Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi Luc,

Thanks for the update. The AGC+SET thing at -6 dB test looks disappointing - I wonder how this is supposed to work then. Anyone know?

Cannot really tell from your video about the temelapse quality as I am out and about and only viewing on my Samsung Tablet. ILast year I did try an extended timelapse with my TM900 and I will say that I was so unhappy with the quality of it when I got home that it never even made it into a family video. I ONLY ever use it in 1080p50 now. Each camera has strengths and weaknesses - get to learn them well and use the best tool.

Sure, low light performance on the TM900 is not stella. What do you expect with 3 small chips! This kind of thing is all relative. I can tell you it trounces my old Sony HC1 and a friends Sony V1 that were my main tools a few years ago. If you need good low light get a Canon 5D Mkiii.

Put 32GB of RAM into my Mac Pro this morning. Should be interesting to see how that helps things get along!

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

The AGC/Set thing is definitely strange. I did a few quick tests myself after reading the prior posts. My conclusion is that the AGC button on the Set screen has virtually no effect. When one enters the SET screen, picks a value for manual recording, then whether or not one hits the AGC button on that screen before exiting does not seem to make much if any difference. The camera appears to basically stay in manual recording mode whether the AGC button is enabled or not. I thought maybe the AGC set function might not work with an external microphone but work with the internal mic. But you get basically the same results if you use the internal mic or an external mic.

BTW, there are some differences in the way that the camera is reporting levels in dB and the way in which the Rode VMP does. The 10dB cut setting on the VMP is equivalent to reducing the manual volume setting on the TM900 by 20dB. The Rode must be a voltage based measurement whereas the TM900 is a power measurement.

In some ways the VMP isn't a particularly good match for the TM900. The VMP's sensitivity is ~20dB(TM900 reference dB) greater than the internal microphone. This causes it to be much too hot for the TM-900 electronics when the Rode is in the 0dB position. (With the VMP in 0dB position and the TM900 set to manual @ 0dB, a whisper at 6 feet will cause the TM-900 to clip.) You could set the TM900 to -21dB to make the Rode similar to the internal microphone at 0dB, but this won't allow you to go into loud environments and the TM900 electronics may not be distortionless when applying this much attenuation. Consequently my thought is that the Rode should always be used in the -10dB position with the TM-900.

I've also had problems with the Rode being boomy. It seems to overemphasize the lows in many situations. Note that the Rode is very directional for the midrange and high frequencies. It is not directional with respect to the lows. Consequently it is possible to get attenuation of the midrange relative to the lows if the microphone is not pointed directly at the single source of all the sound. I find the Rode to work much better with the low filter applied.

I am often frustrated by situations where I set up my primary microphone to record at a level that optimizes what is happening in a stage performance. But later I'll discover that loud clapping or other loud events caused the audio to end up clipping, thereby making some of the audio unusable. When shooting with my PD-170 in the past I often used two microphones. One was set to AGC and the other was set to the manual setting that I thought would work well. That way I always ended up with something that was usable. Of course on the TM-900 the audio level controls are very limited, so this setup isn't possible. The solution that I am exploring now is to use a second microphone besides the VMC. The second microphone will be a much less sensitive microphone or connected through an old Beachtek unit that I happen to have so that I can reduce the amplitude of its signal by 10-15dB relative to the VMC. I'll use a splitter to run the two microphone signals into the TM-900 external microphone connector (the splitter has to be the right type to split the mini stereo plug into 2 separate mono channels). In theory this should work well for me as one of the two microphones should capture good audio. I'll let you know how my experiments come out and maybe what my final setup looks like. (Beachtek + special bracket to hold 2nd microphone).

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Right. I use 4GB. Uhm...

