Anyone using the HMC150 for weddings, etc?
 

I am making the move to HD this spring and up until now have been strongly leaning towards the Sony z5u and te fx1000 (for my b-cam). I had disregarded the HMC150 as a lower tier camera, but am now really considering it, and beginning to think it is a strong contender.

I would like to get some first hand feedback, thoughts, opinions, etc on it for weddings, and possibly some corporate work.

Hit me (please).

Thanks Don. I've already watched those videos and read Mark's article a couple of times. I am hoping to get some others to chime in as well.

I'll be shooting one Friday with it. I'll let you know.

Mike - you don't say what you're coming from. If it's a Sony (PD170?) then the Z5 makes sense because you'll have carry-over charger, batteries, LANC controller, menu savy and so on. You say 'for weddings etc' so you might have to brace yourself for the CMOS nasties under electronic flash, in which case the HMC150 would be a very good move in my view.

It's not as well made as the Z5 but then it's cheaper. Shame it doesn't have a top screen and very slow shutter speeds, but it's light, the 28 mm (equiv) is handy and if your pc can handle the AVCHD files it could be just right for the job.

tom.

How slow is a very slow shutter speed? The lowest I'll use is 1/30th, does it do that?

Yes, it does that and the next one down. I like 1/3rd and 1/6th sec, which it doesn't do.

Tom- what are the benefits of having a top screen?

You've not gone from a PD170 to a Z1, have you? The top screen doesn't hide the iris wheel when open and you're doing low shots. It's on-axis with the lens when you track after people. When you look down on your camera there it is.

The side screens can be folded back onto themselves so that if you're doing a two cam shoot you can have the unmammed one off to your right and still see it's v'finder. A very minor advantage.

Well, I'm coming from a cheap consumer cam, and just starting out, but I do like the look of the top flip screens like on the Sonys. The Sony looks like a much better camera overall (the z5 at least). I wish I could combine the 150 with the z5 and have all of their best features in one camera.