AC90: Need a little help to decide if the Ac90 would be a good choice with my HMC150

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Deer Film

Well-known member
I love my HMC150 and it has been great on jobs. I am by no way an expert on all of its controls.
When I do a conference, or meeting, I will set it on autofocus and then go use another camera.
I need a good camera to work with my HMC150.
For my needs, the ac130 was to slow compared to the HMC150 for autofocus.
How is the ac90 compared to the HMC150? Would it be a good choice?
How is auto mode, autofocus, low light compared to HMC150?
Most of the conferences sometimes are very poorly lit. The HMC150 always did a good job without noise.
I sometimes would like a sharper image, but I know from reading posts here that I need to adjust the settings.
Is the ac90 pretty user friendly.
Also, does it have face detection?

I did read if I take the Ac90 outside, I will need a ND filter. Is there a way to tell on the camera when it gets to the point I do need a ND filter or not?

Is there any word of any new Panasonic camera like the hmc150, ac130 coming out this year?
My feeling, I hope the ac90 would work out, because it is under 2 grand and getting good reviews.

Thank you to anyone for giving your time to help me.
 
Hi,

I don't have the HMC150, but since no-one has bothered to reply I'll fill you in on some of your questions.

Autofocus on the AC90 is fast enough.

Low-light capability on the AC90 is good considering the sensor size, greatly helped by the backside illumination, and you can go as high as 18db of gain without any noise. However the sensor is still very small and so is sensitivity, so don't expect any wonders. It can still look dark in the dark...

I'd say the AC90 is very user-friendly (especially since it's got a pretty good auto mode), but it does have quirks - for me the biggest gripe is that you can't change menu settings when using the viewfinder, and when you pull out the LCD to use the menu the viewfinder will switch off! #*@!!

Yes the AC90 does have face detection - cool.

The general understanding, as Barry Green says, is that as long as you stay below f6.8 you're okay. Many people say a 0.3 or 0.6 ND filter (ND2-ND4, 1 or 2 f-stops) is enough in most cases.

I find the AC90 simply unbeatable in its price range. Whether it would be a good companion to your HMC150, I can't say.
 
I use an AC160 with my pair of HMC150's.....the color rendition of the CMOS chip is a bit cooler than the 150's CCD's, and takes some work getting them to almost match. But once you do that, they work ok together although its best to use two of the same cam together. Less hassles in post, IMO.
Now I know the 160 is not the AC90, however it is a CMOS chip cam and may have the same "issue".
 
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