OT Panasonic AG-HMC152EN (or AG-HMC150 range)

newhope wrote on 12/4/2008, 3:42 PM

I am currently replacing my trusty Sony PD-150P (PAL) and looking at various High Definition cameras. I've looked at the Sony range from the PMW-EX1 through to the HVRZ7P but I'm also considering the Panasonic AG-HMC150 range, in particular the HMC-152EN.

I'd appreciate it if anyone has experience with the Panasonic camera, as I have a reasonable assessments of the Sony cameras but no end user info on the Panasonic.

My main use is for corporate videos, mostly delivered on DVD and Flash for the web, but I'm also toying with producing a pilot for a 'lifestyle' program for broadcast TV.

Regards

New Hope Media

Comments

Infinite5ths wrote on 12/4/2008, 4:18 PM

We recently shot a music video (which I'm now editing) with an HMC150. Forum member TeeTime used his skills as a DP and manned the cam for our 7-hour shoot; so you might ask his opinion of the Panasonic. After all that work, I'm sure he has one.

Our 24fps 720p footage looks terrific. I transcoded all of it to the Vegas-bundled Cineform codec for editing.
--
Mike

TeetimeNC wrote on 12/4/2008, 7:32 PM

Newhope, As Mike stated we recently shot some HMC150 footage. It was only my second HD project but it went well. I came from a Canon GL2 SD cam.

I would say the strengths of the HMC150 are:
- Tapeless workflow (1.5hr at highest quality on 16Gb SD card)
- Great in low light
- Image quality is very good
- Ability to shoot 24, 30 or 60 fps
- Native 24p
- Relatively light weight
- Well thought out controls

Drawbacks:
- Vegas and other NLE's are not yet handling AVCHD smoothly, you will probably end up transcoding for now.
- You will probably need at least a high-end quad processor for realistic workflow.

Jerry

newhope wrote on 12/4/2008, 11:07 PM

Thanks for the replies it's quite encouraging.

I have a Panasonic AVCHD consumer camcorder and have experienced the problems with AVCHD in Vegas but as I use a Mac Pro (with 2 x dual core 3GHz Zeons) as my editing system I can choose between Vegas via Bootcamp in Windows XP or Final Cut Pro in Mac OSX.

FCP transcodes the AVCHD into Apple ProRes on import from the camera or SD card at faster than realtime. It then plays the ProRes files without a hitch. Only downside is that the files are about 10 x larger than the original AVCHD files, so a 1Gb file as AVCHD becomes roughly a 10Gb Apple ProRes file.

I have edited a couple of projects shot on AVCHD on my Panasonic (family videos) and a client's Sony (corporate video) in FCP with quite good results.

I'm still getting jerky replay of native AVCHD in Vegas so have avoided it at the moment BUT... my main concern is whether other users find the camera a sensible choice for professional video work.

I don't want this thread to spin off onto the pros and cons of Vegas and FCP ....just the pros and cons of the Panasonic HMC-150. Your feedback has been quite helpful.

Thanks again

Steve Hope
http://www.newhope.com.auNew Hope Media[/link]