Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I'm not sure why the Cineform step is needed. If it's not possible to get smooth playback of the MTS files with Vegas 12 with an i5 processor, then select the desired MTS files from the media bin, right click and choose "create proxy video." Then in the preview window, select "preview auto" to view the proxy files or choose "Best Auto" to view the native MTS files, your choice. This is all explained in the Vegas help. FWIW, my Dell laptop with i7 is nothing special, although it does have the GT555M nVidia CUDA open CL graphics card, it speeds through the native MTS files of my TM900 easily, and also my AG-AC90, 1920x1080/60p.

A question about zoom and Image stabilisation
 

With OIS on does one need to always press the OIS lock button on the LCD screen or is it only when extra stabilisation is needed whilst zooming. Is the stabilisation without holding the hand icon good enough ?
Also what is the max zoom to use with best results. Thanks in advance.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Only push the on-screen stabilisation button when you want the maximum stabilisation and you can put up with the not-inconsiderable side-effects. You can zoom or pan or tilt without the camera 'carrying-on'. Put it on a tripod to see what I'm talking about.

The stabilisation afforded by simply using the OIS button is pretty good, but again, the side effects are pretty noticeable if you pan or tilt.

Max zoom? You can switch it to the 20x with no loss of resolution. Although it's digital from 12x to 20x it's using a mega-pixel chip, so that even at 20x it's still 1920 x 1080. Better yet it remains at f/2.8 max from 12x to 20x, so it's a neat solution.

tom.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I have been using 3 TM900's for the last two years to shoot events. They work great except for one thing. When the camera is recording continuously and has to start a new file (after the prior file has reached 4GB), there is a sizeable dropout on the audio and a bunch of duplicated frames in the video. The camera does create the correct number of frames as it transitions from one file to another such that the multiple cameras will stay in sync. However, the audio dropout is a problem if you are recording a concert and end up with a hole in the audio. The 4 frozen video frames that you get at the junction of the files is also a problem if you have fast action as viewers will notice it. However, with video you typically have multiple camera angles and can avoid the video with the glitch at that point in time. The audio is more of a problem as I have different types of mikes on the various cameras and substituting in audio from camera2 to plug a hole in camera1's audio doesn't end up with a great result. I have always shot events in 1080/60p because of the flexibility that it gives me in post. It just occurred to me that the problem might be less severe in 60i as the camera processor might have less work to do. However, this wouldn't be a great solution anyway because I really like the 60p.

I am looking to add a 4th camera as I am moving towards using more static cameras and fewer manned cameras. I really like the intelligent exposure on the TM900 as it keeps from blowing out areas of the stage that are under brighter light when I am zoomed back. I'd like to get a new camera that has this same capability, that can be easily color matched to my existing cameras, and that fixes the audio glitch at the file junction.

Does anyone have experience with the TM900 follow-on cameras that would shed light on whether or not Panny fixed the audio issue with the new cameras? For critical events today I use a PD-170 to record the audio track. But this is a hassle to set up, synchronize, and download the tapes. Any thoughts of a new camera that can be matched with my current cams and that solves my audio issue? Something that doesn't break the bank...

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Thanks Tom for your reply. I will check out your suggestions.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Alan, your problems are probably caused by the method by which you bring the files into your PC and import into your NLE.

With AVCHD you must follow a very specific workflow.

There are also white papers by Panasonic such as this one for Sony Vegas Pro:

ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/panasoni...te%20paper.pdf

I also use 3 x TM900's but I always also use standalone audio recorders so it wasn't really an issue for me but I discovered the above - which everyone else already seemed to know - when exploring the workflow for the AC90.

The AC90 is much larger than the TM900 family but still fairly discreet. I also use the TM900 intelligent exposure / backlight compensation feature a great deal. The AC90 has a similar function but it is a little more usable because you can allocate backlight compensation to a physical user button and toggle it on and off mid-shoot.

Pete

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Thanks for the response. I will try the special AVCHD importing process. I have been simply copying the .mts files onto my computer, importing them into Premiere, and then butting them up against each other in the timeline.

