Should I just buy the 150 instead of waiting to see whats comes out next?

>those Alzo HID's

Those things are AMAZING. I don't know why those haven't taken off yet. My favorite use is to swap out practicals in daylight interiors - the 125 watt ends up being an 800w tungsten equivalent daylight balanced that you can put in almost any household lamp. Awesome.
 
Funny thing is they've taken the 800's off their site - they still have the 3-lamp model. I have 3 of the 800's and a ballast-bulb combo; I took a 7" theatrical fresnel and mounted a standard socket in it and it's pretty kickin' with the HID. (though I'd say those are more like 500 watt equivalent).

I'd really like a couple speed rings for the 800s, dang it.

I used one as a rim light on a location the other day, mounted to a drop ceiling - and when I found my angle I realized the power cord was right in the shot. I really agonized about it but there was no way in this setup to move the light without unplugging it, the outlet ended up in the shot. I finally pulled the plug and stuck one of those twin-biax flolights up there instead of waiting for the cool down time. So yeah, the time issue can bite ya. Luckily those flolights weigh like a couple pounds.

That can be a problem - often when I get a set lit and talent in place, I start to dial in an angle or get a cool idea and sometimes have to move a stand or something - usually I don't have to power anything down though.
 
What are you editing with? I still think, a year later, that the 150 was the right choice in the $3k budget. I don't have any envy of anything in the same price, though I would love to have something up around $8, like dual SD cards running simultaneously, and a better, much better, view finder. But I've loved the camera, and so have my clients. I also have a 7D, much like you (traded in my T2i for it). The two do work together ok, and each have a different purpose. Given the low light ability on the 7D, you might even consider the 80...but the 150 has better low light ability. I would like a shoulder mounted version of the 150. I use a DVmultitech mount and it is very good. Your next purchase while waiting might include a Zoom H4n and a mixpre. You can use both with both cameras. The Mixpre is a must have, as the 150 has a hiss problem. You need to go through a better preamp to eliminate it.

My plan was to wait until new announcements from March (first quarter) stuff... but I don't know that I have the time to wait. Right now I am shooting everything with a T2i and I really need a proper camcorder for most of my shoots. I was going to just go with the HMC150 but felt I should wait- but is there any camera in this price range worth waiting for or is the HMC going to still beat whatever is coming out... I have looked at a CMOS Canon that doesn't really seem to be the right answer... anything that you guys know of in the $3000-$4000 range?
 
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