Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

That is what I was thinking, Roger. I have a y-adapter type plug with a 1/8 " male with two RCA females. There is a similar adapter with 1/8 " sockets. My concern would be if the stereo is affected.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I'm not near my workstation so I cant be sure what setting I have. I do remember not being able to determine the best format to set the sequence in Premier to match the Panasonic 1080 60p format. I did want to "export it to media" in mp4 format in 30 fps but this has no consequence when I tried to do the same project to linked over to Encore. I used the Link function in Premier so I don't believe Premiere had done any file transcoding yet. What really bugged me is that it worked for the 5 minute video while it would not even begin encoding for the 27 minute video. However, I found an acceptable workaround.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Mike,

I've used this with the TM900 already (Y1/8" Male stereo to 2, 1/8" female mono's). I don't think there is a way to individually control the separate channels on the TM900. If you can't figure a way to level the channels individually you'll need to base your levels on the hotter of the two channels and adjust levels up on the weaker channel in post. I was using two identical Sennheiser wireless mic's, so they were fairly balanced.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Carol,

Where in Africa did you go ?

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Thanks Roger. I thought that I'd have to balance the audio in post. My plan was for a voice behind the camera with a wireless set up and a shotgun mic on the camera. I have the best in audio abilities with Vegas Pro so I guess I can experiment to see what I can accomplish. Thanks for your reply..

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Great Mike. I use Vegas as well, upgraded to 11 a couple months ago. Let me know if you need help finding the cable or have any other questions.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hello guys, I'm new here and i've just purchased this cam along with a steadytracker ultralite and this thread really helped me make the decision to dump my old sony hc1 and go with this cam!

I'm a semi pro videographer who lives in Phuket, Thailand but I'm English. Most the stuff I shoot is action as I make the videos for Sinbi Muay Thai camp and do training montages for the students on request.

Heres a couple of examples, the first is the usual kinda fast paced shooting I do and the second was me trying to be a bit more arty! Both shot on my sony hc1. I know this part is a little unrelated but I thought it may be interesting to others see someone shooting this kind of content on the tm900. Even if I am well below the skill level of most of you guys but hoping to change that!

Gaston "Tonga" Reyno Training at Sinbi Muay Thai and Fight Highlights - YouTube
Sinbi Thai Fighters Training for War - YouTube
Soo! I edit using adobe premier pro 5.5 and noticed that the raw footage shot in 1080/60p isnt as sharp as I'd expected during motion. I mean I thought progressive meant there would be no image bleeding which I believed was when someone moves, you get a slight shadow of their last movement. Its a lot better than on my old Sony Cam but still I just wanted to check if this is normal. I had the cam on auto in sports mode for the test. I'll be shooting my first video on the steadycam with this, sometime this week.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Just wondering as well. Has anyone seen any short movies produced on this camera? I dont mean clips of nature etc I mean a planned scene in some kind of film. I'm planning on making a documentary pretty soon and would love to see what others have achieved with the same camera.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Adam-
I went to Tanzania on Wilderness Travel's Serengeti Wildlife Safari which I cannot recommend enough. They change their locations through the year so that they follow the migration. Their guides and staff are fabulous, the lodges and tent camps extremely comfortable, the food is good, we always felt well taken care of. Definitely a trip of a lifetime.

WT Serengeti Wildlife Safari

I knew I would love the wildlife, but I had no idea how much I would fall in love with Africa. I cannot wait to go back.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you want any more info.

Carol

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

David,

There are a few out there.

Here is the best I could find. Well lit, acted and edited: The Remote - YouTube
Others:

Disturbed - Short Film - YouTube
Getaway - Intense Short Film Downtown Portland - YouTube
The Working Man, 2011 - YouTube
Remember to Forget - YouTube
I know there are more, but I didn't have time for a more thorough search.

I just ordered the camera, and intend to do some narrative work with it, so this was a useful exercise for me too :-)

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Thanks, some good finds :)

So I filmed last night with it and have uploaded the file to our youtube channel. I'm not happy with the first attempt... Doesnt look as sharp as I'd like and the colours aren't very bright. I shot in manual mode, setting my own iris, I think 60 shutter speed shooting at 29.7 fps. I left auto focus on because I feel I maybe need more practice with the ring before I try focusing myself on something so fast.

