AC130: Help me rationalize buying an AC130...

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mlah384

New member
I'm in the market for a camcorder. I was about to buy a Hmc150 until I read that the AC130 was an "upgrade" of the HMC150.

I was considering the Canon XF100 until i found out it wasnt a 3 chip camera...

I also was looking at the Sony NX5U...

I will be shooting whiteboard presentations, white screen, green screen, and some interviews with the final video being for web.. So I will be shooting mainly indoors in a studio type of setup with LED lighting. I initially wanted a 4:2:2 camera that had 3 chips and SD cards or similar removable media, making workflow easier getting footage to the computer. My thinking behind 4:2:2 was green screen chroma keying. I definitely want the easiest workflow from shooting, to Sony Vegas PRO 11 on computer, then onto the web. How does the AC130 perform when chroma keying green screens?

What about white screen/whiteboard presentations?

Is the AC130 the right camcorder for all this?

I also will be shooting B footage with a Canon Vixia HF S10. I'm mainly doing this to make it easier to correct the presenter's mistakes during editing... This is one reason I was considering the Canon XF100 to match footage but I may be looking at that wrong? Besides, the lack of 3 chips on the XF100 killed it for me. I'd rather drop $6500 on the XF300 before I'd drop $3000 on a non 3 chip camera... So I'm hoping if I get a different brand such as the Panasonic, that matching footage won't be a huge issue?

My other concerns with the AC130 are the focus issues people are having and the "card door not closed" error several people are having trouble with. Anyone have any input on these issues?

Thanks!
 
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I really think whatever you get , the HMC150 or AC130 will be a good mix with your vixia HFS10. I have the Canon Vixia HFS100 and it mixes well in editing in Vegas with the Panasonic. And if the color is off, you can adjust it in Vegas.
I use both cameras all the time.

HEre are a couple of videos of the HMC150 and Canon Vixia HFS100. The HMC150 shots are the wide angle of me standing in the water. The rest is the Vixia . There was no way I am putting the HMC150 in the water!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-5FRjHnsSU

The next is a video I shot of my dad doing a group shot. The top picture is the HMC150, the bottom is the Vixia HFS100. Everything was on automatic. I think I adjusted the ND filter on the HMC150. I was happy with the results.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGg3Q5P1Ng8


I did not test the AC130 on a green screen, but I had great success with the HMC150 with Green Screen.

Good luck in your search.
 
Deer Film said:
I really think whatever you get , the HMC150 or AC130 will be a good mix with your vixia HFS10. I have the Canon Vixia HFS100 and it mixes well in editing in Vegas with the Panasonic. And if the color is off, you can adjust it in Vegas.
I use both cameras all the time.

HEre are a couple of videos of the HMC150 and Canon Vixia HFS100. The HMC150 shots are the wide angle of me standing in the water. The rest is the Vixia . There was no way I am putting the HMC150 in the water!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-5FRjHnsSU

The next is a video I shot of my dad doing a group shot. The top picture is the HMC150, the bottom is the Vixia HFS100. Everything was on automatic. I think I adjusted the ND filter on the HMC150. I was happy with the results.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGg3Q5P1Ng8


I did not test the AC130 on a green screen, but I had great success with the HMC150 with Green Screen.

Good luck in your search.
Click to expand...

Thanks Deer Film!

Those links really help with my worries about mixing the Vixia HF S10 with another brand!

Since you have both cameras (HMC150 and AC130) would you consider the AC130 to be a better camera? Would you choose one over the other if you were buying a new camera?

Does the HMC150 do anything better than the AC130? or does the AC130 beat it in every area?
 
I have a 150 and the 160. I haven't shot a lot with the 160 yet but what I like is the dual card capability, lens control and longer zoom range. What I don't like is the increase in weight of the 160 over the 150. The weight isn't a big issue, but if you're shooting handheld all day you'd feel the difference between the two cameras.

There are also some little features I like such as the rubber flaps on the back of the camera. On the 150 you have only one large flap that dangles open when you use headphones. On the 130/160 there are multiple small flaps, so it's easier to use with headphones. But I don't like the ND controls. On the 150 there's a slider, easy to reach for, even if you're wearing gloves. On the 130/160 it's a smaller rotating knob and not quite so easy to work with gloves on.

