HMC150 purchase - Should I sign up for the deal!?

M

MaroneSJ

Member
Hello Gents and Ladies,

I have a great opportunity to finance a HMC150 from my brother. NO APR!! :) No real payment plan, just a commitment to give him $2k before the end of next year, a couple hundred here a couple hundred there. Here is what I got offered (all items in mint condition, used on maybe 2 shoots)...

-HMC150
-Big Battery
-Small Battery
-Boom Mic (Panasonc MIC150)
-Bag
-2 cards, one 8gb and one 16gb
-charger
-cleaning kit

So my question to you is.....should I do it?! Should I wait for a new camera? Should I get the AC90?

I have a GH2 that I have been using for a while but I just need a camera for those long lens zoom shots. I have used the camera a bit and like it, but just haven't had the time to research what is out there yet.

I shoot a lot of action sports so a camera of this type really fits my needs.
 
I like the hmc150. The CCDs handle action shots well. I love the wide lens. A lot to like about these cameras.
I'm thinking about buying a third one, or maybe an ac90. Waiting on real world tests and more $$ to decide.
 
I just put one on eBay, and did some recent sales research. $2k is a good price for a clean & low hours example. Especially being able to buy it "on time". Nice ones are going from $1800-$2300.

Keep in mind it's a great external audio recorder for GH2 shoots, since it has pro-style XLRs, phantom, etc. You can record audio with a visual synch reference this way, too. With some diligent testing and experimenting, you can get it pretty close to your DSLR via all the image controls, and you can save specific setups. Really really nice little camera and it truly has full manual control, not that "Added ND filter" stuff that lesser models use for exposure. It's only failing to me is the pixel-shifted HD, which I really see when pulling keys and on still frames. I'm getting a 130 or 160 since I shoot a lot of keys.
 
Michael,

Do you key with the hmc150 in 1080p?
I haven't done any keying with it yet but I'm very curious as to it's performance because I will be keying soon.
I havent done any keying since I recently bought them.
I was pulling keys with a dvx100b with good results but now have moved more to HD.
 
Compared to a DVX, you'll be in heaven.

I keyed in 1080 - it's far from a perfect keying machine since it's upscaling the footage a bit - you can definitely see the artifacts in your alpha channels. It did beat the hell out of keying from Canon DSLRS, the aliasing really killed me with that footage. I got the best results with these tips:
  • Shoot daylight - tungsten boosts gain in the blue channel, creating noise - not a lot, but every bit hurts. Biax flos are getting ridiculously cheap, you can stick those giant flo tubes (85 - 100 watts) in china balls, the Alzo bulb/ballast combo kicks out a LOT of daylight for $140... etc.
  • Give the camera a lot of light. Try to shoot at F4 or so at least. You want the sharpest focus possible.
  • Shoot at a faster shutter speed to get cleaner blurs - again, you're talking even MORE light;
  • Use a really good, saturated chroma green - avoid low-saturation backgrounds like savage chromakey seamless. Cheap cotton eBay screens work great. I took one to the paint store and had a gallon of paint made to match - great chroma green paint for $15.
  • TEST your lighting and backgrounds - check the channels in your NLE for as little data in red and blue channels, using the camera settings you'll use on set. Adjust lights/gels accordingly.
  • Production design: avoid wispy hair (vs slicked back hair). Avoid fuzz, fur, etc.
  • Use a steamer and stretch the screen to kill wrinkles. Follow all the best-practices you can find for lighting the screen and talent.
  • Pre-viz you backgrounds in photoshop if at all possible - use quality glossy prints on set to match talent lighting. (I just upload photos to the drugstore and get photo-print 5x7's or 8x10's). Make sure that when you're assembling your comps, you don't add having to create or adjust talent lighting to match your background - you've got enough to do pulling a damn key.
  • Consider doing a still shoot on green of talent stand-ins to test lighting and assemble still composites (stills of lit talent on the plates you'll use in the footage) in photoshop - more time, but pre-planning like this can make a giant difference.
  • Consider doing your final edit in 720; output your 1080 keys from AE to 720 - this really cleans things up.
  • Get Mark Christensen's After Effects book and learn his compositing workflow - the most recent edition. Solid freaking GOLD.
I made these from scraps, using china ball mounts and giant flo bulbs - really kickass. They need like 1/4 minus green:

diy-flo.jpg

Here's the latest all-keyed gig I did - really tough, too. Several shots done on a magenta screen. Fuzz, hair... tough keys!!!

 
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