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I've done some time-lapse using the SD900 (50i) and it looks fine. To be fair though I simply film in real time and decide the speed I need, and more importantly the changes in speed, when it's all on the timeline. Of course this method uses lots of battery and card space, but works well for a lot of projects.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Timelapse, opening shot, (in camera TM900), here.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Awesome video Colin! :)

I do have one question - were you using a steadycam @ 0:32? I'm loving that smooth motion.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Thanks Luc. The shot of the church was taken with the camera on a 26 inch Igus slider.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Andy,

Just curious, how does all that extra RAM help you? Here's a screenshot of my PC doing a render, the CPU is not even going past 80-85%! Any idea why this is happening? It's also telling me I have 1.29GB of free RAM (out of the 4!). So why you would need 32GB is beyond me! :) to be fair, I did not have any After Effects dynamic links in this one, maybe that counts as well.

CPU Usage

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Though I've been using a GH2 instead of my TM700 for the last year or so, I've enjoyed watching what's happening with the TM900/X900 here. Your videos, and a recent update making Final Cut Pro X compatible with Panasonic's 60P files, inspired me to dust off the TM700 for this project.

In summer, following a dry Winter, the low deserts of Arizona present very muted colors. This, and harsh sun can result in less than interesting images. This project is an attempt to use the "Picture Adjust" settings of the Panasonic HDC-TM700 to improve color, exposure and white balance for these conditions.

Panasonic HDC-TM700
Polarizer
Gitzo GT0531 tripod and G2180 fluid head
White Balance for sun
Picture Adjust settings
- Sharpness +1
- Color +3
- Exposure -3
- WB Adjust +1 to Red

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

It was a pleasure to watch that video Dan, great work :) there was a bit too much sharpness for my taste (I go for the setting recommended in this thread, -1). the polarizer combined with -3 exposure made the sky really dark, but I like it. speaking of which, what polarizer did you use? I'm looking to buy one myself. is it a 46mm screw-on? someone said you might get some vignetting at full wide, in which case your video clearly proves them wrong.

thank you!

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Luc, if you are worried about vignetting you could try using a larger filter in combination with a stepping ring. I find 58mm a useful size.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Thank you for the kind words Luc. Happy to hear you enjoyed the project. I typically prefer a B+W polarizer, but used a 46mm screw-on Tiffen here. No vignetting full-wide with the TM700.

Thanks for watching.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Question!

Take this camera:

Sony NEX-VG20 (AVCHD 1080 50p camera) - about 3x the cost of the TM900, has a big CMOS sensor, and yet minimum illumination = 9 lux.

TM900 Minimum Illumination = 1.6 lux.

Are you telling me the Sony is 5 times worse in the dark than the cheap Pana? Or is it the other way around? I would just like to understand these concepts once and for all, and a big thank you to the person who is willing to explain it to me :)

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Luc.
I would imagine the 1.6 lux rating applies when using the TM900 in the low light scene mode, useless for anything usable.
The VG20 with its bigger sensor would be better in low light, when used with a fast lens

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

So that number is basically cheating... also, what do you mean by fast lens?

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

1. More misleading, I think
2. A lens with a wide aperture, f2.8 or lower, preferably f1.8 or f1.4

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Ok, gotcha, thank you :)

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi

"Roll on the day when we might be able to put 1080P/50 or 60 on Blu ray"

I have authored all my Panasonic HDC-SD700 1080P/50 HD footage since 2010
to Blu-ray using the free MultiAVCHD.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

"I have authored all my Panasonic HDC-SD700 1080P/50 HD footage since 2010
to Blu-ray using the free MultiAVCHD."

Hi, are such discs playable on most BD players or just certain ones?

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi,

You can use multiAVCHD to author 1080 50p/60p blu-ray disc with full Menus & Chapters.
Newer 3D Blu-ray players now support “AVCHD V2.0” which now includes 1920x1080 @ 50P or 60P
My Sony PS3 and Samsung BD-C6900 plays MultiAVCHD authored 1080/50p Blu-ray discs without any problems.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

A bit of an off-topic question: how do you guys CLEAN your TM900? Especially the lens. I tried using cotton swabs, but felt as if there are more efficient ways of doing it... had to apply pressure to get the dust particles off the lens, hopefully I didn't scratch it... thank you!

