butterstick
Active member
im into filming snowboarding and skateboarding and am choosing between those two cameras and i am wondering about your input.. I like the 60p frame rate that the hmc40 has. let me know what you think
hmc40 or fx7?
- Thread starter butterstick
- Start date
ATL Media Group
Veteran
For your purposes.. I'd go with the HMC... Memory beats tape, 1080P extremely clear footage for what you need. The 720 60P would be sweet for slowmo (much desired for sports/skating)
No moving parts and it's smaller and lighter so you can toss it in your backpack and take off.
Easy choice. HMC40 all the way man.
Robert M Wright
Well-known member
I just can't think of a serious reason to purchase an FX7, with HMC40s available now, unless tape is highly desirable for specific archiving purposes perhaps, or AVCHD just isn't suitable at all for editing, under your particular circumstances.
Well, I just sold my FX7 specifically to purchase an HMC40. I can give you my reasoning, but it is only MY logic and it probably isn't worth much more that the electruns used to make the post.
1. I have a serious home computer for editing, so I was less concerned about that 'con' of editing requirements
2. 1/4" CMOS vs 1/4" CMOS = break even for rolling shutter issues
3. I find tape annoying. The rewind/capture taking 1:1 the time to record.
4. Hard Drive and flash drive space is cheap. Online backup space is cheap. Tape backup space is cheap if you really want to back up to tape.
5. Fewer moving parts = less wear and tear on the system (and remember that record then capture puts 2x the wear on the tape heads)
6. Fewer moving parts = nothing to generate noise that the internal mike can sometimes detect when forced to use that.
7. SD cards are much smaller and easier to carry. I think one DV tape case would hold enough SDHC cards to film for 6 months straight, but haven't tested the theory.
8. The camera is a bit smaller and lighter, too - more room in my kit (and lets not forget how draconian airlines have become on their luggage specs)
9. The firewire port is vulnerable to failure when capturing -- google bad firewire FX7. USB is a better hot swap in my experience.
10. Tape is more subject to environment. You're onlocation in Death Valley and rush over to "DVTapes R Us" and buy some tape. Who knows how long that tape sat on a pallet in 135 degree heat before finding its way into the store's controlled environment? What did that do to the tape lubricant? Also, most places recommend you pick a brand of tape and stick with it for best long term use of the camera. What if you can't find your brand? I can dump SDHC cards to a notebook or an external drive all day long (side note, I don't know, but can you dump files directly to a passport drive via the USB connector on the camera - no computer involved?). I have seen a bit of quality variation from tape to tape, even using Sony brand exclusively. Again, this quality variation is a non issue in SDHC cards. Get 2-3 good high capacity cards and dump them off, even to lower capacity cards if that pleases you. You can re-use the cards where I would not advocate reusing tape in HDV. The format isn't that robust and a dropped frame = a dropped half-second due to the compression. I didn't have bad luck with this...but I never reused a tape. Others griped about it a lot.
11. 1080*1920/24p on the HMC40 versus 1080*1440/60i on the FX7- I wanted real 24P option, but the HMC can do 30p/60i also (and I'll take 30p thak you).
For you, there is also that the HMC40 is a little less expensive. About 100-150 but that could buy a good memory card, for example, or put a dent in the XLR box to go with it.
MY thoughts, for whatever they are worth.
1. I have a serious home computer for editing, so I was less concerned about that 'con' of editing requirements
2. 1/4" CMOS vs 1/4" CMOS = break even for rolling shutter issues
3. I find tape annoying. The rewind/capture taking 1:1 the time to record.
4. Hard Drive and flash drive space is cheap. Online backup space is cheap. Tape backup space is cheap if you really want to back up to tape.
5. Fewer moving parts = less wear and tear on the system (and remember that record then capture puts 2x the wear on the tape heads)
6. Fewer moving parts = nothing to generate noise that the internal mike can sometimes detect when forced to use that.
7. SD cards are much smaller and easier to carry. I think one DV tape case would hold enough SDHC cards to film for 6 months straight, but haven't tested the theory.
8. The camera is a bit smaller and lighter, too - more room in my kit (and lets not forget how draconian airlines have become on their luggage specs)
9. The firewire port is vulnerable to failure when capturing -- google bad firewire FX7. USB is a better hot swap in my experience.
10. Tape is more subject to environment. You're onlocation in Death Valley and rush over to "DVTapes R Us" and buy some tape. Who knows how long that tape sat on a pallet in 135 degree heat before finding its way into the store's controlled environment? What did that do to the tape lubricant? Also, most places recommend you pick a brand of tape and stick with it for best long term use of the camera. What if you can't find your brand? I can dump SDHC cards to a notebook or an external drive all day long (side note, I don't know, but can you dump files directly to a passport drive via the USB connector on the camera - no computer involved?). I have seen a bit of quality variation from tape to tape, even using Sony brand exclusively. Again, this quality variation is a non issue in SDHC cards. Get 2-3 good high capacity cards and dump them off, even to lower capacity cards if that pleases you. You can re-use the cards where I would not advocate reusing tape in HDV. The format isn't that robust and a dropped frame = a dropped half-second due to the compression. I didn't have bad luck with this...but I never reused a tape. Others griped about it a lot.
11. 1080*1920/24p on the HMC40 versus 1080*1440/60i on the FX7- I wanted real 24P option, but the HMC can do 30p/60i also (and I'll take 30p thak you).
For you, there is also that the HMC40 is a little less expensive. About 100-150 but that could buy a good memory card, for example, or put a dent in the XLR box to go with it.
MY thoughts, for whatever they are worth.
Robert M Wright
Well-known member
720p60 is my preferred format for shooting video, and you can't get that in an HDV cam, aside from JVC's, and even then only in the pricier models. I love the smooth motion of 60p footage. I'm not out to imitate film. I shoot video, with absolutely no apologies whatsoever.
I don't think I'd consider a camcorder that can only shoot 60i ever again. I'm not even sure you can buy a native interlaced HDTV anymore. Even 24p wrapped in a 60i stream strikes me as horky (considering it's 4:2:0 color).
I don't think I'd consider a camcorder that can only shoot 60i ever again. I'm not even sure you can buy a native interlaced HDTV anymore. Even 24p wrapped in a 60i stream strikes me as horky (considering it's 4:2:0 color).