Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150 3CCD AVCHD 24fps Camcorder
The cooler than cool AG-HMC150 drew big crowds at the 2008 NAB Show. Why? Simply because it offers an unheard of Bang for the Buck, in a 1/3-inch three-chip hand held tapeless HD camcorder, while retaining the core versatility of the DVX100B. The HMC150 sports a 28mm lens right out of the box and a new PH Record mode (21 Mbps) which offers higher resolution with a host of recording formats including 24p. Add to that, amazing low light performance, long record and battery time and professional Audio capabilities at a price that will make it an instant hit with a wide range of AV Shooters, Indie creators and Event video professionals.
The AG-HMC150 represents a major step forward in the introduction of a next generation solid state HD camera that extends the six year successful track record of the popular DVX100 plus a lot more. The HMC150’s lightweight (lightest 1/3-inch 3CCD available), well-balanced professional design features a high performance wide-angle Leica 13X zoom lens, 24 and 30 frame progressive capture, both in 720 and 1080 formats, making it perfect for even high level projects. Designed from a clean sheet of paper with much customer input to Panasonic’s product development engineers, the HMC150 sports a Die Cast Alloy chassis and a Three year warranty (upon customer registration) that further endorses its reliability.
Competitive Advantages of the AG-HMC150:
- Solid state capture and playback eliminates the problems inherent in tape and disc drives, while allowing high quality HD content to be captured on affordable, readily available SD cards.
- Its 21 Mbps PH mode records far higher picture quality than HDV Tape systems.
- MPEG-2 compression works with blocks of only 16 X 16 pixels whereas H.264 compression works with blocks down to 4 X 4 pixels. What’s more, AVCHD’s motion prediction is content dependent.
- Continuous, silent recording of between 3 and 12 hours with Time Date Stamp is a powerful capability.
- No head wear, alignment or cleaning and it carries a Three Year Parts & Labor Warranty.
- Lower storage needs & lower distribution costs.
- HDMI Digital Output, HD Component Output, and selectable SD 16:9 Output(RCA).
- 28 mm Lens achieves wide angle without having to buy attachments.
- Built on a one piece die cast alloy chassis that is compact, well balanced and weighs less than 4.5 lbs. (4.37lbs with Battery, Mic Holder, AG-MC200 Mic and SD Card).
- Immediate Playback, random access & ability to preview shots and delete on location.
Technical Details :
- Full range of HD formats: 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p (Native); 720/60p, 720/30p, 720/24p (Native).
- Higher bit-rate recording than consumer models(21 Mbps PH Mode).
- 13X Wide angle 28 mm lens out of the box (35mm equiv.); 1/3-inch CCD Progressive Imagers.
- Waveform Monitor, Vectorscope plus two Focus displays for accurate, quick focus.
- 3.5-inch LCD monitor displays thumbnails for quick non-linear access to clips.
Customer Feedback :
Very clear video, much clearer than my trusty old Canon GL-2 It does not come with an HDMI cable. Bought one locally and tried it. Plugged one end into the HDMI out port on the camera and the other end into the HDMI port of my TV. I was blown away by how clear it was !! The video was clearer than some of the stations I view in HD.
On playback, you are given a thumbnail of the first frame of each scene you shot when you turned the camera on. On playback, you can skip around the scenes you want to view , or delete if needed. The focus assist is another nice feature. When you use it, it momentarily zooms in on the middle of your next shot so that you can fine focus if needed.
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