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Impregnated lens/LCD cleaning tissue, followed by dry lens cleaning cloth. Dont worry about scratching the lens, modern day lens coatings are very tough. If my normal cleaning cloths are not to hand, a breath on the lens and buff with a clean handkerchief more than suffices

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Thank you Colin, was actually worried about scratches, so good to know that.

HDMI out to uncompressed capture? Anyone doing it?
 

In seeing my footage in HDMI out to my monitor, it is clearly superior to what I am getting from the AVCHD format I'm putting into my NLE from this camera. Is anyone trying to capture this stuff uncompressed directly from the camera? Or even running the captured footage out the HDMI port into something like a Matrox device to capture it uncompressed that way? If I can get the uncompressed footage like what I'm seeing on my 48" home monitor through HDMI, I'd be thrilled. Seems it could easily then match the 4:2:2 I'm getting out of my Canon XF305.

It appears from the fact that if I capture it in camera (before writing to the SD card), that I'm getting the uncompressed footage going out the HDMI port prior to conversion to AVCHD. Or am I wrong? Is AVCHD going directly to HDMI really that high quality? Putting this same footage into my NLE as AVCHD destroys so much of the latitude, and I can't get it back no matter what I do in rendering. I assume that's what the Matrox and other boxes will do for me. But will they work with this camera?

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

"It appears from the fact that if I capture it in camera (before writing to the SD card), that I'm getting the uncompressed footage going out the HDMI port prior to conversion to AVCHD. Or am I wrong?"

I believe that you're right, I mean, not wrong.

I am also very curious about this. If anyone is capturing to a Ninja or nanoFlash or whatever please share your results.

TIA

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi Mark,

I tried unsuccessfully to use a nanoFlash with the TM 900 set at 1080p50. When I asked Convergent Design about the problem I was told that "there was too much information" for thenF to process. For further information I would suggest asking your question on the Convergent Design site.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Assuming you are using full quality 50/60P mode while viewing live output and the same for the recording, how did you manage to compare them? I don't see an easy way to do this, not without a studio, consistent lighting and preferably a monitor with built in scopes.

I did this test with my EX1R but that was easy, I used SDI out into Edius via my Storm 3G card. The 3G card has HDMI output to my HDTV and I have live scopes in Edius.

Personally I don't recall observing any difference between live and recordings using my TM900 but then I have to rely on memory as I switch between the two and with the time gap the light changes, it's simply not the same as instant switch overs.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Authoring AVCHD 2.0 onto Blu-ray media that play only on AVCHD 2.0 supported Blu-ray players is not the same as authoring actual 1080/50p/60p compliant Blu-ray disks. The latter do not exist. It's a step in the right direction, but some Blu-ray players have discontinued AVCHD 2.0 suppport and some that had it have even rolled back to unsupport it with firmware "upgrades," Oppo being noted for this.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I've been using the TM900 for almost a year, and still quite impressed at how well it has done. Tomorrow I should receive the new HM-X900M. Can't wait to see the differences.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Did I kill this thread or something?
Anyway, the new has some differences in operation, but performs very well.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi Greg.

After well over 110,000 views in the last 18 months you would have trouble killing this thread! It still seems pretty popular!