Another problem I seem to be getting with all the 29.fps stuff is a lot of rolling shutter on fast movements. As in lines going down the image. Is this something I can correct with the manual settings or do I just have to stick with 60fps for fast action?


Teresa (Sinbi Muay Thai) Wins by TKO - YouTube
Also I'm a little confused about shutter speeds. I was using a shutter speed of 60 when I was getting the shutter roll so maybe this was the cause? In 29. fps. Im going to go shoot in 60p now and I would assume that means I'd have to double the shutter speed to 120 - 180(fast motion) if I was to keep the rule of doubling up but some places say jfor 60i its still 100 max. Can anyone please clarify and sorry for all these questions!

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Here are some deeper pics of the X900m replacing the TM900 in February. Notice the dreaded fan is still there.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I am also trying to get the optimal shutter speed for taking soccer action. I have a preview video on my website of a recent game. I had most settings on manual except autofocus. I was using 1080 60p so I can do slow motion without too much degradation. My shutter speed was set at 60.

In the same gallery, there is another game I shot using my canon 60D. I dont recall the shutter speeds but it may be within 1/60 to 1/125. I was changing the shutter speeds during the game which accounts for the different exposures in some scenes.. my learning is to choose a middle range shutter speed and stick with it throughout the game as I do not want to fix this in post. With the Canon, I think I should be increasing the shutter speed to 1/250 or higher to get more fluid motion of a fast pace sport, and of course balancing with the amount of light possible so I get a wider dof.

Here is the TM900 shot:
RHR 96 Fall - Winter 2011 - David Cordero's Photos | SmugMug

Here is the Canon 60D:
RHR 96 Fall - Winter 2011 - David Cordero's Photos | SmugMug

My next project is to sort out color correction in post. I recently did an indoor shot with different light sources (natural light, and halogen light), and both cameras were too different in rendering color that I have to rethink my strategy of mixing footage between these two cameras. I just started to try may hand in Premiere's tools but it is quite cumbersome especially since I had some footage on auto white balance because the TM900 couldn't handle the mix of colors very well! Either the halogen was too yellow or the natural light was too blue. I personally liked the Canon's rendering of the color, and I had more control by just choosing the Kelvin setting.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I just realized my 2 links go to the same gallery.
The TM900 video is the Snow Globe Tournament, while the RHR96 vs Dixie 97 A is the Canon 60D video.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

test - YouTube

Well I uploaded that so you can see about my shutter problem... only wierd thing is, when i played the same file through on another computer the problem isnt there... could my graphics card be doing something?

Well wow, Ive just realized it changes place each time... so its not rolling shutter on the camera its being created by my graphics card and even after rendering and compiling then uploading to youtube it stays in the file, errors created by my graphics card I guess. When I'm importing I'm just dragging straight from folder to folder.

Anyone got any idea??? :(

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Thanks Roger and Dan

I wil call in to a local camera shop when I get the chance and have a look at the Mafrotto 560B-1. It is light and looks to be what I am looking for. Thanks for the help!

Mark

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi

Yep noticed the fan was still there in some other images I saw. So same heat producing LSI and hardware.

Also notice the cost reduction of having no covers protecting the connections!

It is basically the TM900 with a rejigged lens to favour a wider angle at the cost of zoom, and a claimed better OIS. The 3D aspect of the LCD display is just expense spent I don't need.

The only honesty from Panasonic PR is that the model number remains the same. Good I don't feel the need to replace my current camera, but not good for Panasonic.

Regards

Phil

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I wouldn't call a higher shutter speed more fluid, but it will remove the motion blur, obviously. I try to shoot at the highest possible shutter speed for sports - minimum 125 max 500. Some disagree, due to the stuttering effect during pans, especially with progressive shooting; but, in my opinion it's a trade-off i'm willing to make to get a clear image of the players performance. My wife hates the 'strobing effect' and has to look away- she'd prefer motion blur to the stop action effect of a high shutter.

I never use auto white balance - it can cycle between between the 2 points the camera selects as optimal.

