GY-HM150E to GY-HM600E Upgrade?

[David Fox]

I'm seriously thinking about upgrading my HM150E to HM600E.

JVC have an offer in the UK running for the next month or so that brings the price of this camera below £3k GBP. Although I am just a (fairly serious) hobbyist that gets satisfaction from using nice kit, this offer seems almost to good to let pass.

Since I've acquired the Vari-Zoom cabled remote for the 150E the zoom control issue has been resolved, so the benefits I see in the 600E would primarily be the nice long lens and a little more camera mass to help with stability and panning. It'll also balance properly on my VB tripod!. Pretty well all my shooting is outside.

From what I read the 600E features the same XDCAM EX mp4 codec allowing files to be dropped straight into Adobe PP as with the 150E.

Anyone been down this route already? I'd be very interested in feedback from owners of the 600 and what there thoughts and opinions are.

Thanks in advance..

[David Fox]

OK, I guess nobody other than me, has gone down this route...

Well I decided to buy the GH-HM600E and so far so good. The second hand prices of the GY-HM150E seem to have subsequently taken a bit of a tumble, so at the moment I've decided to hold on to that as well.

Footage from both cameras running the same codec settings sits nicely together on the time-line and in many shots quite difficult to tell apart.

You could, I guess conclude that the upgrade on image quality alone, is questionable :-)

[John Archer]

I too also have bought a HM600E as part of the cashback offer here in the UK. Also have a HM150E and intend using both in the freelance work I do mainly indoors filming interviews/consultations. Bought a Lilliput 7"monitor which is attached to the tripod with the 150E, makes focusing and setting correct exposure a dawdle since it has a histogram display option. Another purchase I made was a second hand Sony wide angle adapter lens for PD150/70, added two step up rings - glued together, and this lens has excellent resolution and is a handy equivalent 28mm wide angle, only cost around £50 total. I found out about using this lens from another video forum article which unfortunately I have not bookmarked. The 150E and 600E cut together well in Final Cut, the main advantage I think is that the 600E with the bigger chips needs less light on location and that bigger LCD screen is a LOT easier to use than the miniature one fitted to the 150E.
Enjoy using both.

[David Fox]

Interesting, I was beginning to think I was the only one to have migrated from the HM150 to the HM600. JVCs pricing in the UK is very aggressive and enabled me to purchase the HM600, but the downside is that the second-hand value of the HM150 has dropped significantly.

Like you I've decided that for the money I'll get for my HM150 kit, it's hardly worth selling. Most of my shooting is single camera stuff, but the HM150 will come in handy when a smaller form factor is required. The wired remote on the HM150 makes a significant difference to the zoom control.

I use Adobe PP and also find that footage from both cameras sits nicely side by side on the time-line without the need for too much tweaking in post, I tend to shoot 720p, 50.

[Mark Sefton]

How does the optical image stabilization compare between the GY-HM150e and the GY-HM600e?

[John Nantz]

John -
Since you said

Originally Posted by John Archer

The 150E and 600E cut together well in Final Cut,.

Question: Since you said they “cut together well” are you using Final Cut Pro X (or FCP7) and doing multicam using the both cams?

If so, that would be a really good reason for keeping the 150.