I've been doing some shooting with an HMC150 and a Canon XA10. I watched a lot of footage this past week, and the XA10 footage just looks crisper. The colors are a bit more saturated, the blacks a bit more defined. I'm not sure why since the sensor on the HMC150 is supposed to be better.

I'm using preset scene file 6, Cine-D. Any thoughts for what I can do to change this?

I use the Spark preset and find that my footage has a lot more "pop" that most of the other presets. If it goes over the top I can back it off in Post but 99% of the time it's fine

Which number preset is that?

Noam,

The Spark setting is in Scene File preset 3, which is also my favorite, as it has the deepest blacks and the most saturated color. It's easy to adjust this setting to your taste by going into the menu and editing the Scene File. Master Pedestal adjustments will alter the intensity of blacks and Chroma Level and Chroma Phase will affect color intensity. There are other settings that will affect sharpness and other image elements. I have mine adjusted so it blends reasonably well with images from my Canon 7D and 60D.

I should say I called B&H yesterday and discussed this question with them. The man there said the XA10 chip is a full 1920x1080 chip while the HMC150 one is not but just scales up the resolution it does have (I realize my language is remarkably imprecise). Which leads to two questions:

1 - Is the chip actually better on the XA10?
2 - If it is, isnt that image always going to have a higher upside? The HMC-150 has many advantages, obvously, over the XA10, but in terms of image quality alone, maybe it's best isnt as good as the best of the XA10.

Yes he is right, if you do research you will see many post about it when it first came out.

So, this is a technical question that will sound dumb to those who know the answer. But i dont know it.

How does a camera with a single 1/3rd chip have better image capability than a camera with 3 1/3rd chips? I have no sense for how this stuff works.

Newer technology. Plain and simple. Three years newer tech makes a huge difference.

In terms of "crispness"...

The HMC-150's sensors are rumored to have only 960x540 pixels, which are upressed to achieve 1920x1080.

The HMC-150 has never been known for it's sharpness.

Here some more info here:

HMC150 1080 vs. HPX170 720? (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?154392-HMC150-1080-vs-HPX170-720)

I too use the Spark (#3) present exclusively. It provides a more vibrant color presentation and seems to be the best of the bunch. The sharpness of the 150 is what it is.

I also us the Spark scene file with a few tweaks I cant remember right now. Dont be afraid to get into the settings and make adjustments to your liking.

You might want to post some footage to show what you are seeing.

Just another vote for pre-set #3 spark. I have been using that on both my 150's since day #1.