What lens are you using with your 60D? A fixed aperture 2.8 would be optimal. It's on my list to get.
I've not tried using my 60D for sports events yet . . . i'd be giving up too much in focal range. I may try it for a special shoot focused on a single player, but to cover the whole game my tele lens doesn't go wide enough.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Looks about right for interior shots. The TM900 is not renowned for low light work. Regarding shutter speed, if you increase it to 120 the image, in low light/interior shots, is going to darken considerably.
Hope this helps.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Yes it's a balance between motion blur and strobing for the 60D which I still have to find the sweet spot for. And I agree with auto white balance.. unfortunately, the TM900 is not very versatile in this respect compared to the Canon 60D.

I use a 24-105 F4 for soccer video. I try to get it at 5.6 aperture as a bigger aperture is a real pain to try to keep in focus due to depth of field. Zooming and focusing and trying to keep track of the soccer ball in a fast game is not for the faint of heart. I've done previous games at night in F4, and it is a nightmare to keep in focus. That is why I will be shooting at 5.6 in good light where possible. I use the Zacuto viewfinder. Right now I am leaning towards the Tm900 for soccer as it is much easier to use, and the fluid motion is quite good. My plan was to do multicam for soccer which is why I got the TM900..but as gain more experience I will reserve a multicam shoot for special games.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

So my first fully edited video, 3 mins long training montage of one of our students. A beginner. Uses a fair bit colour editing to get that movie look (at least I attempted to)

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi All,
I am new to this forum. I got my TM900 just a few days ago. I have some questions I would like to pose to the members to see what their experience is.
1. Is anyone using the new Laxar Class 10 128 gig chip, and if so what has your reaction to it been?
2. What auxillary microphone is best used with this camcorder?
3. What wide angle accessory are people using?
Thanks in advance,
Dennis Freeman

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I have the Panasonic wide angle lens. Works great. Wouldn't be without it.

I use the Rode Videopro mic. Works great also.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I tried Panasonics HD writer edit function last night just to put all my recent NZ trip clips into 1 file for viewing on my WD Live. Works extremely well for this as no rendering is required. Only problem is, it splits the final file into 4GB sizes. Is there any way to stop this happening??

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

The reason for the separate files is the fact that many of the editing systems will not support spanned clips i.e those occupying more than 4 gig.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Does anyone have any experience using the 128 gig Lexar chip with the TM900?
Dennis Freeman

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Yes thanks, I know what it is for, I was asking if there is a way to stop it.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Take a look at the trial version of the Aunsoft program. I believe that it will transcode spanned clips.
Hope this helps,
Denny

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Well, as with Carol, I'm happy to report I'm back from my eight weeks in Africa (Chad). In due course, I'll write about my experiences in the Home Away From Home thread. But i want to report that I had tremendous success with the TM900 (at least I think so; I hope the more professional amongst you might critique after I can post some visual results).

Here's a rundown of the equipment I used and some of my first impressions:
- TM900 w/one each extra 130 and 260 batteries and sundry 120V/240V and 12V chargers
- Raynox .66 wide angle adapter (I am sooooooo glad I invested in this!)
- 72mm B&W polarizer from my D200 that fit the Raynox
- Azden SGM2X mic w/Stormblack windsocks, 2ft and 30ft. Audiotek cables, and CAVision fiberglass collapsible boom pole
- JuicedLink CX211 2 XLR audio adapter
- CamCaddie with accessories (priceless for kids and other low-level shots)
- 12 32GB class 6 and class 10 SDHC cards (Patriot, Lexar, and Transcend)
- 126 LED light
- HP DM1z Netbook loaded w/Panny software and USB DVD writer w/25 blank DVDs
- Manfrotto /Bogen 394 tripod w/Integrated Video/Photo head
- Kata 3N1-22 Sling Backpack w/tripod holder accessory

My friends who have seen the raw footage played from the camcorder directly to my 60” Samsung HDTV are awestruck by the clarity, brightness, and crispness of the images. I shot everything in 1080/60P, almost all of it using IA with AIS on, except when using the tripod. Like Carol, I found it too cumbersome and error-prone to try making manual adjustments on the fly.

And I’m not sure if they would have improved my images. Most of my shooting was in a village during the daytime, and the IA worked fine. I don’t see over-exposure in those shots, although, I will definitely welcome some more expert opinion in due course. I also found the exposure adjusted very quickly when I moved into different light situations.

