HMC150 vs VDSLR again...

Eaglei23

Eaglei23

Member
Hey everyone,

I've gone through thread after thread of the VDSLR vs Camcorder talk and still I find the answers ambiguous at best. I shoot documentaries, but I also like to shoot narrative short films. I find myself consistently frustrated with the HMC's picture quality despite the constant tinkering with the help of Barry Green's book.

So if someone could just help me out by putting into layman's terms the main drawbacks of me switching from my HMC150 to VDSLR, it would be greatly appreciated. (I'm already aware of the audio issue with XLR mics.)

From the bottom of my heart,

Thank you.

Ryan
 
It all depends on what DSLR your talking about really... every DSLR will have limitations when compared to the HMC150, but there are usually work arounds.

Most commonly you will lose:

Articulating LCD
Zebras
Servo Zoom
Auto Focus
1080 recordable HDMI output
AVCHD long record times
Unlimited length clips (to usually 12 min)

But again some things depend on the DSLR your considering.
 
Well... to add to what "MadHMC150" wrote:

CCD vs CMOS. 60fps on the HMC150 is ideal for running around and motion, etc. Running around and motion with any current DSLR is a sickening world of jello vision.

AUDIO. You need a separate audio recorder, like the Zoom H4n, for DSLR productions.

TIME LIMITS. With the exception of the GH1 and GH2, that is a serious DSLR ONLY in this forum and no where else on Earth, you run up against time limits due to no clip spanning. With the HMC150 you can record at "PH" mode until your card fills up.

There's more. Much more. Basically you need to really know what you're doing with an HMC150/HPX200/HVX200A for stuff to not suck. They're not consumer cameras. Barry Green's book is an excellent starting place, but it's not a destination.

Try this -- engage the default F5 Cine-V (use "init" to return it to default), lower the detail and v.detail to -7, increase coring to +2, and then lower the master pedestal to -10. Do that and you should end up with something that looks pretty darn close to the Standard picture profile of a Canon HDSLR. Either set your white balance to the default 5500k, or manually white balance. If you're in love with sharpness, then do all your sharpening in post -- you'll get far better results with lower noise. Leaving sharpening up to the "tiny computer" in the camera is always, always a bad idea.

The big idea is that you own both, not one or the other. Both have strengths and weaknesses and are ideal for different applications.
 
AGMedia said:
Well... to add to what "MadHMC150" wrote:

CCD vs CMOS. 60fps on the HMC150 is ideal for running around and motion, etc. Running around and motion with any current DSLR is a sickening world of jello vision.

AUDIO. You need a separate audio recorder, like the Zoom H4n, for DSLR productions.

TIME LIMITS. With the exception of the GH1 and GH2, that is a serious DSLR ONLY in this forum and no where else on Earth, you run up against time limits due to no clip spanning. With the HMC150 you can record at "PH" mode until your card fills up.

There's more. Much more. Basically you need to really know what you're doing with an HMC150/HPX200/HVX200A for stuff to not suck. They're not consumer cameras. Barry Green's book is an excellent starting place, but it's not a destination.

Try this -- engage the default F5 Cine-V (use "init" to return it to default), lower the detail and v.detail to -7, increase coring to +2, and then lower the master pedestal to -10. Do that and you should end up with something that looks pretty darn close to the Standard picture profile of a Canon HDSLR. Either set your white balance to the default 5500k, or manually white balance. If you're in love with sharpness, then do all your sharpening in post -- you'll get far better results with lower noise. Leaving sharpening up to the "tiny computer" in the camera is always, always a bad idea.

The big idea is that you own both, not one or the other. Both have strengths and weaknesses and are ideal for different applications.
Click to expand...

+ 1 Unless you're one of the lucky people who can afford the AF100, upcoming NXCam 35, or F3, the next best thing is something like the HMC150/HVX/A1s and a DLSR used in conjunction. Don't ditch your HMC, just add a simple DLSR set up. When you're not relying on it (the DLSR) for everything, you won't have to buy every accessory under the sun to make it operate LIKE what you already have- The HMC. An HMC150 and a DLSR set up should give you the potential imaging power many would have died for just 5 years ago. For inspiration, just google Films made with the DVX100- it's amazing what that camera could do and the HMC150 is by all accounts a better/modern version of the DVX, and we all know what the DLSRs can add to that.
As far the Hmc150 IQ - I think experimentation is key...find out what works for different scenarios (there's a lot of great looks to be had) and make a custom scene file(s) Read through the threads that have footage in them and see what people did to get there.
 
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I hate these arguments, both cameras are just tools that can be used well (or used poorly) in the right hands. Pulpfiction is right though, an HMC150/DSLR is a pretty good combo that covers a lot of bases.
 
Thanks a lot for your responses guys...
I'll keep the HMC-150 for now and wait for the next best thing.
Thanks pulpfiction for the scene file description. I'll try it out.

Ryan
 
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