I have been having a hard time with the zoom range of the camera. I shoot a lot of presentations for a school district, so I have to be at the back of halls when I shoot. That being said, everything else about this camera makes me forgive that. I'll probably just get a tele adapter at some point. I do miss the AG-DVC30 for this type of shooting.
Sports- you'll love what you get out of the HMC150.
i wish it was at least 17x. i do find the zoom range lacking but i do as well on my EX1. i do like the wide end though!
for the money spent on the HMC150 i wont complain though. i love this camera and like the above poster says you can always buy an adaptor.
one thing i do sometimes on the 150 and EX1 is shoot at 1080p and edit in a 720p timeline. it comes in at 67%. i will zoom in up to 100% to get a little more out of it. almost every thing i do is in a 720p format so i can live with the work around technique.