Panasonic just announced update to TM300. New HMC40 soon?

ATL Media Group said:
I'd look for an updated HMC150 before they release a cam to hurt/replace the HMC40. The 40 is a good seller for them right now.
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It may be, but the industry overall is still adversely affected by today's economic situation.

I don't know if it is better to reign in or develop improved products to generate interest and sales.

The 40 is a nice little cam.

I wish it had the light sensitivity of the 150 with the 40's sharpness
 
v3rlon said:
consider this...

Panasonic releases a brand new camera next month. It is an HMC40 except
You can save scene files to the card
The Focus ring can be set to meters instead of focus units
gain can be used at any apeture
no more turn the camera off to load a scene file
and I'll even throw in 1080p60 in mp4 file.

Do you go out and spend $2300 to get it? Is the HMC40 a doorstop? MAYBE, MAYBE if you need 108060, but the others are simply not a factor.


Now consider that panasonic updates the firmware to the HMC40 so it manages all those things, but also next year releases the HMC50: It has all of the above and

Dual SDHC slots
new Gen2 3MOS sensors. They are the same size, but more sensitive to light and thus 3 stops faster.
Improved OIS system.
Lens with a little more range at each end.
25% longer battery life
Slight ergonomic imporvements to buttons and so on...


Do you look at THAT camera.

Now suppose that Canon and Panasonic both released a camera like the matches my hypothetical HMC50. The only differences are some aethetics. They are even the same price.

Knowing that Panny did that substantial refresh of the HMC40, which one are you more likely to buy?
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I'd say that would be highly unlikely and here's why....

All the Professional Video Camera Companies introduce replacement cameras on a 3 to 5 year cycle. The HMC40 came out just last year, so it makes no sense to replace it now. The HMC150 has been out for about 2 years, that's too early to replace it; however a "HMC150A" could appear by NAB, but next year is more likely. Even then, an "A" version is NOT a given. The 170 is around the same time as the 150, so highly unlikely anything for that model.

Could they introduce a consumer camera with several cool features, yes. Will it have the level of control as the HMC40, no.


Bob Diaz
 
And the iPhone encourages firmware updates, too.

And the iPhone encourages firmware updates, too.

jaydigges said:
I think Playing MMOs like Warcraft has my generation hopeful that the next patch will fix everything they don't like about the game, and give them everything they have been wishing for.

/cynicism off
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I'm not a gamer, so can't speak to that, but in my mind, it was HUGE that when the iPhone was first released, Apple did add features for it with the first several cycles of firmware updates. To see a hardware company essentially GIVE away features with improved software updates really may give us some unrealistic expectations with regards to other hardware (read: camera) companies doing the same. Apple didn't have to improve my iPhone 1.0 handset, but they did, and it did inspire some customer loyalty.

That being said, firmware updates seem to be the exception to the rule for camera hardware companies, although as someone said, they could inspire a ton of loyalty if every once in awhile, they dropped a firmware update that gave us an added feature if the hardware allowed it.
 
I am not saying it is likely, but that it would not "ruin the business model" to do so. Even if they offered 1080p60, which I think might require new hardware to do anyway, that would not be enough to keep people out of the camera with new features that surely take new hardware (like the extra SDHC slot).

And that new software features (at least the feasible ones) are not really enough to get people to buy a new camera on existing hardware.

What they would do is convince customers that a company was willing to improve a product after it shipped, and that would be good for business as long as they didn't intentionally cripple it for a software update later.
 
v3rlon said:
I am not saying it is likely, but that it would not "ruin the business model" to do so. Even if they offered 1080p60, which I think might require new hardware to do anyway, that would not be enough to keep people out of the camera with new features that surely take new hardware (like the extra SDHC slot).

And that new software features (at least the feasible ones) are not really enough to get people to buy a new camera on existing hardware.

What they would do is convince customers that a company was willing to improve a product after it shipped, and that would be good for business as long as they didn't intentionally cripple it for a software update later.
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It would be great if camcorders could be upgraded like desktop computers. At least with a PC, you can upgrade the processor or other components without replacing the whole system. I am sure this approach is not currently feasible in today's camcorders, which are too integrated, miniaturized and complex to practically upgrade internal components. Undoubtedly, it would pose too much of a nightmarish engineering challenge to be worth the effort, but it would be nice if it could be done.
 
Does anyone have any comments on intercutting TM300 and HMC40 footage - are there scene settings for the HMC that can provide a reasonable match? (If so let's hope that's also true for the TM700).
 
ShugPro Digital Studio said:
looks like a great b-cam for the hmc40
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It would be interesting to see how the TM700's 1080P compares to the HMC40's 720P. I would expect both cams to inter-cut nicely, since the sensors are similar. However, I do wonder if there is a compatibility issue between AVCHD and the TM700's 28 Mbps mode.
 
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Barry_Green said:
I am certain Cranky would win that bet. The professional lineup doesn't change nearly as frequently as the consumer lineup does.
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If I'm not mistaken, just one year after the DVX100 was introduced, Panasonic came out with the -A model, and two years after that the -B model. Knowing that, it wouldn't surprise me to see an HMC-40-A this year, not because the specs on their consumer products changed, but to improve on deficiencies on the current HMC-40.
 
Angel Janer said:
If I'm not mistaken, just one year after the DVX100 was introduced, Panasonic came out with the -A model, and two years after that the -B model. Knowing that, it wouldn't surprise me to see an HMC-40-A this year, not because the specs on their consumer products changed, but to improve on deficiencies on the current HMC-40.
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The DVX100 was WAY more popular than the hmc40 from the moment it was released. It was an "industry changing camera" and was therefore much more likely to be updated than any other prosumer camera, ever.

also, here's some details:

DVX100 - Dec 2002
DVX100a - June 2004
DVX100b - End of October 2005

"In late 2005, Panasonic announced the DVX100B. While the main purpose of the B model was RoHS compliance (Reduction of Hazardous Substances in manufacturing, required in the EU starting in 2006), Panasonic squeezed in a few additional improvements, such as sharper EVF and flip-out LCDs, true 16x9 monitoring, more remotely-controllable functions, and FireWire scene file transfer"
 
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Vegas 8 Pro has no problem with these files. Well, except of playback speed on my machine.

General
Name: 20100314_153530.m2ts
Folder: D:\Videos\TM700
Type: MPEG-2 Transport Stream
Size: 236.45 MB (242,128,896 bytes)

Streams
Video: 00:01:18.078, 59.940 fps progressive, 1920x1080x12, AVC
Audio 1: 00:01:18.078, 48,000 Hz, 5.1 Surround (stereo downmix), Dolby AC-3
Audio 2: 00:01:18.078, 48,000 Hz, 5.1 Surround, Dolby AC-3
 
sigamy said:
Any word on if the TM700 has a cine-gamma mode?
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Here's a link to the manual: http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/HDCHS700-MUL.PDF

On page 67 it says this:

DIGITAL CINEMA
Use this function to record an image with vivid color, like an image on a movie film.​

≥ The shutter speed is 1/48 or more. (When [AUTO SLOW SHTR] is [ON], it is 1/24 or more.)
≥ This function cannot be used in the Intelligent Auto Mode or 1080/60p recording mode.
≥ The images may not appear smooth.

So it looks like it's an all-in-one setting affecting both shutter and scene characteristics. Ugh...​
 
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