Night Vision TM900 at DVinfo.net

Andrew Clark · April 5th, 2011, 01:11 AM

Hello -

Does the TM900 have the equivalent capability as the Sony CX700 in the ability to shoot in total darkness with an infrared light?

Andy Wilkinson · April 5th, 2011, 03:03 AM

Nope! Full TM900 feature set on this web site. It has a candlelight setting in iAuto which worked pretty well with my one of my daughters 8th birthday party scenes but it's not like the Night Shot that some of my Sony camcorders have (which I never use).

It does have a 'Colour Night Record' function which claims colour images in 1 lux but I've not tried that (yet). As soon as it's dark I'll have a go and let you know (can't imagine it would be that useful though!)

The latest crop of Canons seem to have the edge here with their Infra Red shooting capability, if you like your subjects looking like ghosts! (maybe useful for some animals in nature type applications).

http://panasonic.net/avc/camcorder/hd/900_800_series/

Actually, curiosity got the better of me so I shut the blinds in my office and tried it.

It seems to just give you a very slow shutter speed and wack the gain right up but it certainly seems to do what it claims, give you colour images in very low light....of course with some noise and blurring of any motion as you would expect. In this setting (which is accessible when in Manual) it then disables any other manual controls (WB, Gain, Shutter Speed) but still allows you to use the lens ring for Focus (only).

Hope this helps.

Alastair Traill · April 6th, 2011, 09:35 PM

Hi Andrew,

What is the Infrared (IR) recording capability of the CX700? Do you have any manual control over aperture, shutter speed and gain?

I ask because it seems to be standard practice (when infrared mode is set) to automatically set the gain and aperture to full and to set the shutter speed to its slowest. This is to prevent use of the camera in daylight and is deemed necessary because some clothing materials transmit IR thus revealing more than the wearer intended.

However it means that the camera is very limited for IR work with animals etc..

Andy Wilkinson · April 10th, 2011, 03:19 AM

As far as I know you have little to no control with the Sony CX700 in that mode (and not that great manual control in normal shooting modes either!), but I don't have a Sony CX700 so you had better search that forum area and ask over there - if it has not already been covered by those that have the Sony.

April 5th, 2011, 01:11 AM	#1
Andrew Clark Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 477	Night Vision TM900 Hello - Does the TM900 have the equivalent capability as the Sony CX700 in the ability to shoot in total darkness with an infrared light?

April 5th, 2011, 03:03 AM	#2
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Re: Night Vision TM900 Nope! Full TM900 feature set on this web site. It has a candlelight setting in iAuto which worked pretty well with my one of my daughters 8th birthday party scenes but it's not like the Night Shot that some of my Sony camcorders have (which I never use). It does have a 'Colour Night Record' function which claims colour images in 1 lux but I've not tried that (yet). As soon as it's dark I'll have a go and let you know (can't imagine it would be that useful though!) The latest crop of Canons seem to have the edge here with their Infra Red shooting capability, if you like your subjects looking like ghosts! (maybe useful for some animals in nature type applications). http://panasonic.net/avc/camcorder/hd/900_800_series/ Actually, curiosity got the better of me so I shut the blinds in my office and tried it. It seems to just give you a very slow shutter speed and wack the gain right up but it certainly seems to do what it claims, give you colour images in very low light....of course with some noise and blurring of any motion as you would expect. In this setting (which is accessible when in Manual) it then disables any other manual controls (WB, Gain, Shutter Speed) but still allows you to use the lens ring for Focus (only). Hope this helps. __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

April 6th, 2011, 09:35 PM	#3
Alastair Traill Major Player Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Melbourne Australia Posts: 626	Re: Night Vision TM900 Hi Andrew, What is the Infrared (IR) recording capability of the CX700? Do you have any manual control over aperture, shutter speed and gain? I ask because it seems to be standard practice (when infrared mode is set) to automatically set the gain and aperture to full and to set the shutter speed to its slowest. This is to prevent use of the camera in daylight and is deemed necessary because some clothing materials transmit IR thus revealing more than the wearer intended. However it means that the camera is very limited for IR work with animals etc..

April 10th, 2011, 03:19 AM	#4
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Re: Night Vision TM900 As far as I know you have little to no control with the Sony CX700 in that mode (and not that great manual control in normal shooting modes either!), but I don't have a Sony CX700 so you had better search that forum area and ask over there - if it has not already been covered by those that have the Sony. __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production