HMC40 vs HPX170

G

ggrantly

Veteran
I purchased a HMC40 earlier in the year as a B-Cam to my HPX170. I thought about a DSLR, but went with the HMC because I thought it would be easier to match I didn't have a good way to compare, but have fixed that issue and am now doing some serious scene file matching. When I get something real close I'll post it up, but both cams really do have the same Panna look and think that a good match will happen.

What has really amazed me doing side by side, is how great the HMC40 IQ really is. Now we are talking bright daylight comparisons, so don't ditch your bigger sensor cams. I threw some pretty difficult stuff at both cams in 720p30 and 1080p30 and the HMC40 beat the HPX cold on sharpness in both modes. I felt color was close enough to not see much difference. This would be different when editing with 422 codec on the HVX. What really shocked me was shooting green trees shaking a stiff breeze, the avchd HMC40 seemed to have less motion blur!

I am not suggesting I would ditch the HVX for the HMC, but it was an eye opener. It also make me realize what a great relative value the HMC40 is.

Grant
 
The 40, in bright light, is absolutely fantastic. I'm very very happy with it. But when the light levels go down, so does the image quality. Gain doesn't really help, it just makes things blockier and muddier. The sensitivity advantage of the 170 makes it shine in the low-light scenarios (hah! pun!) but no question, in daylight scenarios the HMC40 does startlingly well.
 
I'm just as shocked - I got an HMC40 a while back, mainly due to its size (I travel a bit for work and an HMC40 setup is easier to packup and travle with). But lo and behold in many situations the HMC40 isn't just as good, it's actually giving me a better image than I was getting with the HPX170.

On the other hand - I had considered selling the 170 and still haven't been able to bring myself to do it.
The HMC40 is great... as long as you're on the surface of the sun.
The thing does eat up light, that's for sure.
 
ggrantly said:
The other thing that was magnified in the side by side is the HMC40 lack of wide angle. I'm not sure but I think I just magnified a wide angle; is that a oxymoron?

In any event, I might check out the W/A lens market. The .5 Century seems pretty wide. Has anyone tried the Panny version:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...W4307HPPK_0_7x_Wide_Angle.html#specifications

Grant
Click to expand...
panasonic one is excellent
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...HPPK_VWW4307HPPK_0_7x_Wide_Angle.html#reviews
 
I did a green grab of my spouse in good light with the HMC40.

It was fantastic.

I just wish it slightly better low light.
 
Grant,

I'm waiting for my Century 0.65x wide angle to arrive from B&H. I thougth the 0.5x would be just too wide and bendy (I mean barrel distortion) to make me happy.

I don't have a lot to compare it with on the HMC41, not without buying all the lenses and comparing them, which isn't practical. 0.65x should take the 41mm of the HMC to about 27mm, which is pretty useful, and still full zoom through.

I'll report back when it arrives and I run a few tests.
 
Thus far, I am shooting mostly things where I have good control over shooting situations, so as a B-cam, this seems ideal. Given some light, it is a great guerilla cam to whip out in a crowd since it doesn't attract a lot of attention. It makes me look like an Unclebob with a 20 year old VHS.

Grant
 
I will add that the only thing I really miss from the HPX170 is the manual zoom.
But for the size/price, if you're doing daytime exterior shoots you really can't beat the HMC40.
I'll gladly give up a manual zoom for a sharper and cleaner image.

(and yes, a WA converter is pretty much a necessity with this cam, the lens isn't nearly wide enough)
 
Mike,

The distortion issue is why I was interested in the Panna version at .7x. Does the Century have filter threads, the Panna does. On wide angle outdoors shots, a polarizer is a good thing, though vignetting may be an issue.

I wonder who makes the Panna W/A?

Grant
 
GrahamH said:
The Pana does NOT have filter threads.
Click to expand...


If you're talking about the HMC-40, you are incorrect.

Removing the outer plastic lens hood allows you to attach 43mm filters to the HMC-40. Then, if you remove the inner "lens shade" (or whatever you call it), you can attach a 43mm thread-size wide-angle adapter.

I know this because that's exactly what I do with my HMC-40. :D
 
Stephen Mick said:
If you're talking about the HMC-40, you are incorrect.

Removing the outer plastic lens hood allows you to attach 43mm filters to the HMC-40. Then, if you remove the inner "lens shade" (or whatever you call it), you can attach a 43mm thread-size wide-angle adapter.

I know this because that's exactly what I do with my HMC-40. :D
Click to expand...

I think he was referring to the Panasonic WA adapter, meaning it doesn't have filter threads on the front of the adapter (so you can't put a polarizer on it, for example).

Though looking at the image on B&H's site, it looks like it does have filter threads:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...PPK_VWW4307HPPK_0_7x_Wide_Angle.html#features

But I've never seen it first hand.
 
The Century 0.5x wide angle does give a very wide angle look with distortion, but you should not zoom into the image. As you try to zoom in, the edges become softer and softer. At about 52 zoom, the whole image goes out of focus.

I find that having the iris closed down as much as possible gives the best image in the corners. The following video had the first few minutes shot with the Century 0.5x wide angle adapter on the HMC40.




Bob Diaz
 
Apologies for not being clear - I interpreted the comment about filter threads as being directed at the (threadless) Panasonic 0.7X itself.
 
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