I find it absolutely bizarre that there needs to be a special import process for spanned files. Why not simply make the files continuations of each other? And where the heck is the missing audio that doesn't appear in either file? Cutting out the frames with missing audio and butting them together leaves a glitch. (So where the heck are the missing audio frames if not in either file?) And there are more frames with missing audio than there are frames with missing video at the junction. It absolutely doesn't make sense that somehow these files can be stitched back together in a way that is both video and audio contiguous. (Of course it probably would make sense if I fully understood the compression scheme that was being used...)

I would point out that it will be annoying and a hassle to copy the entire private folder onto my computer every time that I want to download clips. My SD cards often contain files from multiple filmings, some of which I have already downloaded and some of which I have yet to download. I will need to look at the directory structure to determine if there are files contained elsewhere in the private directory that contain metadata about the spanning or if the .mts files simply need to be in a directory structure with the appropriate names in order for Premiere to sort out that the files are spanned and then handle them appropriately.

In any event, it sounds like there is a solution to my audio glitches at the boundaries of files even though it sounds like a hassle from a workflow perspective.

Thanks for responding,

Alan

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I would like to point out that this problem is not unique to Panasonic AVCHD files. All systems using concatenated file structures that I have come across, need the user to import the media in a specific manner to avoid the problems that you have been having.

I would suggest that you do not keep adding new media to cards. After each section of a project or after each day's filming, I transfer the entire contents of the card to a laptop and or external drive. Once the media transferred is checked, then the card is reformatted prior to re-use. Also, if you are shooting more than one project at the same time or in the same location, use different cards for each sequence. The cards are not expensive, and will save you a lot of hassle.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I guess I will have to change my workflow to deal with this new way of importing files into Premiere. In the past I have kept the files on the SD card until I had finished editing the project and delivered the project. This just gave me a "no extra work involved" emergency backup of the original files if I had a computer meltdown during the editing process, or if I discovered something hadn't downloaded properly.

Given that I sometimes have 3 projects going at once, I could (as you suggest), buy 6 more 64GB cards at about $50 each and use one set of cards for each project. (Actually 9 more cards if I get a 4th cam)

A second alternative would be to copy the Private folder to several different computers after every filming, then re-format the card. This would give me redundancy at the expense of disk drive space and duplicate downloads.

I could also keep with my current approach of leaving multiple events on the card for a while and simply copy the entire contents of the card every time I download. This gives redundancy at the expense of disk drive space and download time.

A fourth possibility would be to determine the ancillary files that contain the metadata for the spanned clips and that allow Premiere to recognize the spanned clips as such. I could then download these specific files along with the .mts files and place them in the appropriate directory structure. However, this would be a hassle and might lead to errors.

My guess is that I'll go with the second alternative and download the Private folder to multiple computers and then re-format the card after each filming.

Bit of a hassle but it does solve the problem.

Thanks again for your help with this issue.

BTW, I'm still in the market for a 4th cam that can be matched up with my TM900's. It needs "intelligent exposure" to deal with varying lighting conditions. It needs to have the same picture quality as the TM900's but doesn't need all of the features as it will always be in a static position simply covering part of the stage. I'd like to minimize the amount of money that I spend on this camera. Any thoughts?

Alan

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Thanks guys for enlightening me as to what the correct method of importing footage into Premiere is. I was wondering why Premiere wasn't recognizing the AVCHD format in the Media Browser... now I know I was doing it wrong.

I just logged in to rage. I have a shot of the bride's beautiful bouquet that I'm zooming in on, and the TM900 decides to CONSTANTLY shift focus, it goes absolutely WILD.

I noticed this happening -whenever- I zoom in/out slowly, for some reason the camera just goes nuts. The problem is worse if you have little lights in your shot, such as one of those old church chandeliers with lots of candle-shaped light bulbs on it. Filmed one of those as well and while the chandelier itself was a pleasure to look at, the constantly changing focus ruined it. I am always using MF from now on, even though it's not quite easy to get a steady macro shot without using both hands to keep the TM900 in place. I find it produces shaky video even with its awesome stabilizer, shakier with 1x zoom for macro shots than 20x zoom for landscape shots.

