Selling second HMC150 for HMC40?

M

mikeshu

Well-known member
I've played a bit with the HMC40 for the past couple of days and it seems reasonable as a second camera for events such as weddings and receptions. The 40 pretty much depends on gain to expose properly indoors but the noise isn't as bad as I thought.

The question I pose for the community of HMC150 users (or people interested in purchasing one) is how much can I sell my second 150 for, which has mainly been used as a B-cam for events and hasn't seen any wear and tear? It has all original packaging and accessories of the base $3500 package. Do you think $3000 sounds reasonable to you guys? I'm trying to pay for the the HMC40 as well as use the extra money saved for a new field laptop, so lowering the price further isn't so tantalizing for me.

I'm still on the fence of making the swap as it depends on how much I can get for the HMC.

Thanks for your advice!
 
What do you lose in the process? You have a better camera as it is. Plus, given one can pick up a new HMC150 for $3,200... $3k for a used isn't really all that attractive, at least to me. Even if you could sell it for $3k, once you pay for the HMC40, you're not going to get that great of a laptop. If you're simply looking for something to dump footage to, it would make more sense to just buy some more cards and keep the HMC150. At least that's my $.02
 
i second what Mike Harvey said. I don't have a b-cam right now but i need one and when i'm ready to purchase one it wont be a hmc40, i'm going to get another hmc150. i feel that after everything you spend on the 40 might as well get the hmc150 for a little bit more. for the money i dont think that the hmc40 is worth it, but thats just me. i know i'm going to get flamed for saying that.
 
The 150 is better. A new one with 5-year warranty can be found for $3300 (hey Mike, where have you seen it for $3200?). AFAIK warranty is not transferable as is. To transfer 1 year warranty that apparently has almost expired, the prior owner has to unregister at Panasonic. To transfer extended warranty a new owner has to pay $150 for a freaking "inspection" plus shipping. On the other hand, a new gray market no-warranty cam can be found for $2800 or even less.

If I were you I would keep it. It is a great camera.

P.S. After seeing prices as low as $3100 (during NAB days) I would not bite on "$3500 original package".
 
Yeah, I think Mike Harvey hit this one out of the park. Exactly right.

The real question is why didn't you use the money for the HMC40 to buy that laptop? (that's a rhetorical question -- please don't bother answering)

Cranky -- the warranty on the HMC150 is 3 years (5 on the HPX170) -- but your larger point is good -- although I have no idea about the specifics of warranty transfer.

All this being said -- there's always people out there who think saving $100 is worth driving across the country -- so you may very well be able to stick it on Ebay and prove us all wrong.
 
Hi All,

Thanks so much for your input! At this point, yeah, it seems the cost savings on the 40 is negligible. Though what I was looking at was not spending another $2000 to get another camera or laptop but rather making it almost a swap of equipment. But your opinions are making me think quite a bit.

So no support for the sale of the second 150?
 
mikeshu said:
Hi All,

Thanks so much for your input! At this point, yeah, it seems the cost savings on the 40 is negligible. Though what I was looking at was not spending another $2000 to get another camera or laptop but rather making it almost a swap of equipment. But your opinions are making me think quite a bit.

So no support for the sale of the second 150?
Click to expand...

I guess you could make the argument to take the proceeds and use them for the HMC40 and a laptop if you absolutely needed the field laptop. Do you? Because you're going to only be able to get a mediocre one with the cash leftover getting the HMC40. And you will lose a bunch with the HMC150. If it's a b-cam, then not having the XLR's probably isn't going to be a big deal. But if you're doing event stuff, the hit to the low light abilities will be big.

I guess my question is what are you going to do with it? Are you doing weddings/events? And if so, why do you want the field laptop?
 
I look at it this way too because it has happened to me. If you have two of the same cameras you have the perfect backup if something happens to the main camera. I had a camera on a monopod fall over and bust the lens off of a Sony PD 150. I am glad that my second camera was another 150 and not something less that I was using for B shots. Just my opinion, but I want my second camera just as good as my first... Since you already have two of them I would stick with them...

Phil
 
Mike:

I also agree with all the other replies. I would not get rid of a 150 to get the 40. Having exactly matching cameras is worth every penny. I do understand the pain of having cameras sitting around with little utilization, but I wouldn't do it at this point.

If in the future a 150 update is rumored (still a ways away), that would be the time to sell before the new model is out.

I got super lucky when that happened with the Canon XH-A1. When the XH-A1s was announced, the XH-A1 prices dropped overnight, but I had sold a week or two earlier.

I won't re-hash it here, but I tried a HMC-40 for a few days and it wouldn't work out for me because of low-light sensitivity.

To answer you original question, as someone who is looking for another 150, I wouldn't pay more than about $2,600 for a used one with low hours (10 to 30 hours) as it's not worth the risk, hassles and warranty issues. However, you never know what could happen on Ebay other than costing you about $50 for trying (Ebay is such a ripoff on fees).
 
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Marduk said:
i second what Mike Harvey said. I don't have a b-cam right now but i need one and when i'm ready to purchase one it wont be a hmc40, i'm going to get another hmc150. i feel that after everything you spend on the 40 might as well get the hmc150 for a little bit more. for the money i dont think that the hmc40 is worth it, but thats just me. i know i'm going to get flamed for saying that.
Click to expand...

I agree here... I shot with other cameras and trying to match footage in post is a pain and never looks as good as shooting the same cameras... At most of our shoots a HMC40 would not cut it... 3 stops lower low light, we couldn't even afford 1 or 2.

Personally we are saving for a 3rd HMC150, the 40 from what I've seen so far is not an option...
 
All very good reasoning.

I had high hopes of what the HMC40 could do for downsizing a bit in the equipment department, but your input made me change my mind about that now. Now if the 40 was $1500 ish then it might make more sense for someone like me, but I guess I'll just stick it out and hope I churn out enough of a profit in the next couple of months to pay off the second HMC and invest in the laptop.

HMC40 back in the box and back to B&H. Sorry, Panny, the DVX user group wins :-)
 
You have the obviously superior 150 now. Why you wanna go actin' all loco yo?

So for a theoretically quick 800.00 (maybe 600.00) you would give up having a nice prosumer camera(in a matching pair even!) for a consumer camera with worse specs? If you are patient you can earn 800.00 for a new toy, but if you sell your quality out you can't get it back. Unless of course you go back to the drawing board and earn the money again. Or you could then sell your 1st 150 and buy another HMC40. It's a spiral of compromise!

Yes I'm being a smart ass, but a lot can be said for not selling out so quickly. The 150 is an awesome camera. You have it now. Any moves you make selling it off only compromises the value. I've just been trying to hold off on my own GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) a little longer than usual to get the right tool rather than something I know I am going to want to replace before I even buy it. And I tell ya I do not regret ever letting go of 500.00 here or 1,000.00 there in the long run. I do regret buying something inferior and dealing with the deficiencies every time I use it. It really is cheaper in the long run to get what you really want (within reason of course) and not spend more time in post fixing things - like grain caused from bad low light ability, or audio issues from buying a cheap mic etc.

Just my opinion. We all do what we can. Just be patient and you'll figure out a way to have your cake and eat it too.
 
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