8 Replies Latest reply: Aug 4, 2010 5:52 AM by Christopher Duncan RSS

    Panasonic AG-HMC80

    Paul Mc Bride Community Member

      Just found out about the Panasonic AG-HMC80 which I believe goes on sale in the US in September.

      Being in Europe we will have to wait a little longer.

      As far as I can see, this camera is capable of recording DV AVI Type 2 to an SDHC memory card which is just what I am looking for.

      Just wondered if any of you guys have had any pre launch experience of this camera and can you see any problems ingesting the

      AVI files/clips from the SDHC card into Premier Pro CS4.

      Any other opinions on the pros and cons would be most welcome.

        • 1. Re: Panasonic AG-HMC80
          Community Member

          HI

          hmmm, good question....I haven't got a clue.  I wonder if you were to post this in the hardware forum whether you might get more responses ? Leave it here too, as who knows...maybe someone knows how the files will be handled ...my suspicion is that to record in AVI type 2 it's already getting compressed a little bit between the chip and the recording media , and as long as it's a codec that is normal for AVI type 2 should be fine...but like I say, the guys in the hardware area might know a lot more about it...

           

           

          • 2. Re: Panasonic AG-HMC80
            John T Smith CommunityMVP

            As far as I know, DV AVI type 2 is "lightly" compressed during the creation process (do a Google for DV25 or DV50 ???)

             

            If that camera has enough storage to do "standard" DV AVI type 2 at "about" 13Gig per hour, it should edit in any flavor of Premiere

             

            The Canon Vixia I now use does AVCHD at "about" 11Gig per hour with great picture quality (manual says just under 3 hours with a 32Gig SD chip) so I see no reason why DV AVI couldn't also be saved to a large SD chip

            • 3. Re: Panasonic AG-HMC80
              Paul Mc Bride Community Member

              Many thanks for your thoughts guys.

              The only slightly odd thing I noticed was that the camera also has a firewire port which got me thinking that maybe the SD footage would still have to be transferred/captured from the SDHC card as per a normal DV tape camera.

              Unfortunately there is only a brochure available at the moment which is pretty limited in its information and I have met a bit of a brick wall with Panasonic UK at the moment.

              Not to worry I'll keep an eye on things and just try and be a bit more patient.

              • 4. Re: Panasonic AG-HMC80
                John T Smith CommunityMVP

                Google knows all... I found several sites/articles on that camera

                 

                Not interested myself (I'm not at ALL interested in a big shoulder camera) but did see that a 32Gig SD chip will hold about 2 hours of SD video... so that would be consistent with the 13Gig per hour (plus overhead?) that is quoted for DV AVI

                • 5. Re: Panasonic AG-HMC80
                  Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                  Looks like a nice rig, and pretty fairly priced. Will be interested to hear how well it performs.

                   

                  Good luck,

                   

                  Hunt

                  • 6. Re: Panasonic AG-HMC80
                    JSS1138 CommunityMVP

                    I like the idea of recording solid state DV.  If only that was available in the DVX form factor to SDXC cards.  I do like Panasonic, but man they just keep getting one thing wrong or another.

                    • 7. Re: Panasonic AG-HMC80
                      Bill Hunt CommunityMVP
                      If only that was available in the DVX form factor to SDXC cards

                      So glad that I cleaned my monitor, my glasses and re-read your comment. At first, I thought that you had typed "DivX," and almost lost my lunch.

                       

                      Hunt

                      • 8. Re: Panasonic AG-HMC80
                        Christopher Duncan Community Member

                        I have a Panasonic AG-HMC70 and have been quite happy with it overall. That said, being a newbie to the wide world of video, I made an assumption (and this usually is where the trouble begins for me) that if it did HD it would downshift to do SD as well. I realize now that it was a stupid assumption and I should have applied the RTFM rule before purchasing.

                         

                        It's nice to have hi res, but it would also be nice to have the option to shoot at SD from the start so I wouldn't be contacted by the ASPCP (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Processors) every time my computer squeaked while editing AVCHD footage. It sounds like the HMC80, in addition to the focus ring and other such things, gives you more options in this regard. I suspect you'll enjoy it.

                         

                        My only real beef with Panasonic is with the person there who comes up with product names. AG-HMC70? Whose acid trip was that? I have to reach for the manual to remember what model I have. With respect, you Japanese companies should really continue to focus on developing cool, quality electronics and leave the memorable naming of products to my American brethren (I could remember the Panasonic VideoMonster ZX!). We're much better at it.