Good, got it out of my system. Here is the actual raw bouquet shot I was talking about. You can clearly see the two problems.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

The shakiness looks like the camera was hand held and would be improved by using a tripod. My SD 700s are pretty much the same as the 900 and from my own experience, the hunting focus is due to the sensor being confused by bright points of light. In the bouquet example, the pearl beads in the bouquet are reflecting bright pin points that I think are causing the problem. I find the same thing with small led lights, the sort of thing that you find in a DJs starcloth. You also reported the came problem with the small loghts in the chandelier and I think you will find it quite common in autofocus systems.

If you find you are encountering those sort of reflection or small light problems, just switch to MF and using the focus ring should be pretty straight forward if you are tripod mounted.

Roger

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Well, I was admonished in another thread about too much techinical and not enough art stuff. So here's a break from the geek cheek, and a bit from the air. Back in 2011 I took the Tm900 along to Tucson. I lucked out and got late afternoon light on the Grand Canyon. Relax and take it in. It's beautiful no matter where or how you get the shots. Watch as much as you want.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I'm currently using the VW-WE08H 0.8x wide angle adapter but still want a wider field of view so I'm tempted with the VW-W4607H 0.7x adapter.

The VW-WE08H is giving me 28mm but the VW-W4607H will give me 24.5mm

Has anyone used this adapter and if so does it display much distortion over the VW-WE08H?

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi Luc, I've encountered this problem on rare occasion. The TM900 just doesn't want to seem to focus or just goes in and out. My solution. Power it down using the power button and then power it back up (possibly disconnect battery too). It goes back to normal. This seems to happen once every few weeks. Hope this helps.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Peter, for the sake of the thread, I just saw that you asked this back in August. Do you still care about this? I have the 4607H but I don't know how to compare it to the 08H. I could shoot some footage for you if it's still relevant. I find the 4607H a really nice WA for this little camera. While I have a lot of other high end cameras, there is a lot to like in these these models.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Al, I'd be interested to see footage or a couple of stills shot with the WA adapter. I am interested in the sharpness in the corners of a frame. THX

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I'm warming up my Lite Panels light and have printed out some high def resolution charts. Should have something by tomorrow. (my LP is COLD having been in the garage during the recent freeze).

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Shooting with the 4607H WA. So I didn't get a chance to shoot inside sharpness tests, but here's a shot from today's shoot, just a screen grab from the video, so overall it's not as sharp as it looks on screen. Also, you can see that I was shooting pretty wide open. Edge to edge sharpness is about even, given that the screen grab is quite low res. Should give you a good idea of it though. I'm happy with it. Edge distortion in this shot could be way worse. People on the edges still look like people, not balloons. it's good enough when I don't want to lug around my bigger cameras.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I think the 4607H WA is quite impressive - as you say - sharpness is pretty even. I have one follow up question - after editing, can you tell a difference, sharpness wise, if a footage was shot with or without 4607H WA? THX

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Yes. Sharpness is pretty even if you are a bit stopped down and working in the wild. But at wide open, lower light situations things can break down first with the WA. Here's my little test video, as you can see, when I get in close the edge's show softness. I saw this as well on the shoot documented above, when I went into a nearby forest and was shooting wide open. Edge Sharpness is not as good. But hey, if I was getting paid, I'd grab a better camera in general. This one is good for what it does, and I do use it instead of an iPhone. But if I'm getting paid, I step up to at least a 7D, and usually a 5Dmkiii. Would I buy recommend this to a friend? You bet.

