HMC-150 for film? (vs. HPX 170)

K

keeganuhl

Member
Hi folks,

I'm hoping someone with familiarity with the HMC-150 and the HPX-170 can share with me their thoughts. I originally had my eyes on the HPX-170 for short films, music videos, commercials and even features. But at 1/2 the cost, the HMC-150 is tempting. Can someone speak to how the image stands up when blown up to a large size, as it would be at a film festival? Also, do people think this is up to broadcast quality? (ie. if I shot a television pilot on it, would it be rejected on a quality basis?)

Any help with HPX-170 vs. HMC-150 in terms of these quality issues is appreciated. Basically, if my aim is a professional image, would I be smart to go with the HPX-170 instead? Is that basically the bottom of the "professional accepted cameras," or does the HMC-150 fit in there as well?

thanks!
keegan
 
Oh, and is it true that true slo-motion is not possible with AVCHD? That would be a dealbreaker for me I think.

And, as a rider to that question - is 60fps the cap just on the HPX170 and HVX200, or is it inherent to the DVCproHD codec?

keegan
 
The image from the HMC150 is as good if not the same as the HPX170's image. In others words you would not be able to tell much of a difference (at least I can't). The 150 also does 60fps at 720 just like the 170/200.
 
I believe he's referring to the 720/60p mode on the 150. Users have been dropping it into 24p timelines to achieve slow motion. The 200/A and 170 obviously have variable frame rates.
 
Hidef1080 said:
The 150 does indeed shoot 720p at 60fps.
Click to expand...

Ok, so now I'm more confused. Does the 150 shoot variable frame rates, switchable on the camera and watchable in camera after you shoot the shot, like the HPX170, or do you have to put it in software to get the slow motion effect?

thanks,
keegan
 
The HMC shoots 24p, 30p, and 60p. Again users have been able to achieve slo motion by dumping the 60p footage into a 24p timeline.
 
It's as Gymnut808 said, people will shoot 720 60 and place it in a 24 timeline.

The 150 will only shoot at 24/30 and 60i 1080 and 60p 720.
 
keeganuhl said:
Ok, so now I'm more confused. Does the 150 shoot variable frame rates, switchable on the camera and watchable in camera after you shoot the shot, like the HPX170, or do you have to put it in software to get the slow motion effect?

thanks,
keegan
Click to expand...

The camera shoots 720 60p and it plays it back at 60p, it's is in the postpo procces where you lay it in a 24-30 fps sequence and you tell the clip to playback at 30 or 24 fps instead of the native 60 fps that the clip was recorded in, so basically the output is the same in the 170's 60fps and 150's 60fps, is the way you capture the clip which is different.

well at least that's what I've been assuming since I got the camera. And if you follow the logic if you film using 60fps and you playback the clip in 30fps......you get half the speed........or double payback time.......
 
The 150 uses SDHC memory, the 170/200a use P2. There is a huge difference in cost.

On another note, has anyone put the AVCHD in slow motion? With the long GOP, could there be artifacts not present in DVCProHD? Also DVCPro HD is 4:2:2. While some AVCHD standards include 4:2:2 and even 4:4:4, I believe the 150 is 4:2:0.

However you could bypass all those issues by recording the HDMI output directly to a computer.
 
Why everybody is only looking for variable frame rates for slow motion. This is useful on some occasions, but you can also do it in post.

If you capture at 30p, it will not be so bad, but it will be better in 60p.

We could do slow motions with the DVX, now we have 60p!

A good NLE can interpolate the image nicely. I use Avid Liquid and Media Composer and both are really good. Media Composer has even more blending options.
 
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