comparing HMC150, VCHM100, Canon XF100, Sony HXR-NX5U (or AX2000) and the Canon 7D

[gilcos28]

Hi,

I was doing my own research on the Panasonic HMC150, JVC-HM100, Canon XF100, Sony HXR-NX5U (or AX2000) and the Canon 7D, and unfortunately not a perfect fit for any camcorder I found between the range of $2500 to $4000:

HMC150 3x1/3 CCD and excellent optical stabilizer, AVCHD up to 24Mbps; Wide angle lens.
SonyHXR-NX5U 3x1/3 CMOS and excellent optical stabilizer, AVCHD up to 24Mbps; 20x zoom.

Those two video camera are very similar,the 1/3" sensor give a excellent picture but the compression (24Mbps, which is low) reduce the color clarity. This is not good for green screen, which I notice is harder to implement perfect result, from footage I saw, but good result can be obtained.
The optical stabilizer and the AVCHD coded give smooth movement of object at the frame; when you walk with the camera and optic stabilizer helps to have smoother frame and the ACVHD coded give a better movement of object in the frame....Nice.

HM100 3x1/4 CCD and fair optical stabilizer, MPEG2 up to 35Mbps; PAL and NTSC.
XF100 1x1/3 CMOS and optical stabilizer (don't know), MPEG2 up to 50Mpbs (4:2:2.

The HM100 from reviews and footage I saw, don't have a good optical stabilizer. When walking with the camera you can easily see from the footage that the movement of the frame is rough. On the XF100 I did not see much information, but from only 1 video it looks quit good, and the movement of the frame is quite smooth. (But I am not sure).
MPEG2 coded (compare to ACVHD) don't give same smooth object movement in the frame, but the higher bit rate seems to compensate on this matter. so in over roll the movement of objects in the frame is very good.
The good think about those camcorder is the high bit rate. Color are very vivid, and this let you play better in the editing phase with different effects. Of course the green screen footage always look perfect even if the background, as the footage showed, was not set up so well.

Canon 7D 22.2mm X 17mm CMOs (almost 1 inch wide), optical stabilizer (?), ACVHD ~44Mbps; Manual focus at filming.

funny, the footage I saw with the 7D are amazing. not comfortable to use as it is design to be an SLR, but proof that with the ACVHD coded you can get excellent color and it is only a matter of bps. Green screen performance is excellent. Movement of object is excellent, but I am not sure if walking with this camera is good, cause all footage was filmed on tripod. So I don't have any info on the optical stabilizer, if any?

In conclusion, It is simple as, if the HMC150 or HXR-NX5U increased the bit rate for 35Mbp or 50Mbps; charge me $500 more and I will be very very happy. or if the JVC will add a better lens and a optical stabilizer. With the Canon xf100, only 1 CMOS, which I am still don't feel comfortable with. It is possible to assume, the companies don't want to do the perfect camcorder so you will need to buy the more expensive module.

If anybody have more information or care to argue or agree, please let me know.

Or more important, if anybody found the perfect camcorder, with high bit rate, let me know.

Cheers
Gil

 

[peterarcson]

HM100 is full of little problems, which will make your life quite miserable. Zoom is impossible to work with! I have never seen worst zoom then that- even low end consumer cameras have better zoom then HM100. Recessed lens doesn't allow you to place filters easy, if you are using gradual ND or polarized it is a nightmare and almost impossible to do it without some sort of tweezers. And stupid lens hood doesn't give you enough space to use two filters at once. It's horrible in low light (but which 1/4" chip CCD isn't?). JVC's battery lasts only about 50-60 minutes of recording- I had to carry 6-7 of them for one full day of shooting. The other thing is sound control- when you shoot with it it requires a lot of post to get the sound right, good thing it's LCPM, so you have some room to work with. It's small, allows to be carried very easily, hence you can obtain a decent footage without braking your back.
HMC150 has wonderful controls, except it totally lacks resolution, so the picture is soft. I bought it before I bought HM100, but I shipped back to B&H and waited for HM100. I could not match it with EX1 at all- the pixel shift technology is a bogus thing and at this day and age it should be discontinued.
Now I would disagree with a couple of your statements.
Number one:use of OIS- I shoot camera sometimes skiing or while hanging on a rope. I have OIS always off. Learn to steady yourself, work on your breathing and core strength.

MPEG2 coded (compare to ACVHD) don't give same smooth object movement in the frame, but the higher bit rate seems to compensate on this matter. so in over roll the movement of objects in the frame is very good.

That is why mpeg2 is broadcast codec and avchd is not? Of course Mr Green made a test and wrote about it, Panasonic also stated this (comparing with HDV initially), but honestly- can you providing any other source then 2 mentioned to back up your statement?

 

[Green Hornet]

Green screen is easy to do with the HMC150, and Premiere CS5.
No issues at all.
It has the easiest controls to use.
I prefer it to any thing under $5,000

It may be a bit soft, but when all of the footage is that way, it does not matter.
I see movies projected all the time with lesser resolution and it is not a big deal.

Exit through the gift shop was shot on Hi-8 and was nominated for an academy award.
More resolution is always nice to have, but to me, it is one of the lesser things I NEED to have.

 

[peterarcson]

HMC150 lacks good LCD and uncompressed sound. Sony NX5 is much better camera (uncompressed sound and HD-SDI) for not much more, so simply it's better buy at the moment hands down. Looks like new Canon XF100/105 can produce outstanding picture and has some incredible features for the price. I predict it will be the new DVX100 of hi-def cameras.