One thing that this brings up, is that critical focusing on the TM900 style cameras is not great. I can see blue lines for showing me what's in focus but
This little video is NOT a scientific test, just a simple setup to try and let you know what the sharpness is like. 45 seconds, time enough to stop on a given shot and take a look. Be sure to watch in HD. Stock needle drop music, no copyrights were hurt in the filming of this.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I have 3 TM900's that I use for event videography. I like them because:
1) They are relatively easy to use
2) The video from all three cameras matches (I always use a preset or manual WB). I can adjust all three cams the same amount afterwards in post if the preset wasn't perfect.
3) They don't seem to ever overexpose faces even under harsh lighting (spotlights) so long as you have intelligent contrast enabled
4) With the 12x zoom it is pretty easy to frame shots no matter where the camera needs to be located

I recently bought a Panasonic G6 to have a fourth camera. Unfortunately I am having problems using it as a B cam for my events. The problems that I have run into are:
1) I can't match the colors from the TM900's. Although the G6 may actually be more accurate, I can't get a match, especially with greens. I've tried all of the G6 color choices (standard, vivid, portrait, ...) I can get a match on some of the colors, but not all of them. Note that I am pretty good with all the adjustments available with Premiere.
2) It is hard to get to the zoom ring when mounted on my tripod because the ring is located so close to the camera. This makes it impossible to use as a camera with an operator. I just stick it on a tripod and either leave it fixed all the time or just turn the tripod to get another view.
3) The 3x zoom ring available on the stock G6 doesn't give me enough zoom to frame the shots as I want them. I'd need to buy the 14-140 zoom at $699 to get what I need

So I'm trying to decide if I should send back the G6 and just get an X920. At $738 it would be cheaper than adding the big zoom to the G6. I hate to do this as I like the picture taking capabilities of the G6. But color matching is really important to me.

Have any of you tried to match the video of the X920 with the video from the TM900? Does it match well? I notice that the X920 no longer has an intelligent contrast mode which is disappointing. I can't shoot intelligent auto because the auto WB really sucks on these cameras. I do normally use automatic exposure but with intelligent contrast enabled on the TM900. Does anyone have experience with the X920 in harsh lighting conditions? Does it easily blow out highlights?

Any comments regarding usage of an X920 in conjunction with a TM900 would be greatly appreciated.

Alan

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Alan,
I am experimenting with three cameras: TM900, X920 and GoPro Hero3 Blk. Matching the Panasonic cameras is not a big problem, it get's more complicated with Hero3. The cameras are set to manual WB, and RAW in case of Hero3. Typically one Panasonic is on a tripod, the other hand held. The GoPro is either mounted on a small stand or is attached to the hand held cage (that gives me two different angles from the same POV). Before I begin actual shooting I do a few test shots (all cameras) with something white in the scene (white card) to have a reference in the post production for color correction. Syncing is done in Vegas using the PluralEyes plug-in.
Adrian

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Adrian- Thanks for the reply. My guess was that the x920 would match better than the G6. The color on 3CCD cams seems to have a different look than that of single CCD cams that is hard to completely adjust for. I'll probably send back the G6 and get the x920. Do you have any other likes/dislikes with the x920 relative to the TM900? Is it as sharp? Any problems with overexposure on the x920? Thanks again.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

As some of you might have seen, I've put my 900 up for sale on ebay. Bids starting at $400.00. Comes with panny's wide angle .7 lens. Camera has worked fine for me, but for my next project I'm needing clean HDMI out for some live streaming work and have to move to newer cameras for that particular feature. I'm sure this camera will be a great B cam for someone or a starting camera for some younger filmmaker. You can check it out at Panasonic HDC TM900 32 GB Camcorder Black 885170040038 | eBay
I've also posted to the top level of this forum.

