40 vs 150? Impasse

[Bob Diaz]

Mike, thanks for posting the footage, but "Sorry. This video is not available for download" prevents us from seeing the video in the HD resolution. Could you please switch the options on Vimeo so that we could download the HD version?


Thanks,

Bob Diaz

[Mike Schreurs]

Source unlocked and downloadable.

[Barry Green]

I've got an HMC40 and my impressions are that it's a fantastic little camcorder, with a very very very good picture in bright light. Low light is not so good; it's about 50 ISO, maybe 64, so you'll need lots of gain. Don't go above 12dB, but if you can get it into a circumstance where it has enough light the image is surprisingly good.

I pretty much agree with what Mike said overall; the touch screen was something I was dreading but in practice it works pretty well; it's a little annoying to get into the shutter speed adjustment screen but for most shooting it's fine.

Originally Posted by Mike Schreurs

Using the LCD screen with the focus assist is quite helpful giving you a better idea of how focus you are but, it is only a 2.7” screen so you can only be so confident.

Make sure that you use the EVF DTL. If I had a gripe in specific about this camera, it's that the EVF DTL is only available when assigned to a user button, which uses up one of the three precious user buttons. And it doesn't remain set when you turn the power off, so every time you turn on the camera you have to press the user button with EVF DTL on it, so you get the benefit of peaking. It makes focusing about six million times easier!

[Erich Gabbe]

Barry, this seems to be very important in view of the fact, that the eye viewfinder is composed of 113.000 Pixels only - a no go for me.

Erich

[Steven Swanson]

How would the HMC40 stand up for making short films? I'm a digital film making student and I'm looking for something to make movies anywhere from 5 minutes to feature length in a year or 2. I dont plan on doing any interviews or shooting things like planes flying by. I'm not sure how much low-light footage I'll be doing, but since I'm a film making student I can always add lights and make the scene brighter if I have to.

How much is the XLR adapter for the hmc40? After I buy the camera and XLR adapter, what would the price difference be between that and an HMC150?

[Mike Schreurs]

$300 for the adapter and yes, I think that you can make short films with this camera as long as you are good with composition. I think this is a perfect camera for students, the 24f looks pretty film like IMO and the slow motion is great using the 60f.

Keep in mind that if you plan on making a short that may involve a city night shoot, club, horror scene in a house or woods, something to those effects, the low-light will hurt you.

[Mike Schreurs]

I really am having trouble lowering the mic volume on camera, any one have any ideas?

[Rich Ryan]

Make sure you take the microphone level off of FIX. You can do that in the Q.Menu or in the Record Setup menu. Then you should be able to adjust the mic volume from the Func Navi menu.

Of course if you have the XLR adapter then that won't work and you will adjust the level from the controls on the adapter.

[Mike Schreurs]

Thanks Rich, that was very easy, almost to the point I should feel ashamed. I forgot you can scroll right in the function menu.

[Bob Diaz]

Originally Posted by Mike Schreurs

Source unlocked and downloadable.

Thanks Mike.


Bob Diaz

[Paul Digges]

Thanks for the test footage. As a video production student this camera is looking like a great option as well for it's price range. I'm thinking that my desire to shoot automotive footage (WagenWerks style) isn't going to interfere with the low light limitations on the camera.

[Robert Rogoz]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kellam

I shoot weddings and back in August shot one of the darkest indoor receptions I have ever seen. Only the 150 footage was usable out of the three different cameras being shot.

Why didn't you use an on-camera light?

[Jeff Kellam]

Originally Posted by Robert Rogoz

Why didn't you use an on-camera light?

I did. All the cameras had lights, but they only work when you are doing tight/close shots. The lights don't help on the wide shots and this was a large reception hall.

To clarify, only the 150 footage was usable without a light, i.e. when shooting the venue and wide crowd shots. Also, all the entrances of the bridal party were shot from a distance that an on-camera light would not work. Close shots of the bridal party were shot with a camera with a light just outside of the ballroom, before doing their entrances.

[Chris Rademacher]

Hey guys,

I just realized to my surprise that all of these low light videos I posted were shot with the gain set at 24db. To me, from the statements I've read, you don't want to go above 12db, so after reading the manual and figuring out how to change it, the rest of my videos were shot with the max at 12db. But, the following videos were shot in full auto, auto gain control, and because of the low light I'm suspecting all at 24db:

YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 Low Light Test #1
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 Low Light Test #2
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH1080 60i Low Light, Rain, & Fog
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH1080 30p Low Light, Rain, & Fog
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH1080 24p Low Light, Rain, & Fog
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH720 60p Low Light, Rain, & Fog
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH720 30p Low Light, Rain, & Fog
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH720 24p Low Light, Rain, & Fog
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 HA1080 60i Low Light, Rain, & Fog
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 HG1080 60i Low Light, Rain, & Fog
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH720 60p - 50 & 25% Slow Motion Raining Car Action #2
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH720 60p - 50 & 25% Slow Motion Raining Car Action
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH720 60p - 75% Slow Motion Raining Car Action
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH720 60p - Raining Car Action
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH1080 60i Low Light, Rain, & Fog #2
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH720 60p Shutter Speed & Slow Motion Test
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 PH720 60p Handheld Low Light, Rain, & Fog
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 HE1080 60i Low Light, Rain, & Fog

I don't think the above videos look bad at all at 24db, personally. What do you guys think?

Here's the rest of the videos shot with the gain maxed out at 12db, but these aren't all shot in the dark like the above ones. These you'l notice are tests of the gain, shutter speeds, auto gain control vs. manual gain control, digital zoom, white balance, and chroma levels, as well.

YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 - 1/2000 Shutter, Manual Gain 0-12db
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 - 1/1000 Shutter, Manual Gain 0-12db
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 - 1/500 Shutter, F7.2 - 12db Gain
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 - 1/250 Shutter, F11 - 0 db Gain
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 - 1/120 Shutter, F11 - 0db Gain
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 - Full Auto, Manually Adjusting Iris Dial
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 - AGC Vs. MGC 1/2000 Shutter
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 - AGC Vs. MGC 1/1000 Shutter
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 - 1/2000 Shutter Speed, High Gain to 34 db
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 - Auto White Balance Presets
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 Digital Zoom Test
YouTube - Panasonic HMC40 Chroma Levels from -7 to +7 = Saturation

All of the above videos are being uploaded here: UTV REPORT for download if you want the uncompressed files to watch on your computer versus YouTube. The dates of 10/12, 10/14, and 10/15 are all shot using 24db gain. And, 10/18 are the ones listed immediately above this text.

All of the videos aren't uploaded to the server yet, but I think all the 10/18 ones are already. The others are uploaded as we speak. You'l also notice that the videos on 10/18 are much larger than the rest. The reason for this is I outputted them from Adobe Premier at full 21mbps, instead of 6 mbps for all the rest. I can't tell much difference...can you guys? I'm not sure it's worth the extra size, download and upload time personally. I've found too that the best way to play these to see issues is at full screen, not the standard YouTube size.

I hope this helps...if anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. These were things I wanted to know before buying the HMC40, but I couldn't find out there, so I bought it. :)

Chris