Thomas Smet
Veteran
I love my HMC40 but it does suffer in low light. Any word on comparison between the 130/160 and the HMC40? Also how well does the gain hold up? On the HMC40 the gain can be pushed to 12db with little noise.
ALL: Comparison between HMC40
- Thread starter Thomas Smet
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Barry_Green
Moderator
The HMC40 is about 50 ISO. The AC130 & 160 are about 320 ISO. That means that at the 0dB setting it would be as bright as an HMC40 using about 15dB of gain but with zero noise or issues. They can go as high as 24dB of gain (which would be like an HMC40 at 40dB of gain!) but at 24dB it is quite noisy. It is pretty clean up to about 12 or so.
john deaver
Well-known member
So.....How does that relate to say a GH2 with the 20 f/1.7 at ISO of 1600 (this is my current combo an HMC40 and a pair of Gh2's with various lenses) as much as i like the GH2s for some of my work (weddings) I would gladly shoot with a traditional video camera IF it can give low light that approaches what my GH2 with a fast lens can give me. And i know the AF100 is the Video camera out back and the DSLR out front but I'm thinking it will still suffer from what i see as the biggest DSLR drawback and thats the limitation on flexible Zoom lenses (especially in the over 200mm in 35mm terms range)
I had been thinking about an AF100 but, and after shooting an event yesterday in broad daylight (rare for me) with my HMC40 part of me really really wants a good Videocamera. 12db would be what 4 stops brighter? or an equivalent of Iso 5120, surely my math/understanding of DB gain isn't right. For some reason i was thinking every 3 db was equivalent of one stop.
Thanks in advance
John
Vaughan Wood
Well-known member
Hi John,
The 130/160 will give you something the AF100 and GH2 can't give you, DEPTH of FIELD! I've used my AF100 with the 20mm Pana. lens on it to get dance floor shots at weddings, and more recently practice shots at a Deb. Ball and they looked great until I came home and put them on a big screen, having most of the dance floor out of focus is not what I was after. The shots I took yesterday with an AG-Ac160 suggest to me it will be as good in low light as my EX 1's, with less noise in the shadows and no far red problems......and when I got home, the shots were ALL in focus!
Cheers,
Vaughan
The 130/160 will give you something the AF100 and GH2 can't give you, DEPTH of FIELD! I've used my AF100 with the 20mm Pana. lens on it to get dance floor shots at weddings, and more recently practice shots at a Deb. Ball and they looked great until I came home and put them on a big screen, having most of the dance floor out of focus is not what I was after. The shots I took yesterday with an AG-Ac160 suggest to me it will be as good in low light as my EX 1's, with less noise in the shadows and no far red problems......and when I got home, the shots were ALL in focus!
Cheers,
Vaughan
Thomas Smet
Veteran
That is very good to hear and makes switching very tempting. I have found with my HMC40 the brightness to be just about right when using a LED camera light at a gain of 24db. Of course it is very grainy but I'm just talking brightness. So if the AC130/160 can look just as bright at 12db or even 9db then that is pretty darn good. It sound like the grain to db of gain ratio is about equal to that of the HMC40. Up to 12db is pretty good and above that starts to break up pretty quick. These cameras seem to take everything that was great about the HMC40 and fix all the little holes to make it almost perfect.
Barry_Green
Moderator
They're definitely more robust and well rounded than the HMC40... but they're also twice the size and twice the price. I still adore the little HMC40, it's not a typical A camera but it does make some amazing footage in a small box and a small price.
+1 to Mr. Green. I use the 40 as a B-Cam and as a backpack cam and the IQ is pretty awesome for the size and price. The drawbacks are known: low light issues, mediocre VF and flip-out, and the ND - iris thingy leaves something to be desired. Don't leave home without a ND filter. But if you can live with the flaws, it can do some great work.
Grant
Grant