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.

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

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

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.

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.
"The Making of the Phantom", GPS High School Performance on Vimeo

I did this last weekend, first time with the X900. Lighting was difficult, and no soundboard inputs.
Hanna A performing at Cliff Bells 2012 on Vimeo

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

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.

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.



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

TM900/X900 and footage from GoPRO HD.

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

Thx

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

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

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

???? - ???????? 23 ???? 2012 - Niton Eryc Prydz - YouTube

????? ?????/Dumanl? Bak?/Thig Fog Video Baku - YouTube

Mystery spiral over Baku(HQ)/????????????? ??? ??? ???? - YouTube

Does anyone have experience of what happens when a battery runs out whilst recording? In tests it appears that the default action is for the file to be saved before the cam shuts down. However I appear to have lost a batch of files. Fortunately they are not important ones. I recorded on both the internal drive and on an SD card and have checked each thoroughly, including running Sandisk Rescue Pro on the card.

Pete

Wow, I seem to have killed off this monster thread with that last question :- ) No answer direct from Panasonic either.

But just in case it rises from the dead:

Recently I had to attach a cam upside down hanging by a bracket as that was the only way to get the composition required within the constraints of the location architecture.

Obviously I need to flip the image both horizontally and vertically to bring it back to normal. I can do that in post but I seem to remember a way of doing it either in the cam itself or using Panasonic's HD Writer AE 3.0

Folks may have been shooting upside down having attached a cam to a monopod and filmed very close to the ground whilst holding the monopod. Can't see for looking now. I can find a reference to flipping still images but not movies. Any ideas?

I like to use HD Writer for the initial tidying up as it enables me to chop off the start and end of the file without any degradation or rerendering - frequently I have to start one or more unmanned cams 15-20 minutes before the action starts and stop them a similar time afterwards and the ability to chop out parts of the files makes a big difference to the backup size. It would be great to be able to flip as well.

Flipping is going to be very important for me because I make a lot of use of multicam editing in Sony Vegas Pro and unfortunately that mode doesn't retain flips previosly applied or recognise them if applied whilst in MC editing. I'll probably have to render out a flipped track from the one cam in a lossless format then use that :- (

Pete

How to connect several microphones to the camera? I need cheap and quality kits.

Fariz.
You can have cheap or quality, unlikely you will get both!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What you need is a field mixer, a reasonable 3 input model will cost you about $500
Check out models from Juicedlink and Azden or just Google Audio field mixers, its all out there.

Thank you for info, and what kind of microphone is better to use for indoor recording, like having round table, interview and things like that?

Fariz, to record sound in an ordinary room you need a lapel/tie-clip microphone for each person and clearly if you have more than two people you will need an audio mixer.

I can recommend these:-Neck mic (http://www.maplin.co.uk/electret-tie-clip-microphone-27416)

If you are in a large room (7 metres by 7 metres by 3 metres high at least) with fitted carpets, curtains and a tiled ceiling you might get away with a couple of mics on table or floor stands, but even with a room of this size, the room acoustics frequently mar the quality of the audio recording. Don't even attempt to use table mics in small rooms on more than one person. Lapel/tie-clip microphones are definitely the way to go.

Remember, a cheap mic in the right place is always better than an expensive mic in the wrong place.

Basing Broadcast Services (http://www.basingbroadcastservices.co.uk)

You could also use two boom mics, placed just out of camera if you can't afford lavs, but certainly lavs are preferred.

I'm looking at shooting some air show stuff soon. I'm thinking the TM900 at 60p is perfect for that. My question is the use of an ND filter for that.
Amazon.com: 46mm neutral density filter


Any advice ? Anyone who may have already done an air show with this camera?

Clayton

Done a couple of airshows with the TM900. Those NDs are a good idea. Be aware that if you put a ND on the front and re-attach the little hood then it will vignette a little on full wide, especially with IOS on. However, in reality, at airshows you rarely shoot full wide so do not worry.

Getting correct exposure of planes against a bright sky, often in changing light conditions (more of a problem in the UK than California!) as well as keeping the plane(s) in frame during fast pans are the main challenges. I have had tons of fun shooting at Flying Legends airshows at Duxford here in Cambridge with the TM900 - and a few other cams over the years.

Don't forget that decent sound is a major part of it (the TMs mics are naff in anything above a slight breeze as most of us know) so you should also consider a plug in mic. I use Rode VMP with deadcat - but that is still prone to some wind noise.

Thanks for the information, I was going to use my Zoom H4N and record out to the 900 and onto the zoom at the same time.





