Timecode Output & Input - Continuous?

T

TomBoisseau

Member
Is it possible to have the HMC150 continuously output timecode to a timecode reader so I can have a Production Assistant (off to the side and not leaning over me all the time trying to read the camera display) taking timecode notes for me?

Similarly, can the HMC150 continuously READ timecode from an external time code generator?

Thanks,
Tom
 
You can see the time code output via HDMI on an external (HDMI) monitor. You need to set the option in the camera menus to have on screen display on the external monitor.

I don't believe the camera has any way to input full time because the timecode input/output is via a menu item that allows you to jam timecode together between two cameras, but as soon as you exit the menu it stops.
 
Exact,

Thanks so much for your response. I do not own a HMC150 YET, but am seriously considering purchasing one within the next three weeks.

I suspected from my "research" that there was no way to contiously input or output timecode. That's too bad! None the less, I can not find any other camera in this price bracket that will do what the 150 does. At least it will jam sync!

Any idea how stable the built in timecode generator is? From my experiance on various productions, it seems that most of these "inexpensive" cameras with drift pretty quickly. I remember jam syncing a couple Sony EX3's and they were off by a few seconds after only 30 minutes.

Thanks,
Tom
 
I jam timecode between 4 HMC 151 cameras pretty often (I shoot weddings with up to 4 cameras at a time).

Some days they are all within a frame or two after as much as 8 or 9 hours. Other days they are as much as 14 or 15 frames out. Much depends on how many times I've turned them on/off or changed batteries. The worst I've had is one of them being 2 seconds out after about 12 hours.

Either way, it's been fairly easy to sync them up in post as long as I remembered to jam the timecode first. I try to find an audio click/clap/slap or beat in the music to sync to and then it's all good to go.

I usually reset the master camera timecode to 00:00:00:00 first then jam from there. Once I forgot to do this and the timecode rolled over from 23:59:59:24 to 00:00:00:00 and gave me some issued in post that I had to fix by adjusting the time codes manually in the files. Lesson learned the hard way - so be warned!

I'm sure that not all cameras are the same and other people will have different experiences.
 
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