AC130: HMC 150 to AC130 upgrade - or Ninja?

[Michael Carter]

OK, I know when the 130 came out we had a lot of "VS" threads dealing with features; I've got a specific question for anyone who has some familiarity with both. (I searched, I searched!)

I seem to be doing more and more green screen work for broadcast - mixing green screened footage with animation, etc., and I've developed a style of this that clients are responding to.

Keying with the 150... it's not hair-tearing, but it's pretty rough. (And I've done a lot of hours of it and know plenty of tricks to get the most from it).

The two issues that seem to raise their heads are (what looks like) upscaling artifacts from the non-native chips; and motion rendering of AVCHD.

The motion rendering tends to be OK to work with, as I can selectively amp up some motion blur. My understanding is that recording to the Ninja gives much better motion rendering, and that's about it (other than the giant benefit of data safety using a drive - the 130 helps in this regard with dual cards though).

Would moving to the 130 be a noticeable improvement in image clarity for keying? It's still AVCHD, but it would also make me feel a little better regarding dual SDHC cards (never had one fail, but man... scary if you've booked a studio and a dozen people for a day. The idea of blowing ten grand...)

I can afford to go either way for now. Anyone with experience able to tell me if the bang for the buck is there with the 130? Please chime in and thanks!

 

[Barry_Green]

Moving to the 130 would indeed result in a noticeable boost in clarity for keying, especially if combined with a Ninja. The chips are noticeably sharper in the AC130, and there's just a whole bucketful less noise, so you get cleaner crisper images. And when outputting to the HDMI it's a full 4:2:2.

 

[Michael Carter]

Thanks Barry - from what I've researched, looks like upgrading to the 130, followed by a Ninja would be a great upgrade path.

 

[rzr219]

Well, if you are going to spend the extra for a Ninja, why not do the 250 and then you don't need an external device hanging on the camera plus you will get 10bit 4:2:2 , 4 channel audio, SDI output and AVI Intra 100 on a rock solid P2 card. I also was going to go with the 130, but when I added up my total cost for everything the 250 made more sense (green screen made in heaven with the 250 and 10 bit)and a much better buy. Just my 2 cents worth since you are asking.

 

[Michael Carter]

Thanks rzr - my issue is I'd rather not upgrade that amount all at once (I also shoot stills and score all my stuff, so my upgrade list is constantly massive... and then there's the whole artsy DSLR side of things, I've really been happy with the D7000 footage I'm using and need to rig-out my Nikons similar to my Canons... and I've been shooting super 8 and looking at 16... a band I shot a music video for has recruited me for lead guitar so I need more "fun" gear, more guitars & cabinets, on top of two kids in college, etc etc...)

So I'm thinking the 130 would be the next step, dual cards for less on-set terror and no P2 expense. Follow that with a Ninja as time allows, or hopefully by that time I'd look as something more in the 10K range (that new sony with ultra high speed frame rates is really, really appealing... as is going with a Scarlet kit).

On the other hand, the economy has really picked up since the new year (I'm in Dallas and we don't do "recession" very well, people down here get really sick of not spending money) so I may see what the next 60 days brings.