Hi Paul

Did you buy your camera?????

Nope I'm keeping my 72's at this stage ...the thing that worries me is the NZ supplier has HMC80's NOT HMC82's so they might be the USA release camera and not our PAL Land ones so the frame rate might be 24P instead of 25P ...I'm not really sure as yet.

I still need to be convinced about the 3MOS chips...I have been a CCD person for 10 years now so I'm always a little wary after talks about "jello" etc etc. However I think the technology has come a long way!!!

Tell me what you decided to get ???

Chris

Hi All

I see that our local New Zealand guys have the camera in stock now!! However they have HMC80's not the usual HMC82 which is the model for our PAL models.... I wonder if the one they are stocking is 24P or 25p ????

Anyway, the price at AUS$3142.00 isn't that bad..I expected higher!!! That would be US$2864.00

Anyone seen any prices in the USA yet?????

Chris

B&H in New York are taking preorders at $2699US.

Hi Chris

No HMC 72 yet. Am able to wait for HMC 80 feedback; although I guess it's the same camera as an HMC 42. Thing is; if I get a 72, will I start wishing I bought an 80? Either way; I definitely want a shoulder mount!

Know what you mean with regard to GMPro listing; it does say PAL however. Perhaps you should email and ask them whether they have PAL HMC 80's?

I'm seriously considering purchasing this camera.

Has anyone got one yet, or had a chance to try one out?

Ben

Hi Ben

I have had a pair of these now for nearly 2 months!!! Done about 8 weddings with them so far, plus a bunch of Realty shoots too. The new EVF is awesome!!! and the manual controls are really really good on the camera ....you can do almost everything from the outside.

I would say that the CMOS chips are probably sharper than the CCD's in good light but the CCD's on the HMC70 were still way better in low light!!!

If you love shoulder mount cameras like me and want the side of the camera to look like a 747 instrument panel then grab an HMC80 They really are nice and useful cameras but if you are shooting in low light you will need an on-camera LED light!!!

Chris

Thanks Chris.

I'll plan on adding an on camera light to my order.

I plan on using this for weddings, graduations, and other events including school and church activities.


Any other accessories you would recommend?
How's the built in mic?
Should I invest in a shotgun mic?

Hi Ben

Order a mic at the same time..all built-in mics are useless!!! I run a Rode Videomic on each camera and they are awesome!!! You will have to get either a 1/8" to XLR adapter or rewire the mic...Mine are rewired with new cable and it looks a lot neater!!! The curly cord looks messy...it's simple to do if you or someone you know is handy with a soldering iron!!

I'm using the CN-160 LED light you will find on eBay (it also has neat barn doors) and are really good value ...They run on AA's but rather get a CGR Panasonic camcorder battery (just a generic one) as it lasts a lot longer and is less fiddly!!

Any questions when you get your camera???? Just ask!!!

Chris

So the hmc70 was better in low light? Is it a substantial difference? I have a HMC40 and love the camera but the low light sucks. I still need to replace my old DVC60 and want to stick shoulder cam. My second shooter runs mostly in auto mode so the 70 might still be an option.

Hi Adam

It's close actually but I think the 70 still wins....in very low light the CCD's seem to fare better than the 3MOS chips but then again the difference in image sharpness between the two is clearly visible. The 80 is way sharper!!!! Also, trust me, once you have used the new EVF you will wonder how you managed with the tiny "tunnel" EVF that the 70 had. With the 80 and the LCD in the EVF you have an incredibily bright and big image all the time!!! I absolutely love the EVF.

The other huge advantage is that all the controls are on the outside...I only use the menu to format cards!! Everything else can be done on the camera....when you need to adjust something fast, it's a life-saver.

On my side of the pond the 70's are no longer available new!!

Chris

Well I ended up with a HMC70. Thanks for all the info Chris. The 80 definitely looks like a great camera but budget and a pressing need won. I got a real good deal on a used one that was only used for a couple dozen hours. I figure with the HMC70, the little HMC40, and the Canon T3i I picked up a couple months ago we should be able to create some nice wedding videos. I can finally sell my old DVC60 now.

Hi Adam

Great.. you will love it...it has something I miss ..a switchable -20db attenuator on each XLR channel..they dumped it on the 80!! You can turn attenuation off at wedding ceremonies and you get (I think) hotter audio than the 80 ..once the DJ starts at the reception switch attenuation in and the levels are just about right!!!

The 70 doesn't have the manual controls outside so you need to use the menu for iris and shutter settings but then again I have shot heaps of weddings in full auto and they were brilliant!! Just keep the cam on the HF setting and you get brilliant video!!!

I also miss the fact that on the 70, you can get the camera to beep once on record and twice on pause...it's a good reminder for the odd time you might start recording and do a "double press" ..I have already done it on the 80 so use that feature!!

If you need any info/hints/tips on your 70, just ask!

Chris

Chris,

I already transcode everything from the HMC40 using neoscene. Not sure if you do the same or not but I was wondering if I could transcode the HMC70 footage to 30p to match the 40?

Hi Adam

I actually use Upshift to transcode and I make my interlaced files from the 70 or 80 progressive so the file should have the option in Neoscene to strip off the interlacing so you end up with a progressive file.

I tried Neoscene and Upshift and stayed with Upshift but essentially they are the same. If you ever need the Mainconcept Transcoder that Panasonic used to distribute free (no longer available now) I do have a zipped copy ...it's really useful if you need to transcode files back to SD AVI's

Chris