I have a Hmc 150 or Hvr v1u

A

AlexandreDesjardins8

New member
Hi im a highschool student, I film for a local snowboard shop and I'm looking to buy my first prosummer camcorder i already have a t2i with a couple of lenses and need something with auto focus, xlr and such. I have the choice between a hmc150 with the hmc xlr mic and a 2 year guarantee for 3000$ or the hvr v1u with a lot of sony's accessories and a 1 year guarantee for 2250$.

Im just looking for opinions, I know that the hmc150 is the better cam but is the extra 750$ worth it.

Thanks
alex
 
take the hmc 150 ,its far better suited to what your shooting ,the hvr v1u only records 1080i or 24p ,the hmc 150 can do 24p 30p and 60p
 
I would strongly recommend Panasonic over Sony. I do not own an HMC, but I have used one, and my DVX which operates simi-similarly is amazing. I used to have a Sony FX1, and although it was fairly decent, the switch back to SD but on a much better camera made it worth it! I eventually hope to get a HMC150 or HVX200, but I would say that the extra money will actually save money in the long run. The HMC shoots to SD cards, which can obviously be reused. The V1u uses HDV tapes which you (SHOULDN'T) record over, as it will damage the tape heads and degrade the quality, but you also have to continue to buy them. You might pay $200 for 100 tapes, or pay $200 for a 16GB SD card which you can store a lot more footage on and use over a longer period of time!

Plus, when you're shooting in a colder environment like the snow, it is better to use flash media like the HMC because tape will have a tendency to drop frames and such. The only upside of tape, in my opinion is that you have definite, physical backup. So if you go with the HMC, get a 1 (or 2) terabyte hard drive and just keep all the raw footage on it. Don't use it as a scratch disk or storage for your final project. Just dedicate it to raw footage.
 
The HMC150 has a 3 year warranty, not 2 years. It's a 1 year plus an extended 2 years when registering on the PASS P2 asset support website.
 
"take the hmc 150 ,its far better suited to what your shooting ,the hvr v1u only records 1080i or 24p ,the hmc 150 can do 24p 30p and 60p"
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The V1U also records 30P. I certainly wouldn't say the 150 is better for what he's doing. The 150 is a little better in low light, but I'm assuming almost everything he'll tape regarding snowboarding will be in daylight where the 150 will hold no advantage. The 150 also only comes with a 13x zoom. The V1U has a 20x zoom and interpolates to 30x quite nicely too. I would think he'll be using zoom a lot for snowboard videotaping. And then there's the fact that the 150 records AVCHD files. That's still more of a capture codec than an editing codec at this point, and no NLE really handles those files particularly well. The V1U uses HDV which has been around longer, and several NLEs will edit it easily without the need for an intermediate codec if your computer is fast enough. Also, the V1U records really good slow-mo.

Both are decent cams, but I think the V1U is better suited to snowboarding videos.
 
swoopie said:
The V1U also records 30P. I certainly wouldn't say the 150 is better for what he's doing. The 150 is a little better in low light, but I'm assuming almost everything he'll tape regarding snowboarding will be in daylight where the 150 will hold no advantage. The 150 also only comes with a 13x zoom. The V1U has a 20x zoom and interpolates to 30x quite nicely too. I would think he'll be using zoom a lot for snowboard videotaping. And then there's the fact that the 150 records AVCHD files. That's still more of a capture codec than an editing codec at this point, and no NLE really handles those files particularly well. The V1U uses HDV which has been around longer, and several NLEs will edit it easily without the need for an intermediate codec if your computer is fast enough. Also, the V1U records really good slow-mo.

Both are decent cams, but I think the V1U is better suited to snowboarding videos.
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good points but 60p vs 30p is really where the V1U gets beat ,of course im taking it for granted that hell want smooth slo motion
its really not that difficult to edit avchd anymore
 
Well the slow-mo on the V1U is actually pretty darn good, though not as good as that on the 150. So that is one point in favor of the 150. But I think I'd still go with the V1U in this case because the slow-mo is good enough I think, and the 20x lens makes up for any slow-mo shortcomings from my perspective. I'm not sure how much he'll be overcranking, but I know he'll be using long zooms constantly with snowboarding (it's impossible to get close to the boarders most of the time). But he'd do well with either cam really.
 
Why not get an HMC40? You'll get a sharper image than with either the V1U or the HMC150 (and be able to shoot 60p also, like with the 150). The 40 also comes with Edius Neo, which edits AVCHD quite nicely, even a low end quad. It's not like inadequate lighting will be a problem - probably a good idea to get some ND filters actually.
 
Btw, you can get an HMC40 with the XLR adapter (new) for less than the $2250 you mention for the V1U, and get the 3 year mfg warranty when you register the cam with Panasonic.
 
Well i finally went for the hmc150 i got it brand new for 3200$ straight from panasonic my mom had a contact, i think it will work great with my t2i. I guess i'm going to have to wait and see how I like it this winter. I wasnt sure of my decision but then my mom wanted to surprise me by asking a friend to get it straight from panasonic and ordered it without telling me and another plus for me was the sdhc.
 
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