sony hxr nx5 or panasonic hmc 150???
 

i'm not sure which camera to focus on (no pun intended) at b&h photo, the 150 is about $3295 and the new sony nx 5u is $3999. is the sony worth waiting for? im not sure about the cmos or ccd's and all that, but im just wanting to get the most for my money!! im jumping into the video world and im looking for some assisstance on this. i'll be doing board meetings, depositions, parades, a few weddings and maybe even some sports from time to time, but for now thats about it. can you experts help me with this??? i edit on a pc with cs3. thanks guys and gals

I have a Z5, which is very similar to the NX5, and I love it. If you've got the cash then personally I think the NX5 is worth it over the 150.

sony hxr nx5 or panasonic hmc 150???
 

im just gettn started, so money is an object!!! for right now everything that i shoot will be exportrd in SD. but is the sony worth sweating over or could i get the same result from the cheaper 150? for what the nx5 and 128gig harddrive sell for, i could get the 150 plus accessories??? just tryn to spend wise and smart??

You could also wait for the AX2000, it's a slightly more consumer model of the NX5 for 3500 instead of 4k. I think it removes the HDSDI. Check it out on the subforum here for those cams.

AX2000 or NX5 for me over HCM150. Over all the Sony cam look sexy and stylish. AX2000 is in my future though.

from an HMC150 owner....

all my complaints about the 150 (and there aren't many) seem to have been answered by the NX5...

1) worthless LCD for focus
2) only one card slot
3) no redundant recording
4) No HSDI out

That said, the Panny makes great pictures and all the controls are in the right places and easy to access quickly. I use a SmallHD to do critical focus and one 32gB card gets me 200 minutes at full quality. The redundant recording would be a nice safety but that adds another $750 (OK $250 after rebate) to the Sony.
Have I had a need for the HSDI? Not yet.

So, I was all bummed when I learned of the Sony and planned on selling the Panny and getting one. The hype gone, I'm happy with the Panny and won't be making the switch.

Unfortunately, I have been bitten by the Canon T2i bug and plan on buying one once released...AND here's the thing...for the price of the Sony and external recorder, I will have the 150 and a DSLR as a second camera which does DOF stuff! And my six-year old 5mp still camera can go to my kids!

So THERE!

The HMC150 is a great camcorder, but the NX5U should shoot noticeably sharper images in the 1080 line formats, and has some other features not found in the 150, including the ability to record redundantly to SDHC cards at the same time as recording to Sony's optional 128GB memory module. Right now, with the rebate deal, that 128GB is actually significantly less expensive (at least from B&H) than SDHC cards (four 32GB SDHC cards will cost you considerably more than the $250, after rebate, for the 128GB recording module). Also, the NX5U doesn't require using proprietary batteries, like the HMC150 or HMC40 does (a pet peeve of mine). Factor in the cost of a few extra batteries, and the ownership cost difference between the 150 and NX5U shrinks a little.