Should I sell my hmc150 & buy an hpx170?

jamesfeatherstone

jamesfeatherstone

Active member
I have the chance to sell the 150 & upgrade for a somewhat low price. I am just looking for some advice. The hpx would include a 32GB & 16GB P2 card.

I only use my HMC for shooting live music performances & interviews. Anything else, I have a 60D.

Would you suggest upgrading? I'm asking on image quality & low light noise alone. Thanksin advance for any possible replies.
 
The HPX has the same imaging system and optics as the HMC, so the only improvements you would get are a better codec and HD-SDI (not to downplay those features, they're well worth the price difference). Oh and be prepared to have an assistant constantly swap P2 cards and offload them, as i-frame codecs take up lots of space...
 
Lindquist said:
yes the hpx has better low light , more features... ect..
Click to expand...

The low light is identical.

There are a few more features and higher bitrates (with "DV" compression) with the HPX170 -- but -- the OP was interested in image quality -- and the image quality is essentially damn near identical. If image quality alone is your concern -- don't bother with the headaches of P2. If you're not chained to some P2 distribution system -- it'll take exactly 16 or 32 minutes for you to discover why you miss your HMC150. Then, when you get back to your computer and offload, you'll miss AVCCAM all over again. Then, when your shiny new 8 terrabyte server is filled to capacity in a few weeks...
 
"it'll take exactly 16 or 32 minutes for you to discover why you miss your HMC150. Then, when you get back to your computer and offload, you'll miss AVCCAM all over again. Then, when your shiny new 8 terrabyte server is filled to capacity in a few weeks.."


Big LOL, +1!
 
I've compared footage shot on the HMC150 with HPX170 of the same event and could not tell which was which. Saying that DVCProHD is a better codec is debatable as it loses vertical (or is that horiz.. I get thiose mixed up all the time) resolution. 1440x1080 instead of 1920x1080 for example.

If it shot 4:2:2 AVC-I.. now that would be an upgrade. :)

It's more like a step sideways than a step "up".
 
Codec-wise, it is pretty much a step sideways, as far as retained image quality etc. Editing-wise, it's a huge step up -- P2/DVCPRO-HD is a standard in all NLEs and you can edit six streams of DVCPRO-HD off of a P2 card, in realtime, on a lowly dual-core computer.

There's a loss of horizontal resolution using DVCPRO-HD due to the prefiltering from 1920 down to 1440(PAL) or 1280(NTSC), yes, but the HMC150/HPX170 don't really have the horsepower in their chipsets to take advantage of that additional horz res anyway. DVCPRO-HD records 4:2:2 color, whereas AVCHD is 4:2:0, so that's a difference, but ... for all practical purposes, they really do look pretty darn comparable. Of course, DVCPRO-HD from a VariCam 3700 is going to look dramatically superior to AVCHD-anything from a 1/3" camcorder, so you do have to keep things in proper perspective -- the DVCPRO-HD codec is a premium, professional codec, accepted for unlimited acquisition, editing and mastering by both Discovery HD and the BBC. AVCHD isn't accepted by either, mainly because it lacks 4:2:2 color. Now, if there was a 4:2:2 version of AVCHD, that would make things very interesting indeed.
 
Oh, for a hand held camera with 1/2" full res CCDs shooting AVC-I to SDXC cards - the Holy Grail for event shooters!
 
Barry_Green said:
Now, if there was a 4:2:2 version of AVCHD, that would make things very interesting indeed.
Click to expand...

Is this one of those hints with a smile for NAB 2011? And, while I'm completely off topic, do you think a 150/170 successor is due (or likely) for NAB 2011?
 
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