Panasonic Announces Dramatically Lower Pricing on AG-HMC40

[Jim Forrest]

Still no word on the availability of the HMC-40. I was hoping it would come in around the middle of August but it looks like early September now.

[Steve Wolla]

Reading the specs on the HMC40 it looks like it's VERY CLOSE (identical?) inside to the Panasonic HS300 consumer cam. That is a very nice piece of gear, Look at how the HS300 performs-odds are it will be the same cam as the HMC40 in video performance.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Bob

The first thing that put me off was the 3MOS chips so I second your comments!!! I see that Panasonic have already said that a firmware update will be available for the rolling shutter.

The Flash Band Compensation firmware upgrade compensates for the “flash band” effect experienced by most MOS-based imagers. * As these imagers utilize rolling shutter, which records images line by line instead of simultaneously, as with global shutter technology, they tend to be susceptible to image variance when a light flashes during shooting. A light band (flash band) can appear in the continuous two frames when a flash occurs…

* As there is still a possibility for the appearance of discontinuous motion with excessive camera movement or when recording very high-speed objects, care should be taken in these shooting conditions.

I wonder if these cameras will also have the dreaded "jello" effect with vibration??? We have a wedding resort here where I do a fair number of jobs and the photoshoot party are taken to various locations in a single cylinder golf cart..My CCD's are not affected but any other CMOS camera would have problems!!!

Chris

[Jim Forrest]

Originally Posted by Steve Wolla

Reading the specs on the HMC40 it looks like it's VERY CLOSE (identical?) inside to the Panasonic HS300 consumer cam. That is a very nice piece of gear, Look at how the HS300 performs-odds are it will be the same cam as the HMC40 in video performance.

Looks like the HMC40 does go up to PH mode: Approx. 21 Mbps (VBR, Max. 24 Mbps)
where as the HS300 will only go up to HA mode (17Mbps / VBR).

[Duane Steiner]

It also offers more shooting modes: 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p (Native); 720/60p, 720/30p, 720/24p (Native)

[Bob Diaz]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi Bob

The first thing that put me off was the 3MOS chips so I second your comments!!! I see that Panasonic have already said that a firmware update will be available for the rolling shutter.
...

This is the thing that users have to decide, what trade-offs are they willing to make.

The HMC-150 has a CCD, but costs more.

Any camera with a CMOS chip (or chips) will show some rolling shutter effect. Mostly on whip pans (with a fast shutter speed) and with flash photos. The whip pans can be avoided, but flash pictures aren't avoidable.

One interesting this I noticed with CMOS, if the shutter speed is long, like 1/30 of a second, the odds improve that the flash will occur when the shutter is fully open. You can still get a split image on the flash (flash appears on bottom half frame 1, top half frame 2), but it's less likely than with a higher speed shutter. The down side of this solution is that you end up with more motion blur.


Bob Diaz

[Duane Steiner]

The HMC40 also allows you to use a LANC like this one VariZoom Lens Controls, monitors, Camera Stabilizers & Supports, Batteries, Monitor Kits Phone: 512-219-7722

[Jeff Harper]

Nice piece of gear, but it will perform poorly in low light. If you work in lowlight conditions at all the puny 1/4" chips will not be so great.

[Jim Forrest]

Does anyone know why they dropped their price from over 3k to $1995?
All the original press releases said the camera would come out and retail for over 3K.

[Steve Struthers]

The HMC looks interesting. I just saw some footage from an AG-HMC41E over on Vimeo. Impressive images in bright light and low-light performance didn't seem too bad. Looking at the specs, I can see the camera has a native 24p mode but no cinegamma type setting to achieve a more film-like look.

The price is right though.

[Rich Ryan]

Originally Posted by Steve Struthers

Looking at the specs, I can see the camera has a native 24p mode but no cinegamma type setting to achieve a more film-like look.