Aside from the indelible memories of the beauty and kindness of the people of the village, the things that stick most in my mind are the shots I missed – either because my camcorder was not at hand or because of mistakes made in the heat of the moment. Examples – boy driving two oxen pulling a sled at a gallop across a setting sun (I was peeing when I realized what I was missing), twelve kids of varying heights passing by with a long, woven rattan fence hoisted over their heads looking for all the world like a human caterpillar (camcorder was in my room 100 yards away), and many more. For a while, I agonized over those missed shots; now that I’ve seen what I did get, I’m more philosophical about losing them. You can’t win ‘em all!

I used the tripod only twice, but it was worth the effort. We interviewed the three village teachers about the trials and tribulations of teaching six grades in an open air environment. Also, I took a five-minute shot of the setting sun – at or near the equator, it goes down very fast and actually disappears in the haze before it hits the horizon. I read the discussions on this thread about focusing directly into the sun, but at that low level, the intensity did not harm the image nor, I hope, the sensors.

The professionals among you will cringe when I report that I didn’t back up my cards to my netb0ook, as was my plan. It wasn’t for want of trying. The first upload did not work, and I got “recovering data” and other scary messages during the attempt. So I decided to wait and not tempt fate in the field where I had no good advice to follow. I came back with 10 full 32 GB cards and no backup. However, my netbook was a great source of entertainment for the villagers because I had loaded a bunch of African jazz and pop music as well as videos, and someone produced a couple of DVDs taken at the village a few years previously.

I will report more later on my success (or lack thereof) with the external mic and other gear. Also, I’ll upload some images –even if they are only still shots – as soon as I figure out how to do it.

My profound thanks to everyone on this thread who directly or indirectly provided invaluable advice in the months before my trip.

Finally, to Carol – I certainly understand what you must have felt and probably are still feeling emotionally about Africa and especially the people. This was my return to Africa after a 40 year absence, and it confirmed to me that I hadn’t just suffered some sort of immature emotional reaction when I left the first time those many years ago. I always knew I had to go back, and I’m confident you will return also. I don’t know who wrote it – I read it a long time ago, and I like to think it was Hemingway – but someone said no one can leave Africa without having been profoundly affected by it.

Aside from all that, Africa is a photographer’s dreamscape.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Congrats on the successful trip.
I am looking forward to your accounts from behind the scenes - especially the use of Raynox wide angle adapter and the JuicedLink CX211.
Adrian

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Sinbi Muay Thai day trip to Coral Island, Phuket last Sunday - YouTube

No colour correction, just a slight vignette added. Edited video of our day trip to a tropical island. Crabs, lizards, people, sand and boat trips!

AGC on TM900
 

Has anyone figured out what the SET+/AGC menu screen does? I'm not at all convinced that I understand why the manual audio setup screen has an AGC button on it. Are you setting anything associated with "AGC" on this screen or only turning it on and off? If only turning it on and off, then why have the button here rather than just use the "auto" setting for audio when you want AGC?

What settings have folks found work best with the Rode VideoMic Pro for both the camera and for the VideoMic Pro?

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Check page 73 of the users manual. It states the following:
73
VQT3K80
When recording, the input level from the built-in microphones and the external microphone
terminal can be adjusted.
≥ Switch to manual mode. (l 80)
1 Select the menu.
≥ It is possible to select the setting from the quick menu in manual mode. (l 40) The
microphone level returns to the setting adjusted previously, and it cannot be set from the
quick menu.
2 (When [SETr ]/[SET] is selected)
Touch / to adjust.
≥ Touch to activate/disactivate AGC. When AGC is
activated, the icon is surrounded by yellow and the
amount of sound distortion can be reduced. When
AGC is disactivated, natural recording can be
performed.
≥ Adjust the microphone input level so that the last
2 bars of the gain value are not red. (Otherwise, the
sound is distorted.) Select a lower setting for
microphone input level.
3 Touch [ENTER] to set the microphone input
level and then touch [EXIT].
≥ (Microphone input level meter) appears
on the screen.
≥ When switching to intelligent auto mode, the setting is fixed to [AUTO] and cannot be
changed.
≥ When [MIC SETUP] is [ZOOM MIC], the volume will be different depending on the zoom
rate.
≥ When [MIC SETUP] is set to [STEREO MIC] or external microphone input is used, the
sound is stereo (2 ch) and only the front-left and front-right input level meters function.
≥ The microphone input level meter shows the largest volume for the microphones.
≥ You cannot record with the audio completely muted.
[MIC LEVEL]
: [RECORD SETUP] # [MIC LEVEL] # desired setting
[AUTO]: AGC is activated, and the recording level is adjusted
automatically.
[SETr ]/[SET]: The desired recording level can be set.
MENU
A Centre
B Front left
C Back left
D Front right
E Back right
F Microphone input level

