Ready to purchase HMC150

[Brentium]

Been reading this forum quite a bit and looking forward to contributing and joining in on the discussions.

After weeks of research and talking to people, I'm pretty set on getting the HMC150.

I was looking at this package deal on B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/630227-REG/Panasonic__AG_HMC150_AVCCAM_Camcorder_Anton.html

Any thoughts on this? Is this a good deal? Or should I just go with the camera and get everything else separately?

Thanks!

 

[David Saraceno]

Not certain what the AB battery is going to do to be helpful.

 

[ZazaCast]

I'd just check Full Compass....they have great prices & service.
Shawn Tallard is a member here and always takes good care of me!

 

[averan]

got mine on amazon.com.

batteries and short shotgun mic i got from avalive.com.
the large batteries give you 250min or so of record/playback time. don't bother with the added weight and expense of the anton bauers. get a mic instead!

 

[Brentium]

Awesome, thanks for all the feedback and suggestions.

I'll definitely check out Full Compass.

Yeah, I wasn't sure about the Anton Bauers. I've only heard the advantages, but never the disadvantages. I'm definitely working on a budget, so wherever I can save is great. So the AB battery is overkill? What would be a better alternative?

 

[averan]

do you have some on-camera light that needs an external power source?

if not, then just get extra batteries for the camera. you don't need any special extra external battery for it, just multiples of the Panasonic battery made for the camera.

 

[Brentium]

I'm not planning on any on-camera lights. I have a separate budget for lighting equipment but I'm saving that for later.

I'll go with the extra panny batteries then. Thanks!

 

[Spec-Comm]

HMC150's are in stock here.

Please note the email for better price. If you pay cash, you get an additional 2% off. AND, we're a sponsor.

http://www.spec-comm.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=788

Great choice on a camera!

Sincerely,

Andrew Hoffman
Vice President
Specialized Communications Corp.
20940 Twin Springs Dr.
Smithsburg, MD 21783-1510 USA
800-359-1858 (US)
301-790-0103
Fax: 301-790-0173
andrewh@spec-comm.com
www.spec-comm.com
www.twitter.com/speccomm

 

[Mike Harvey]

I'll second Full Compass... I also got mine from Shawn as well and was very pleased with the service. Spec-Comm is also very good. And as Andrew pointed out... they're both sponsors, so you can't go wrong

I've used that AB battery before with an HVX... and while nice, I agree with David. There isn't a whole lot it's going to do for you that the Panasonic $180 batteries (I forget the model number) won't... plus it's big and bulky. My Pannies last 3.5 hours, so it's not like they'll run out of juice anytime soon.

Also, I didn't see anywhere that you had a tripod. I can't stress enough how important getting a good tripod is. And by good, I have a Bogen 501/3182 combo... I would call a similar setup the bare minimum. A cheap tripod setup will come back and bite you in the rear-end.

 

[HLongworth]

I bought mine from Visual Interactive Dynamics in March and was very pleased with their service and excellent communication. They currently have a sale on the HMC150 at something like $3300 with free shipping

http://www.vidinc.net/aghmc150.html

 

[Brentium]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions, deals and links. I'll check them out and make a decision soon.

Mike, thanks for bringing up the tripod. I've been researching those as well. I've had my eye on the Bogen 503HDV head and wasn't quite sure about which sticks to get. I was also looking at the Kessler Hercules 2.0 mainly due to my interest in the pocket dolly/jib. But I haven't really heard anything about the Hercules 2.0.