Not quite true. As with other cameras from the Panasonic broadcast division, the camera has seven gammas available (two are cinegamma), plus it includes four color matrices (one of which is a Cine color matrix). The level of control on this camera FAR exceeds that available on the HDC-HS300 and HDC-TM300 consumer cameras. But it certainly appears to share the same sensor(s) and lens.

The brochure for the camera is available from the Panasonic website.

Rich

[Bob Diaz]

Does anyone know why they dropped their price from over 3k to $1995?
All the original press releases said the camera would come out and retail for over 3K.

At $3,000 it's too close in price to the HMC-150. Maybe the idea was to catch the other camera companies off guard with a low cost profession grade camera. ...that's my guess.

The HMC looks interesting. I just saw some footage from an AG-HMC41E over on Vimeo. Impressive images in bright light and low-light performance didn't seem too bad.
...
The price is right though.

The one thing that seems to stand our to me is that Panasonic is putting a lot of high end controls and features at a lower price point. I'll guess that students, pro-summers, and company video is the main market.

Two things that do need to be added to the total cost are the 2-Channel XLR Mic Adapter AG-MYA30G $300 and a 0.7x wide angle adapter VW-W4307HPPK $225. Even if you purchase both items, the total is only $2,525. Still a very good price point.

I can't wait for DV Expo to try out the camera....


Bob Diaz

[Barry Green]

Originally Posted by Jim Forrest

Does anyone know why they dropped their price from over 3k to $1995?
All the original press releases said the camera would come out and retail for over 3K.

This has happened a few times among manufacturers. The JVC HD100 and Panasonic HVX200 were both announced as being "under $10,000" and both came in at about $6,000. The Sony EX3 was announced with an MSRP of $13,000 but actually came in at $9990 MSRP. Back at NAB when they showed the HMC40 at $3200, I thought "nice little camera, but that seems way high". At $1995 it seems like a screaming deal.

[Stuart Mottershead]

Originally Posted by Bob Diaz

The one thing that seems to stand our to me is that Panasonic is putting a lot of high end controls and features at a lower price point. I'll guess that students, pro-summers, and company video is the main market.

Two things that do need to be added to the total cost are the 2-Channel XLR Mic Adapter AG-MYA30G $300 and a 0.7x wide angle adapter VW-W4307HPPK $225. Even if you purchase both items, the total is only $2,525. Still a very good price point.

I can't wait for DV Expo to try out the camera....


Bob Diaz

I think it's great that the XLR is an add on as it enables people to buy it as a second cam who already have all the XLRs they need on their main cam. I think this might be a big market for it if the low light performance is ok.

[Steve Struthers]

Originally Posted by Rich Ryan

Not quite true. As with other cameras from the Panasonic broadcast division, the camera has seven gammas available (two are cinegamma), plus it includes four color matrices (one of which is a Cine color matrix). The level of control on this camera FAR exceeds that available on the HDC-HS300 and HDC-TM300 consumer cameras. But it certainly appears to share the same sensor(s) and lens.

The brochure for the camera is available from the Panasonic website.

Rich

Rich,

Thanks for the info. I stand corrected about the HMC40's cinegamma capabilities. When I looked at the official HMC40 brochure from Panasonic, it mentioned nothing about the various gamma settings, so that's why I thought it didn't offer them.

You're right that the '40 offers a far more extensive range of controls than the HS300/TM300. Before purchasing a Canon HF-S100, I had considered buying a TM300. I chose not to go with the TM300 because it didn't offer enough manual control. The Canon doesn't offer as many manual controls as I would like either, but it offers more than the TM300 does. The TM300 also costs substantially more money than the Canon.

I'm looking at getting either a HMC150 or a HMC40 next spring, depending on what my budget allows. The Canon is nice, but I find that its LCD panel tends to wash out in moderately bright outdoor light, sometimes even with an LCD hood attached. The HMC40 offers both an LCD panel and a conventional viewfinder.