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I am wondering if anyone is having as issue with the lens cover closing on the TM900. Once it is opened, after the camcorder is powered off it can take up to 2.5 miinutes before it closes.

Denny

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Can't think of anything directly, except perhaps dirt?

Which leads me to a question I have been meaning to post....My unit took a fair amount of dust while in Africa. I wiped it off assiduously (your word for today) but I'm wondering if anyone can recommend how I go about finding a good professional cleaning service. I searched on the Panasonic website and came up empty except for cleaning heads on older tape models. Thanks.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

George,
That might be a possibility, however, the camcorder is only a few weeks old, and has hardly been used.
Denny

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Have you got one of the the 'Instant On' features enabled?

Not with the TM900 right now/about to start a shoot with the EX3 but there are two different types of "fast on" settings in the Menu somewhere. Forgot what they are called exactly.

One of them closes the lens cover as soon as you close the LCD (and opens it as soon as you open the LCD). This is the one I use as it's so useful. However, the other leaves the lens cover open all the time with the camera in standy mode (perhaps until you have a camera Auto off timer set point), at which point it will close. Maybe that's what's going on with yours??? Just thinking out aloud - look in the Manual for the details as I may have remembered the names wrong!

Hope this helps!

UPDATE: Back at home now. What I mentioned is on page 43 of the TM900 handbook and is in fact called 'Quick Power On'. The other option (the one I use often when out and about) is called 'Quick Start'. No idea if the 'Quick Power On' is related to your problem Dennis - but let's hope it's as simple as that.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi Dennis,

in my basic setup, I am using either audio-technica PRO 24 CM for ambient sound, or Sony ECM-CG50 shotgun mic.

You can also use Rode NTG-2 shotgun but that requires an adapter box like JuicedLink CX211.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I'm using the Nikon ME-1 after reading that it's a stereo and powered from camera, as opposed to VideoMicPro which is only mono and has to be powered.

The Nikon is also about half the price of the VideoMicPro. (Just checked Jessops site in UK where I got mine for £79 and found it\'s gone up to £119 !!!!!!

Have a look back through this thread at the index on page 32 for mics.

Thanks to Andy for all the time he\'s taken with this thread.

Peter

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi Dennis. Thanks for taking the time to put down the instructions for the audio level set screen. I have read through them and I\'m still not sure that I totally understand how all this works. In particular, I\'m not sure that I fully understand what is going on when you dial down the audio level to -12dB and then highlight the AGC button. Is the AGC that is in operation at this point being given a target level that is lower than 0dB? From my simple experiments it does seem to work this way. If you dial down the level to -12dB, then highlight AGC, then the audio level as displayed on the audio meter never seems to go above about 4 bars down from the red zone. If however, you set the level at 0dB, then turn on AGC, then the audio level as displayed on the audio meter hangs out several bars higher.

What these experiments suggest is that the level that you set in the audio level screen does affect the AGC that you get when you highlight the yellow button. However, this audio level setting does not appear to affect the AGC that you get when you shoot in full auto mode. I\'ve never had an "adjustable" AGC on any camera that I\'ve owned, at least not that I was aware of. I\'m not sure how you would use it. By turning down the target level for the target volume of the AGC, do you lower the amount of amplification that occurs during the dead periods? It would take more precise experiments than I have made to figure out if this is the case. The raising of the background noise during dead periods is what really makes AGC an issue for many applications, so limiting the maximum amplification during these periods might really be useful.

The bottom line is that I\'m not convinced that I fully understand what happens when the level is turned down and AGC is enabled, and more importantly, when I might best use this feature vs full manual or full auto. Any thoughts would be appreciated.