F-Stop to Sharpness
 

I'm three years late on this, but since I signed up, I might post this just aswell.
Zip Download 25mb
I tested Sharpness vs F-stop on the HDC-SD 909, which is the same as the TM-900, just for PAL.
The Zip has 15 images, ranging from f1.5 -f16 @35mm with a downloaded sharpness test image printed @600ppi, obviously lowest iso/gain.
With ND filter for f1.5-f2.0 and with 25p for <f6
f2.0-f2.8 Is the Sharpest, altough in 1920x1080 f1.5 is sharp just aswell.
Something I noticed the first time I filmed with the camera, is that at f3.4 and f4.0 sharpness suddenly drops, before going up after f4.0.

edit: Luminance has been equalized with a script.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Sorry if this has been in a earlier thread but is there any zoom controllers that will work with the tm900,

I do football matches and it was great to use a zoom controller vi lanc socket on my sony camera but can't find a solution for the panny


thanks

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Nobody know? ok which would you get the X900 or the X920 I have the tm900 and need a backup

thanks

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

I don't know why, for the price, you wouldn't buy the latest model. B&H is selling it for under $800. But no, I don't remember ever having a LANC for it.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

It is with great sadness in my heart that I report the death of my beloved TM900. After 4 years of highly successful event videography, despite many of my colleagues' laughs at its size, this little hero "camcorder" has stopped working.

It is an electrical problem which causes the camera to shut down as soon as I open the LCD screen. After which it tried to boot up again, shuts down instantly and so on. However, it works fine if I use the viewfinder. Which is weird.

I have taken it to a local service (not an official Panasonic one) and the primary suspect seems to be the motherboard for not supplying current properly. I'll have to find out how much a replacement part is, but I have a feeling it will be almost as much as the camera.

The really annoying part is that it started doing this after a few weeks of just sitting on my desk.

*sigh*

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Sorry to read that. Mine is still going strong and is an often used holiday cam.

I have recently been using it for things like in-car windscreen mounting (using a B Hague suction mount) and in fact accidentally dropped it onto the road getting out of a BMW that I was filming a Doctor in...my C100 plus Ninja Blade was in my other hand... so good job I did not drop that rig!

So now my TM900 has a few external scratches but is otherwise working perfectly...at least it was last time looked at it!

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Bought several of these for work a while back and now we need more / replacements. Is there a newer version (it seems to be no longer available...)? If not, what are people using instead?

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Saw a post recently about someone wanting a replacement for the old TM700...which reminded me that it's been a long while since I posted on here about my TM900.

Well, it's still going strong! - despite the fact I dropped it getting out of a paramedics car a couple of years ago! (just a few superficial case scratches was the result of that).

I still use it as a "holiday cam" (Venice, Mauritius, Porto and Lisbon being the most recent "outings"), rarely for anything professional. I did have it in action a few months ago on a paid job filming a client present a lecture in a historic Cambridge University venue. It was just locked-off to cover the on-screen Powerpoint slides. This made editing the main cam's footage, in this case from my PMW-300 following the Prof as he talked & walked around the auditorium much easier (to sync with the correct overhead slides).

Still using the original (supplied) small and medium sized Panasonic batteries & they, remarkably, still have decent longevity - but I also (from about 2 years ago) now have a large aftermarket battery in the bag, especially when travelling (that one lasts many hours!)

Varizoom or equivalent for Panasonic camcorder
 

Hi
Is there a varizoom or equivalent to work with a Panasonic TM 900.
I've used the Lanc connection in the past with Sony & Canon camcorders
Many thanks
Norman

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Hi Norman, I have merged your post into our TM 900 user's thread.

Somebody here will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that there is no option for a wired remote lens controller for this camcorder.

LANC is a Sony protocol which is licensed by Canon. Panasonic does not use it. Higher-end professional Panasonic camcorders will have an AUX jack for remote lens control, and VariZoom has controllers that are compatible with these Panasonic models, but unfortunately the TM 900 doesn't have the necessary AUX jack.

Hate to say it but I believe your only option is to use the wireless IR remote control that came with the camcorder. There's no way (as far as I know) to physically interface a wired controller because the TM 900 doesn't have a way into it. There is a USB jack, but there is no provision for lens control via USB to the best of my admittedly limited knowledge.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

See my post of April 27th, 2013 on this thread about making a crude 'wired' remote.

Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread
 

Many thanks, Guy.

For those who are interested, that post can be found at https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/panason...ml#post1792937