Got my HMC152 today!

L

LoneWolf

Member
And I'm absolutely thrilled!

Unfortunately, along the road to the HMC, I made the mistake of trying to 'go cheap' and pick up the HMC40. The lack of controls, the awful EVF (next to unuseable), and the need to use the gain control like your exposure depended on it (it did). I shoot a lot of low light, and coming from a SLR background, image stabilizers, flashguns and super-high-ISO on certain full frame cameras is indispensable for what I do. Winding up with the toy-like HMC40, which felt like an upsized Canon HF100 (which I own) - larger package, same performance - was crushing, to say the least. It only took one evening of torture testing in low light to break my heart.

Sadly I don't make as much money as I wish I did (or others around me do) which is why I didn't go straight for what I really wanted in the first place.

Dual XLRs, audio pots, mechanically linked zoom (did say I was a SLR user, yes?), beautiful EVF that looks like a theatre compared to the fingernail-sized EVF on the HMC40, and low light performance that is amazing - that justifies the extra cost. Guess I will be broke for a while. Actually now that I have the camera, my heart says "damn the cost, this camera is truly .... yours."

If you are even on the edge about the 40 and the 150, just go for it and never look back. Mine's technically a 152 PAL version but I am pretty darn sure the 150/151/152 are all just as awesome :p

I knew it was mine the moment I fired it up on the showfloor in very 'average' lighting - the same kind of crap indoor light you find anywhere - and it didn't even dip into the gain at all. My lesson from the 40 is to stay the heck (I'd use a much stronger word actually) out of the gain unless you have absolutely no choice. A platform with superior native sensitivity is a far better choice. Now I know why you folks make such a big deal over the 3 stops of the HMC150 compared to the 40. IT IS A BIG DEAL, NO FREAKING KIDDING, YEAH. I should have known better!

The HMC150 is practically NOISE-LESS for my intents and purposes!

So I've learned a very bitter lesson, but I guess I appreciate the 150 all the more because of it.

And to bring over a couple of lessons from SLR land - when you are in a hurry, and you need total control over your hardware, digging through menus is a raw deal. Hardwired buttons are much better, and the 150 has a lot of buttons. This is a Good Thing. Namely, my shutter speed being available without me having to plow through menus!!

Also, while I know the value of a good set of sticks, I do a lot of handheld work. The 28mm equivalent wide end of the HMC is fabulous. I value wideangle a lot more than I do telephoto. No more crappy WA converters for me at long last, just one beautiful native 28-368 zoom.

In a nutshell, I wish someone had told me to just buy the 150 and never look back. I never will. (now if only I could forget about the HMC40 and all the money I lost on taxes, shipping both ways and then some. :( )

So my contribution would be - to all those who are undecided between the two cameras - just pay up, for the quality will be remembered LONG after the price tag is forgotten.
 
Thanks for the recommend. As a video professional still using a DVX for paying work, it's about time for me to upgrade and good to know the HMC40 is not worth it.
 
In defense of the HMC40, it is a video camera, not a still camera, so normally you would not be changing shutter speed often. As for feeling like an upsized consumer camera, it is a TM300/HS300 packaged in a larger body, but many users, including myself, appreciate the size, not too small to feel like a toy yet not too large to not cause too much attention. I can imagine myself taking the HMC40 along with me when I take my son to the amusement park, I can hardly imagine someone taking the HMC150 with him. You sure can, but people will stare at you thinking that you are pro (which you probably are). If you needed the camera strictly for pro jobs, then the HMC150 is a sure winner.

Anyway, I would like to see a shootout between the HMC40 and the Sony V1 (or between the TM300 and the FX7, but so far all I have is indirect comparisons). The V1/FX7 is known for lackluster performance in low light, yet it is quite popular and is used in small and large projects. I wonder how worse the HMC40 is. The HMC40 is tapeless and it records native progressive, which is a definite plus compared to the V1.
 
LoneWolf,

Thanks for the 40 to 150 comparison. As someone with many of the same concerns you had, I'm wondering if you could talk about the larger size and better EVF of the 150. I'm interested in the smaller size of the 40 for portability, but also want a better EVF and low-light performance than my Sony SR11 camcorder. Is the 40 EVF that bad, and are the EVF and better performance of the 150 worth the trade-off in larger size?

Also, are others finding the EVF of the 40 to be a problem? So many things are relative to the cameras we have experience with.

Kind Regards,
Dan
 
Small size is what drew me to the HMC40 also, but I have learned that sometimes, large is better. It's more stable in the hand, there is more space, the ergonomics and features tend to be better. So size matters, up to a point (I wouldn't buy a HMC70 for example).

You're right that subjective experiences like EVFs and viewfinders are relative, ideally one would be able to check out both in person, but sometimes that may not always be possible. (like myself before buying both and returning 1)

The 150's EVF is gigantic. It is huge, this great big circle of glass compared to the thumbnail-sized porthole that is the 40's EVF. I found myself using the LCD, because the EVF was very grainy, low resolution, and hard to align my eye to, being so small. The 150's EVF can be used without me putting my face against the eyecup, it can be seen from further away, I can find the right position for my eye really quickly without trying, and it is wonderfully sharp. Traditionally I am not a fan of EVF's, having learned to like optical viewfinders, but the 150's EVF is really pretty good. IIRC, 400K pixels vs 110K pixels, and Panasonic spec sheets will be able to fill you in on the physical size.
 
Thanks for the additional data LoneWolf. You're right about the very different specs on the 150 vs 40 EVF.

Still torn about which to consider.
 
Congrats on your purchase mate. You'll be blown away with its mojo the more and more you use it. I bought mine around 2 months ago and use it side by side with my DVX on wedding shoots, although the DVX is SD, the both cams can work together tremendously well if set up right.

By the end of November my HMC152 will have paid for itself. The TV show I do has gone to HD (this was the main reason for the purchase) so I was going to miss out on good paid work,, but now the producers are giving me more work than I got with the DVX simpy cause I can shoot HD now.

The 720/50p mode is really addictive cause its great for slomo,,, something the DVX lacked.

Enjoy!
 
Thanks :) it's the weekend - looking forward to playing with it!

HD is good stuff. Can't imagine myself going back to SD.
 
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