Anyway, to the point. Good to know. If, when you feel ready, you can share any specific insights into what aspects the new one might do better (or worse) than the old TM900 then I'm sure there will be a lot on interest in your findings.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Pls tell us more - some of us are thinking of a second camera for 2-camera shooting.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Gregg, some of us get feeds on email and choose to ignore the thread if it's not relevant. Don't worry, as mentioned, this is probably one of the most active threads on DVINFO. Chris ought to be paying for this input! He gets more eyeballs on this than Yahoo is probably getting these days.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Alright, first of all, I haven't had all that much time using it, but knowing it's there when I need it is a big plus. My main purpose of shooting video is to capture and share students of the performing arts. I've gotten involved with high/middle schools, recording bands, strings, choirs, choregraphy. Recently the high school performed Phantom of the Opera, and what a challange that was. Dark and smokey sets forced me to understand manual settings pretty quickly. I learned alot about the TM900 with that. I've also recorded a jazz workshop as they performed in a local club, and again I learned to tolerate the conditions. Off color lights, no soundboard, I've mounted both cameras on Manfrotto fluid heads, with robust tripods, and then discovered a camera was located too close to a subwoofer. Slight vibes can be seen during those bass guitar notes. Those subs were built in to the establishment, and did not even look like a speaker, they were huge. Never suspected it.

Now for the controls between the two cameras. The X900 internals have been laid out differently. The SD card is now located on the bottom, concealed by a door, which is very difficult to open with the Manfrotto sliding shoe in place. The on/off button behind the lcd has been relocated, and very difficult to get to, the lcd must be positioned correctly to touch that switch. Hard to find in a dark jazz club. The zoom lever on top of the camera changed shape, making it flush to the top of the camera, not pronounced like the TM900. Often I find myself touching the photoshot button instead. I wish they kept the similar shape. The iA & OIS buttons are located in the same place so that is good. Batteries are the same, big plus.

Video between the two are very good. In manual mode, with identical settings I cannot tell the difference between the two cameras. What I like most is the wider lens, not having to step back to get more into the picture. It also shoots better in low light.

Here is an example of the TM900, edited with Avid, including some special effects.

I did this last weekend, first time with the X900. Lighting was difficult, and no soundboard inputs.

Not as professional as many others I've seen, but your comments are welcome.
I still have much to learn.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Gregg.
Thanks for that. It would be very interesting to see a comparison of the 2 cams in low light conditions, if ever you get the time.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Interesting stuff Gregg,

How do you coordinate shooting between the 2 cameras?

Have ever had a chance to use TM900 with a wide adapter lens? How wide is the lens of X900 in comparison?

Another question I have is about the sound handling.
In a club/stage setting - if you don't have access to the soundboard, do you use external mics, pre-amps, etc.?

Thx

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

TM900/X900 and footage from GoPRO HD.

I am curious if anybody intercut footage from those cameras? Is the image quality comparable?

Thx

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Amazing, this link is alive!!
Colin
The video named Hanna A was shot with both cameras, it does have nice detail in the shadows. If I remember correctly the iris was +6db.
I’ll try and put the cameras side by side to demonstrate the wider lens and low light conditions.

Adrian
I usually set up one camera stationery, keep it recording and use it as a control & for audio syncing, then pan/zoom and roam with the other.

I don’t have an adapter lens for these, my earlier experiences with digital stills showed me poor results, so I’ll just stay away from that.
I have yet to invest in external mikes, pre-amps. I often sit center stage behind the sound board, and line inputs are available there. But I like the 5.1 sound from the camera, must better effects with surround sound systems. I hate giving that up. I may look into a digital sound recorder before external mikes to the camera, I feel they may single out an instrument, then you lose other instruments. I feel that might have happened with Hanna A vid, to me her voice sounds like its coming out a megaphone. I should maybe shut off the zoom mike feature.

Also, the vid “Making of the Phantom” does have Go Pro data in it, at the end, Richard Wolf the accompanist was recorded with it.

Many other examples of my vids can be viewed here
https://vimeo.com/search?q=Gregory+Mlotkowski

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Greg.
Thanks for the info, a side by side low light comparison would be wonderful. Apologies for mis spelling your name on my post above

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I want to post some videos i've made. I think youtube make quality worse than normal. I also use Sony Vegas and i render as mp4, is it bad? I also want to know which is the best cheap wireless mic to use with TM 900