HMC-153MC? HMC-203MC? What?

C

custerc

Well-known member
Looking at retailers and pricing (doing online first) now that our doc is funded. Had my eyes on the HMC 150; looking at all these sites (I'm in China) what I'm seeing is the HMC153MC. Am I correct in assuming that's the same exact camera, just a different model number for Asia?

I also came across one rather dodgy listing of an HMC203MC...I am assuming this is fake? Far as I can tell, there is no HMC-200, right? And the picture on the side says DVCProHD....what is going on here?
 
All of Panasonic's HMC series shoot AVCHD to SD cards, so yeah, that last link is dodgy. The picture they have is the HVX200 I'm pretty sure.

The last digit does represent the region, so ending in 0 is the U.S., ending in 1 is Europe (or perhaps just the UK). I don't know the rest of the digits though.
 
The different model numbers represent different regions, but also slight changes in the specifications for some of them. For instance, the HMC150 is targeted at the USA market and only records in the typical US frame rates, 24p, 30p, 60i and 60p (or fractions e.g. 59.97 etc). The HMC151 is targeted at Europe, but includes all the frame rates for the US and Europe, so the 151 supports 24p, 25p, 30p, 50i, 50p, 60i & 60p. Other derivatives exist including the 152, 153, 154 and 155. Just make sure the model you are looking at supports the frame rates you need and you should be good to go.

My guess is their HMC203 is really an HVX203, with the last digit being the region the sam at the HMX15x.
 
So it looks like the HMC 153 only supports 25p, not 24p (which is what I was going to shoot in.) I don't really care about framerate from a technical standpoint, I just want something that looks like 24p. My understanding is that this is possible; and I assume even if you didn't convert it to 24p, it would still look pretty similar.

My concern is just that it could be a pain in the ass in editing and output, in terms of working with the footage (in Adobe Premiere) or in terms of burning DVDs that are going to work internationally.

Can anyone advise? Importing a real HMC 150 from the US is going to be a huge pain in the ass, but I'm willing to attempt that process if it's going to save trouble down the road. If there's no real important difference, then I'd just go with the 153, but I really don't understand the implications of the 24p/25p difference
 
If you have any need for PAL frame rates then it sounds like you would be better with a 151 rather than a 150. the 150 can't do 25p, 50p or 50i, so you would be limiting yourself to only ever using NTSC frame rates. If you are in a 153 territory than it sounds like you need those frame rates for local use as well as 24p.

You can take 25p footage and conform it to 24p fairly easily if you really want to. This slows the footage down by about 4% without adding / subtracting any frames, and you can then edit in 24p.

There is of course much more to the 'filmic' look than simply shooting in 24p - I assume you know that already right?

When you go to burn DVD for international (or even domestic) sales, you may have to re-conform it back to 25p for PAL countries ;)
 
I would avoid buying from a webstore that doesn't write the correct model number. What you are seeing is a HVX203.

The different HMC150 series are:
HMC150 = 60Hz NTSC (1080 60i/30p/24p and 720 60p/30p)
HMC151 = 50Hz/60Hz PAL/NTSC switchable
HMC152/153/154 = 50Hz (1080 50i/25p and 720 50p/25p)
 
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SPrimeau said:
I would avoid buying from a webstore that doesn't write the correct model number. What you are seeing is a HVX203.

The different HMC150 series are:
HMC150 = 60Hz NTSC (1080 60i/30p/24p and 720 60p/30p)
HMC151 = 50Hz/60Hz PAL/NTSC switchable
HMC152/153/154 = 50Hz (1080 50i/25p and 720 50p/25p)
Click to expand...

I have no intention of buying from a web store at all, much less that one. I was just online researching prices and thought that was odd.

So the 153 is also just 50 hz? Does that mean I'd need an adapter or something to charge batteries in the US?

Honestly, I'm beginning to think the 151 might be best, if I can get my hands on one somehow. Are there any reputable online stores in Europe that would accept US credit cards and would ship to China?

Alternately, how easy is editing in 25p? Does it look different than 24p footage? This project would mostly be for output to the web and DVD, not too worried about trying to make a film print. Given that, do you think it makes sense to just buy the 153 (convenient) or try to get something that does 24p (not convenient, as I live in China, but probably possible.)
 
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I have the HMC151, feels good to know that I can sell it both in Pal-land and NTSC-land when it's time to separate =)!
 
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