HMC150 or AG-AC90

Jim - I'd spend somewhat less than the 3K and leave room for mics, tripods, dollies and lights. Also, I'd buy a Sony HXR-30U for $1999 instead of the AG-AC90 because it comes with an external mic, shoots 1080/60p, and has an incredible balanced optical stabilization system, as seen here:

Sony Professional: HXR-NX30 - Ed Moore gives his first impressions from Sony Professional Europe on Vimeo.

As for the HMC-150 - it is at least two generations old, lacks 1080/60p and an external microphone and has a slow bit rate (21 mbps). I would avoid it.

Hope this is helpful,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

Hi,

The AG-AC90 will also do 1080P/60 at 28Mbs, and has 5 axis image stabilization as well as being a 3 chip camera. Its low light performance is along the lines of 1/3" camera with the BSI chips in it. It has very high resolution chips and the ergonomics of it are really nice. Price/performance winner. Delivering in a couple of weeks.

Best,

Jan

Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, AVCCAM, AG-3DA1, AG-AF100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems

Hi Jim,

I have owned a HMC150 for the past four years, it's a great camera, but it's becoming out of date compared to the newer cameras. The only advantage it might have over the AC90 is low-light shooting, but I can't say for sure.

From what I've seen of the sample footage the AC90 has great image stabilization, much better than almost anything else I've seen in this price range.

I would not recommend the Sony HXR-30U over the Panasonic AC90 because the HXR-30U is a single-chip camera so you won't get the same image quality as the three-chip AC90. ( better resolution and better color from 3-chip cameras )

The only question I have with the AC90 is : What is the low-light performance like? I haven't seen any comparisons with other cameras for low-light work, so this is one area I would want to check out before buying an AC90 camera.