Just got my HMC40 on Saturday!

Jason Allen

Jason Allen

Well-known member
I picked up my HMC40 on Saturday morning in NYC! First impressions as a long time HVX200 and DVX100 user:

-The low light limitations are a bit of a PITA, but can be worked around with proper lighting. It struggles to pull in enough light on all but the brightest nighttime NYC street scenes. Also, +12db gain is totally usable, and it's cleaner than my HVX200 at +3db gain. I was shooting 1080p/24p with a 1/24th shutter at +12db gain and got some great results by sticking to pockets of light on the street. Video to come soon.

-The HMC40's OIS works better than my HVX200 by a HUGE margin, and makes arms-reach handheld telephoto shots look great.

-The HMC40's controls are all great, except for having to go through menus for the shutter speed. I would like this camera even more if it were possible to adjust shutter speed via the zoom controls on the LCD (which I don't ever plan on using). It'd be SWEET if a firmware update allowed users to remap those two keys in the same way as the User Function buttons!

-The battery life on the extended battery is stupidly awesome. I shot from 10 AM until about 12 midnight on one of the bigger batteries, largely without turning off the camera. (AF set to manual focus, LCD screen closed when not shooting)

-The mojo is there. This little camera delivers some awesome quality footage! The picture quality is razor sharp on playback, and it was a startling to me how footage from the little HMC40 completely spanks my HVX200 cams at work. Not to say the HVX200 looks bad, just that the HMC40 looks better (in terms of sharpness, straight-out-of-camera color, and effective/useful image stabilization) under similar conditions!

I also received my Letus35 Mini adapter kit, and I'm waiting on a 43mm coupling ring to get here so I can pair the HMC40 to it. Get off yer a**, LetusDirect! I ordered that part 10 days ago!

Again, video to come soon.
 
its a wonderful camera really only held back by its uselessness in low light, low bitrate, and its lack of a few rings for focus/zoom

battery life is also amazing
 
wannabeapilot said:
its a wonderful camera really only held back by its uselessness in low light, low bitrate, and its lack of a few rings for focus/zoom

battery life is also amazing
Click to expand...

I haven't really felt any limitations from the bitrate - but the low light capability is definitely it's biggest drawback. That said, for exterior daytime work I feel the little Hmc40 is kicking the snot out of my HPX170.

Well, that might be a slight exaggeration - but for the money, it's a fantastic camera.
 
I saw no problems with bitrate... just a few shots that could have benefited from more light sensitivity.

Sticking to low-light areas with pockets of lighting yielded some very nice shots. I took a few seconds of footage of a cook and a customer at a street vendor stand on a very dimly lit street, and it looked awesome. The subjects were only lit with a bare 60 watt tungsten bulb, but I was able to shoot at +0db gain and stop down a smidge.

Some of my subway shots around NYC definitely could have use some more light sensitivity though... I was shooting wide open at +12db gain, and barely got proper exposure at 1/24th sec shutter.

I think at this point, my only real gripes with the camera are:
-teeny tiny viewfinder
-so-so LCD (still better than my HVX200 at work)
-no dedicated shutter speed control buttons (I would LOVE it if they could remap the zoom buttons on the LCD frame to be shutter speed +/-)

For the price I paid, I can't really complain though!
 


Shot at 1080p/24pn, 0-12db gain on the HMC40 in and around Manhattan NY, Hoboken NJ, and Queens NY.

Compressed to 720p/24pn @ 5000kbps H264 *.mov before uploading... it looked even nicer in 1080p!
 
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Welcome to the club my friend.

We all agree the low light sucks but really it is not as bad as some people say it is. Well ok it is but the gain is very clean and can be used a lot more then other HD cameras. I know some Canon users that just would not go over +3 db. Considering +12 db looks so good on the HMC40 I would consider that pretty darn close.

Man if only we could get a 1/3" version of this camera. I would gladly pay more for a little bit bigger chips in this bad boy.
 
What shutter speed did you use? Also, what do you mean 24pn? Anytime I shoot at 24p the footage looks too stroby for me. Did you do something different, other than setting the camera to 1080p/24?
 
24pn = 24 Progressive, Native...

I used full manual mode. Set the aperture and white balance myself, limited the shutter speed to 1/48th second (similar results to a 180 degree shutter on a film camera), and slowed the shutter speed to 1/24th second in low light to bump exposure an extra stop.

If you use a fast shutter speed like 1/1000th of a sec while shooting 24 fps, you will see a lot of strobing. A good rule of thumb is your shutter speed should be 1/(your frame rate x 2)... i.e. 60 fps, 1/120th sec shutter; 30 fps, 1/60th sec shutter, 24 fps, 1/48th sec shutter.

I've been tinkering with this camera more this week... I'm really really REALLY liking the results from it with my Letus35 Mini. Super sharp footage from the adapter with my 24/1.8, 50/1.4, and 85/1.4 primes! I'll post more hobby edits after this week is over... post production craziness at work = not wanting to do more editing at home! :D
 
I do not think the subway stuff looks bad at all.
How does the HMC40 compare to the MMC150 in low light performance?
 
In my limited handling of both, I found the HMC150 to be the CLEAR winner in low light (i.e. lower light than the subway shots). The HMC40 gets roughly an ISO 50 sensitivity, and the HMC150 gets around an ISO 500-640 rating I believe, so it's about 3 stops of light better, and they both have usable gain to boost sensitivity in a pinch.

I'm happy with the HMC40 at +12db gain so far, but with my Letus35 Mini adapter mounted (even with a fast f/1.4 prime lens) it needs a LOT more light to properly expose a scene.

An on-camera light is a must-have accessory for the HMC40 if you plan on regularly shooting low light event videography (i.e. weddings, business conferences, etc). I recommend the Comer 1800 from LAColorShop.com; great customer service and fast shipping from them too!
 
Hi! I'm trying to set my shutter speed to 1/48 but the only options are getting are 1/50 & 1/24 - how'd you swing the 1/48?
 
I used 1/50th. My earlier post mentioning 1/48th was just the theoretical recommended 2:1 shutterspeed to framerate to simulate a 180 degree shutter for a filmic look. 1/50th is the closest the HMC40 gets to that for 24p mode.
 
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