HMC150, 30fps, and 25fps questions

L

LoneWolf

Member
Hi all,

Prospective HMC150 owner to be :) I was introduced to the world of video by the Canon HF100, and later, the 5DMk2. I come from a still photography background. The 5DMk2 is an amazing still camera. Unfortunately for a run-and-gun video camera (say, for events use) it largely falls flat. The HF100 is too point-and-shoot for my requirements, and fiddling with the iris on a joystick is a pain. Hence, HMC150.

Got a couple of questions I was wondering if you could help me with.

I have the wretched misfortune of having to put up with the PAL video system in my corner of the world (which is otherwise a nice place apart from the PAL requirement), which means all the HMC's are the 152's, not the nice 150's. This creates interoperability problems with my HF100 (NTSC) and my 5D2 (30P-only). Is it futile to attempt mix footage from the 2 cameras with a 25fps PAL HMC152?

Also, I've heard mixed opinions on iMovie '08 [not] being able to ingest 1080/25P. Any HMC152 owners able to verify whether it can? I know that iMovie is not really befitting a camera of the 152's caliber, but I'm waiting for FCE 5 before I buy. :grin: Good thing Panasonic's bundling Edius Neo2.
 
PS: One more question I forgot to include.

If I ever need 30P some day, is there any way to get it from a PAL HMC152? Shoot 1080/50i or 720/50P to start with, output as 30P? Or is this extremely inadvisable?
 
Not sure where you are located, but if you get the HMC151, it's both PAL and NTSC, and can do :

1080/60i
1080/50i
1080/30p
1080/25p
1080/24p
720/60p
720/50p
720/25p
720/24p

Yes, it's more expensive - being a European model - but once I realised it was switchable between modes, I was willing to pay the extra.

The HMC150 is NSTC only
The HMX152 is PAL only.
The HMC151 does both.
 
LoneWolf said:
PS: One more question I forgot to include.

If I ever need 30P some day, is there any way to get it from a PAL HMC152? Shoot 1080/50i or 720/50P to start with, output as 30P? Or is this extremely inadvisable?
Click to expand...

This depends on your NLE. Shooting at 50P you should be able to slow it to 30p for some slow-mo just like you could slow 30p to 25p if you really wanted.
 
But if I'm not mistaken, you would have to do your 50p delivered in 30 in slowmo. Trying to make it playback in real-time may well produce a stuttered look.
 
Hmm... cost is a concern.

The local PAL version of the HMC (152) is the cheapest. An imported 150 is more expensive, and a 151 would probably be even more costly still. What happened is I actually picked up a HMC40 because of its attractive price and have not been happy with it at all.

Are there any drawbacks to shooting in 25P? I know YouTube/Facebook/manyothervideohosts like their footage in 30P. And anybody had any issues with iMovie/FCE4?
 
Having recently upgraded from FCE4 to FCS I would recommend biting the bullet and going straight for that. FCE isn't great with PH mode footage and FCS is a much more powerful package. You won't regret it.

Regarding the PAL issue, I would sell the other 2 cameras and maybe buy a PAL consumer camcorder and a 7d (which can shoot 25p). If you're in a PAL region you should really be shooting in PAL and delivering in PAL or your clients may be disappointed by what they see. BTW, there's nothing wrong with PAL you know, you could argue it's actually a better standard then NTSC (at least for SD) and at least there is no 24p pull down issues to deal with.
 
Thanks guys :) appreciate all the insights shared in this thread.

No, the 5DMk2 isn't going anywhere, I like that camera too much but will likely use it for what it was meant to be - a DSLR first and foremost. Love my full frame. :) (no 7D for me! Not in the forseeable future at least.) And, while I'm at it, I can hope that Canon releases a firmware patch. Wishful thinking won't hurt...I think :p

I think the real clincher is that I called Panasonic today and they told me I'm out of luck if I want a NTSC camera, and they will not honor the warranty for anything except the 152 PAL version here. It is an expensive camera and I'd like a warranty.

So looks like I will settle for PAL, and good to know it isn't as bad as it seems :)

Stuart, would you be able to mention the significant differences in your opinion, between FCE4 and FCS, from the perspective of a HMC15x AVCHD owner? I am aware there are some limitations on framerates that FCE4 can't handle but as long as it can do 1080/25P from my HMC it will be fine.
 
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