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MillimeterShoot Review: Panasonic AG-HMC150
Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Reviewer: Jan Ozer
Moving AVCHD to the professional market.
New features
The HMC150 debuts a number of features previously unseen in this price range or category — including a waveform monitor, expanded focus assist, Dynamic Range Stretch (DRS), and a prerecord cache, which continuously stores 3 seconds of video before you press the record button.
The other features deserve a bit more explanation, and I'll start with the waveform monitor. As you probably know, a waveform monitor displays the brightness of pixels in the frame along the IRE scale, with 100 IRE pure white and 0 IRE pure black. Values are displayed along the horizontal positioning within the frame, so you can easily assign brightness values to various elements in the frame — such as a white-balance card, which should be at or near 100 IRE, or a Caucasian face, which should be between 70 IRE and 80 IRE.
A waveform monitor adds a valuable degree of exposure-related granularity that you can't easily get from zebra stripes. If you've ever shot with one, you really hate to do without. However, due to the cost of a standalone waveform monitor, relatively few shooters outside of the film or broadcast worlds use them. Serious Magic's groundbreaking DV Rack software (now Adobe OnLocation) brought the cost way down, but you still need a computer around to run the program.
Figure 1. The HMC150’s Scopes button loops you through the normal preview, waveform display (pictured), a vectorscope, and then back to normal preview.
Panasonic makes this feature easily accessible by including a waveform in the HMC150's LCD panel. You access it via the Scopes button that loops you through the normal preview, waveform display, a vectorscope (which I find less useful, so I won't describe it), and then back to normal preview. Neither scope appears in the viewfinder, so you can focus and frame in the viewfinder, then check exposure on the LCD. You can view either monitor while actually recording, which is great for working under changing light conditions (see Figure 1).
You also get two levels of zebra stripes as an adjunct to the waveform. In certain shooting modes, the camera displays the luminance value of the center pixel in the frame. This should be close to or at 99+ (the maximum) when white-balancing, or you probably have an exposure problem. It's a comprehensive, useful feature set that will help improve exposure on all of your shoots.
Figure 2. The HMC150’s Focus Assist button displays a zoomed frame in the LCD and viewfinder, accompanied by a histogram that shifts to the right as the image comes into sharp focus.
If you frequently shoot HD video using manual focus, you'll also find the HMC150's multiple focus assists hard to live without. Click the Focus Assist button, and Panasonic displays a zoomed frame in the LCD and viewfinder, accompanied by a histogram that shifts to the right as the image comes into sharp focus, which is more useful than the zoom-only focus assist offered by most other camcorders (see Figure 2). Even better, the focus assist stays visible while you're recording; with most older camcorders, normal display returns as soon as you hit the record button, which makes little sense.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.