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May, 2025

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FINAL DECISION: Hmc40 or hmc150

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Ryancavanaugh-
Posts: 45 - Karma: 197
Finally got it nailed down to one of these 2 cams, thought about tapes, thought about p2, but decided it’s prob smartest to go with one of these 2 cams.

HMC40: found a deal of one in great condition not much operating hours. Comes with a fisheye already and batteries and charger. All for 600. Only thing that’s making me second guess myself ab this is I’ve heard it can be pretty tough in lowlight conditions. I like the size of it and what I’ve seen just the low light issue is scaring me a bit

HMC150: found one locally for 600 with 275 operating hours, only issue is no fisheye, so prob looking around 800ish total which is pretty steep for me, but doable.

i realize the hmc150 is the nicer camera I just don’t know if it’s worth the extra 200 you guys tell me. This will also be my first ever camcorder, so I don’t know if the 150 would be overkill. done a lot of filming with GoPro and dslr so fresh to it

any advice helps
3 years ago
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Ryancavanaugh-
Posts: 45 - Karma: 197
^Also forgot to mention I found another one for 475 on Facebook marketplace. Thing looks to be in great condition and guy said it is, and that he only used it to film a few sports games. Seems a little weird for the cam to be such lowly priced, but my guess may be he has no idea the cams worth and doesn’t know anything about it. I asked him the operating hours and he had no idea what I was talking about or how to check
3 years ago
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yaboibarrywhite
Posts: 66 - Karma: 349
just be a man and film on tapes. go canon XL1 or GL1
3 years ago
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Jems
Posts: 7745 - Karma: 101,292
ew neither go p2 cause 4:2:2
3 years ago
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Ryancavanaugh-
Posts: 45 - Karma: 197
Jemsew neither go p2 cause 4:2:2


Lol but between those two do you think the 150 is worth the money compared to the 40 for a first camera
3 years ago
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Jems
Posts: 7745 - Karma: 101,292
Ryancavanaugh-Lol but between those two do you think the 150 is worth the money compared to the 40 for a first camera

600 for an hmc150 is actually a great deal, it'll also look a lot better with a fisheye compared to the 40. If you have prior camera experience purchasing something like this isn't very overkill unless you're not really filming any content of any kind. If I could recommend anything it would be a p2 camcorder since they're just older hmc's that are cheaper and have better colors essentially but you don't need to listen to my biased ass opinion.
3 years ago
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Ryancavanaugh-
Posts: 45 - Karma: 197
Jems600 for an hmc150 is actually a great deal, it'll also look a lot better with a fisheye compared to the 40. If you have prior camera experience purchasing something like this isn't very overkill unless you're not really filming any content of any kind. If I could recommend anything it would be a p2 camcorder since they're just older hmc's that are cheaper and have better colors essentially but you don't need to listen to my biased ass

Appreciate it. How is mobbing around with a full size cam? That’s the only thing ab the 40 it’s a little smaller so don’t know if that would be better or if it even really matters
3 years ago
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Jems
Posts: 7745 - Karma: 101,292
Ryancavanaugh-Appreciate it. How is mobbing around with a full size cam? That’s the only thing ab the 40 it’s a little smaller so don’t know if that would be better or if it even really matters

150 isn’t really that big, it would help if you have a dedicated camera backpack.
3 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61955 - Karma: 126,724
Jemsew neither go p2 cause 4:2:2


Do you even know why people shoot 422?
3 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61955 - Karma: 126,724
OP, both cameras will produce a similar image, you mentioned lowlight for the hmc40 but the hmc150 isn't much better, they both are 3mos sensors with limited low light abilities in the first place. For the small price difference, id say go 150 because it'll have few extra features the 40 doesnt have and it's a nice full size camera that fits in the hand well and is a good weight.
3 years ago
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Jems
Posts: 7745 - Karma: 101,292
eheathDo you even know why people shoot 422?


to get less compressed colors and more hoes
3 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61955 - Karma: 126,724
Jemsto get less compressed colors and more hoes


Sort of, 422 is a more complex color space that helps create more accurate and a more wide variety of colors. People like this because it's nice for grading and color keying because it has very limited banding.

Other than that, its basically worthless if you're uploading to an online player, your video is compress to 4:2:0 at like 1-2MB/s, so suggesting that someone take on something like p2 to have 422 is just bad advice, this kid doesn't doesn't know what any of this shit means and using p2 is a huge pain in the ass, not worth it at all in my opinion.

Nobody is shooting 422 unless they're working in a studio with old equipment or something, formats like R3D and blackmagic RAW are far better options for most professionals these days.
3 years ago
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Ryancavanaugh-
Posts: 45 - Karma: 197
eheathOP, both cameras will produce a similar image, you mentioned lowlight for the hmc40 but the hmc150 isn't much better, they both are 3mos sensors with limited low light abilities in the first place. For the small price difference, id say go 150 because it'll have few extra features the 40 doesnt have and it's a nice full size camera that fits in the hand well and is a good weight.

Thanks for this answer. I wasn’t aware the 150 also had some lowlight limitations, if that’s my main concern, should I just go for 40 considering you said they pretty much have the same image overall? I’m mainly concerned for somewhat decent low light that’s why I was thinking more 150 but then you said they are kinda the same. Guy just said he’s knock off 50 from the 40 so I’d be looking at 550ish with fisheye and batteries, or 600 for 150 and another 200 for fish so 800 in total
3 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61955 - Karma: 126,724
Ryancavanaugh-Thanks for this answer. I wasn’t aware the 150 also had some lowlight limitations, if that’s my main concern, should I just go for 40 considering you said they pretty much have the same image overall? I’m mainly concerned for somewhat decent low light that’s why I was thinking more 150 but then you said they are kinda the same. Guy just said he’s knock off 50 from the 40 so I’d be looking at 550ish with fisheye and batteries, or 600 for 150 and another 200 for fish so 800 in total


Yeah man it just all depends on what you want, I'm not entirely sure the differences you might want to look into that and make sure you dont want anything the 150 has, but overall the image will be basically the same and I believe they shoot the same frame rates. The hmc150 would in theory have slightly better low light because the sensors are 1/3" (hmc is 1/4") but in the end, I don't think you will notice the difference and you could consider this your "starter" camera and justify spending less.
3 years ago
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