Okay, low light testing between a DVX and an HMC150. Ladies and gentlemen, simply put, the torch has been passed.
These tests were conducted with roughly the same scene file settings, in a room lit only by two little 14w compact fluorescent light bulbs in an overhead fixture. The DVX was a DVX100B, the latest and greatest of that generation, in 16:9 squeeze mode. The HMC150 doesn't shoot standard-def, so it was shot in 720/30P and 720/60P and exported as standard-def from EDIUS. Both cameras were set next to each other, with the lenses fully zoomed out and the iris totally open and the shutter set to "off" and the ND filters set to "off".
Here's a raw sensitivity test, 30P to 30P, with 0dB of gain on both.
They look pretty comparable for brightness, I guess, but as for noise and clarity the HMC150 is spanking the DVX100B. Noise is especially visible on the videogame screen and on the wall to the left of the videogame. And remember, this is the new lower-noise DVX100B we're talking about!
But, if you're in really low light conditions, remember that the DVX is 1 stop faster in 60i mode than it is in 30P mode. How would gain affect the situation? We know that 18dB is nasty noisy on the DVX, so how about cranking the HMC150 all the way up to 720/60P @ 18dB? That should give us an idea of just how they really compare in the worst low-light conditions, right? Behold...
These results are pretty surprising to me. I could have pushed the DVX to 18dB as well, but seeing as the noise is already objectionable at 12dB I think that at 18dB it'd look brighter but worse.
The 150, however, even on 18dB of gain is showing practically no noise in this downconverted still! Now, keep in mind some of the HMC150's excellence is coming from resizing from HD down to SD, but -- how else could you properly compare them? It'd be theoretical at best to compare SD to HD, so... I think most people looking for ultimate-low-light performance are still delivering on standard-def DVD, right? And if so, no question the HMC150 is way better than the DVX100B. Sensitivity is comparable but the noise performance is just so much cleaner and the image is so much sharper. DVX, you've had a good run, but the HMC150 has got your number.