat apply here as well?
 
why dont you rent both cameras and do your own side by side comparison?
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Sadly, the cost of doing so would probably get me half way to actually buying one. I know of no one locally who owns these models.
 
Where are you? Maybe someone on here can help?

Late last year I had this same dilemma. I considered a good used HVX200, 200a, 150, and 170. In the end, I went with saving up for the HPX170. It came down to the fact I felt that I could always borrow, rent or buy more P2 cards and HD space, but I could never upgrade the HMC150 to the features the 170 has without buying a new camera.

It should be noted I don't shoot long events where an HMC150 and cheaper media would shine, and I am not a hardcore filmmaker that needs shallow DOF that something like the AF100 delivers.
 
Jim Simon said:
Third is that some cameras do not allow multiple frame rates on the same card. You have to format the card for the frame rate you wish to shoot at, and if you wish to change the frame rate, you need to change cards. Does that caveat apply here as well?
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No. Any frame rate, all on the same card, in either P2 or AVCCAM.

Only restriction is that you can't shoot 50Hz and 59.94Hz on the same SD card in AVCCAM (but you can in P2).
 
Interesting. Can changing the frame rate be as simple as rotating the scene file dial, then? Would I be able to record one shot at 1080p/24, then with the switch of a dial, record 1080p/36? Then switch back and do 24p again? All in less than 30 seconds?

Are there any kind of 'delays' when switching frame rates?
 
Yes, you can do what you're asking, but it isn't 30 seconds, it's like 1/30th of a second. You can't change the frame rate while recording, but once you stop you can spin the dial and start recording immediately at the new frame rate.
 
That's pretty awesome. Thanks, Barry.

Unfortunately, I finally got around to tallying up the cost of the P2 cards I'd need, and it comes out to about the same price as a second camera!

I'm afraid the 170 is off the table for me. Thanks to all who responded.
 
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