I haven't really noticed a difference in sharpness between the two camera, the 130/160 is supposed to be sharper, but I haven't tested that too thoroughly yet.

If budget is a big issue, look for a used 150 as users upgrade to 130s or 160s. But if you're buying new, go with the 130 as it's the newer model and should hold re-sale value better down the road.

My 2 cents

Cheers

John
 
I agree with John in pretty much everything. I bet if you look around, you can get a HMC150 for close to thousand dollars cheaper then a AC130. Remember, you want to make money. I don't know what you have, but I assume you will have to buy other things for this project. Tripod, lights, camera box, extra batteries, and SD cards, microphone ect.....
Remember, you can have great Video, but if your audio is crappy, it will not go good.

So back to your decision on HMC150 or Ac130, I would read all the posts on this forum, and make your own decision.
You can't go wrong both ways.

For the issue of the "card door not open". That was my camera. No one else has had the problem. And on day 1 of that problem, Panasonic contacted me from this forum, and took care of the problem. It was a surprise. So Panasonic does care about its customers. Customer support is great with Panasonic. You are not talking to someone in India like Dell. I was able to return my Ac130. I am just waiting to hear back on a few things before I buy another one.
My experience with the Ac130 was only a half a day. No more. So it would be better to ask someone with more experience then me. :)

Go with what John said.
 
people are having trouble with the auto focus on the ac130, in fact Panisonic is working for a fix as we speak. Although many dont bother with the autofocus, it is a feature you may want to on occasion.

From your first post, I would think the canon xf100 would fit your needs best as it's a 50mbit per second 4:2:2 cam. The three chip issue is not as a big a deal with cmos as it was with ccd sensors, at least from the footage I have watched. The Canon one chip cmos sensor is also 4;2;2, it's more sensative to light, full 1920x1080chip, it produces beautiful color, it's tack sharp, and the codec is awesome. Plus it will match up with your other cam, as their both sharing the canon look. To me it's a no brainer. but your the one with the cash, so you need to purchase what you think fits your needs the best.

I'm by no means saying that the panisonics are not good performers, they are, they can produce beautiful footage, but overall for doing green screen, I would tend to stick with a 4:2:2 cam. You might want to check and see if either of the pani's can output 4;2;2 signal from the hdmi, i'm not sure if the 150 has hdmi, but you can usually get a 4;2;2 signal from component, well, kind of, component is actually an analog signal, but yields more info. the 130, should have hdmi though.
 
I want to clarify, I have the Canon Vixia HFS 100, not the canon xf100. My vixia is about 3 years old. The canon xf100 looks like it is new. Nice camera, just curious about the low light. I read a few reviews and it said the cons. of the XF100 is the limited zoom and low light. With my vixia they said the same thing, you don't see to much of a difference until you zoom in when it is low light. With the HMC150 , you don't have such a problem in low light. With my Canon Vixia, you will see more grain in low light situation. You just need to know your limitation. I would like to see someone compare the HMC150 or Ac130 and Canon XF100 in low light at wide angle and zoomed in. Most of my shoots are in low light. That is why I like the Panasonics. The Ac130 handled nice in low light as well.
 
I'll be using the camera indoors using LED lighting. So I won't have any low light scenarios... The camera will be on a tripod 99% of the time too... For audio I will be using either an Octavia XLR mic on a boom stand or a Sony XLR lav mic... No wireless mics.... I thought about getting an H4N for sound recording but I think that's overkill for whiteboard presentations, white screen speeches, interviews, etc...? I liked the canon XF100 but that 1 chip thing really bothers me... Plus they are all sold out it seems... I went ahead and bought the AC130 since I got a good deal on it - $3,500... Hope i won't have any regrets...

Also, will the AC130 ever get the 1080/60p like the AC160?
 
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mlah384 said:
My other concerns with the AC130 are the focus issues people are having and the "card door not closed" error several people are having trouble with. Anyone have any input on these issues?

Thanks!
Click to expand...


I have seen several people bring up concerns regarding the Autofocus. But I have only seen one single report of the card door error message.

It does not sound like you would be using Autofocus in a studio setting like the one that you describe. The Sony NX5U would be a much more difficult challenge to match color-wise with your Canon.

I don't see any reason why the AC130 would not do an excellent job for you with the usage that you are describing here.
 
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