I had been needing an additional camera for quite a while, and I just couldnt bear to get yet another HMC-150, so I picked up a HMC-40 from Amazon 2 weeks ago. Also, I also wanted a smaller camera for low profile shoots and family use.
I used the HMC-40 on a wedding shoot this last weekend and thought I would give a few basic observations from a long time HMC-150 shooter.
The first thing I noticed was the small and flimsy eye viewfinder is really hard for my older eyes to see focus, where on the 150 it's easy. The floppy rubber eyepiece cup is also not as good at blocking light as the 150 rubber. When you are straining againt the eyepiece on the 40 to block out bright light, the eyepiece housing wiggles making you think the tripod moved, thats a bit of a nusiance.
Another huge thing is the wide end of the lens is not even nearly as wide as the 150. I was using the 40 as a wide guest shot for the wedding, but its not well suited for that.
I dont want to get into the low light too much, as that has been discussed a lot on these forums. I would like to say that at a reception after the sun goes down, the 40 is not useable as a companion to the 150. I tried to use it as a second angle on the dance floor, but it just does not have the sensitivity for a wedding dance floor that is fairly dark.
The ALC on the 40 seems to have more range than the 150, but I will have to check on that more.
Although I only covered most of the negative points, the HMC-40 is still a good little camera with great good light images. I will certainly be using it for all my summer weddings.
More later.
I used the HMC-40 on a wedding shoot this last weekend and thought I would give a few basic observations from a long time HMC-150 shooter.
The first thing I noticed was the small and flimsy eye viewfinder is really hard for my older eyes to see focus, where on the 150 it's easy. The floppy rubber eyepiece cup is also not as good at blocking light as the 150 rubber. When you are straining againt the eyepiece on the 40 to block out bright light, the eyepiece housing wiggles making you think the tripod moved, thats a bit of a nusiance.
Another huge thing is the wide end of the lens is not even nearly as wide as the 150. I was using the 40 as a wide guest shot for the wedding, but its not well suited for that.
I dont want to get into the low light too much, as that has been discussed a lot on these forums. I would like to say that at a reception after the sun goes down, the 40 is not useable as a companion to the 150. I tried to use it as a second angle on the dance floor, but it just does not have the sensitivity for a wedding dance floor that is fairly dark.
The ALC on the 40 seems to have more range than the 150, but I will have to check on that more.
Although I only covered most of the negative points, the HMC-40 is still a good little camera with great good light images. I will certainly be using it for all my summer weddings.
More later.