Any "specific" ND ideas x4, x6 ?

CM

Here is a vid I put together using the TM900. I did use two cams, the other a HC-X900M, but its not shown here because I needed precise control with the zoom, and I don't have confidence with the HC-900M. I need to add some JB weld or something that will provide better feel (earlier I described this button as flush to the housing, sometimes you just cannot find it in time). Everything as set to manual mode, and I provided both a 720p and 1080p version. I am very impressed, as you can see, colors consistantly changing along with light intensity. The DVD came out teriffic.

1080p
GPS High School presents "Thats Entertainment" Trailer 29Aug12 1080p on Vimeo

720p
GPS High School presents That's Entertainment Trailer 28Aug12 720p on Vimeo

Hi, new here...

I have nothing but good things to say about this video camera. I have been shooting (for work) with an XHA1S for over two years. I think this cam does easily as good as the XHA1S.

Here is a slow motion video I shot the other day storm chasing of the "front wall" of a flash flood. 1080 60P at 720 24P. I love the final results.

Cheers!

Flash Flood in Slow Motion. Panasonic HDC-TM900 Slow Motion Test - YouTube

EDIT:

BTW, I studied this thread very carefully before buying this cam. A lot of good information here and thanks to all those who contribute to it. :)

"Trying to be as portable as I can I am looking for a good lightweight tripod and pan head for my TM900. Also need a suggestion for a good video light. Any advice is appreciated."

I'm pleased with the combination of a Davis and Sandford Vista Voyager with a Manfrotto 701HDV fluid head. 2kg, with a short QR plate.

Amazon.com: HDV-Z96 96 LED Light For EOS 5D II 7D 550D Lighting: Camera & Photo

HDV-Z96 DSLR led video light - YouTube

So my wife and I went out for a little day sail yesterday with friends, on board the 100 year old Adventuress. She is used as an environmental awareness ship, run by the non profit, Sound Experience. I brought along my TM900, not thinking I'd do much filming, but then I remembered my friend John Sparrow's sea chanty, and decided to marry it all up and help them raise money for the 100 year anniversary celebration. Not much forethought here, but enjoy non the less. I think it highlights the little camera quite good. No color correction done on the footage. Rendered out in SD for quick playing on cell phones, etc.

Adventuress - A day on the water on Vimeo

I am considering the TM900 (over the HMC150) for indoor hockey (webcast and post production distro), primarily because of the 1080p60 slo-mo potential at a low cost. I would love to find 1080p60 in a camera in the price range of the HMC150.

My questions are:

1) How usable would the TM900 ring be for manual focus for close-up hockey action?

2) How useable would the remote zoom control (rigged on the wand with an optical connection to the front of the camera) be for a smooth but responsive zoom effect? (I would imagine that it would be physically awkward to use the power zoom rocker along with the ring for focus, which would take both hands off the wand.)

3) How much of an improvement in image quality would I see in the 1080p60 at 30fps for slo-mo over my current use of my HV30 in 1080 60i deinterlaced for slo-mo?

Thanks.

I am considering the TM900 (over the HMC150) for indoor hockey (webcast and post production distro), primarily because of the 1080p60 slo-mo potential at a low cost. I would love to find 1080p60 in a camera in the price range of the HMC150.

My questions are:

1) How usable would the TM900 ring be for manual focus for close-up hockey action?

2) How useable would the remote zoom control (rigged on the wand with an optical connection to the front of the camera) be for a smooth but responsive zoom effect? (I would imagine that it would be physically awkward to use the power zoom rocker along with the ring for focus, which would take both hands off the wand.)

3) How much of an improvement in image quality would I see in the 1080p60 at 30fps for slo-mo over my current use of my HV30 in 1080 60i deinterlaced for slo-mo?

Thanks.

1) The focus ring, in my experience, is almost useless for fine focusing and tracking. For gross adjustments, yes, but you really never know if you are actually in focus or not unless you are using a HD external monitor (which I occasionally do) . Maybe if you have the peaking function on you can tell better but really though it is a nice idea, really for anything moving it's tough. Autofocus works much more reliably

2) Not realistic and kludge using optical path for the remote, especially for the fine control you want. It's basically zoom or no zoom, no graduations. Also a pain to set up the optical path for any camcorder, you'll never wind up getting it to work reliably. Use the onboard lever, it's actually pretty good.

3) You will see twice the vertical resolution and temporal resolution in the pure 60P mode than trying to slow 60i down, especially for sporting events. Don't even try to do this, also the 60i mode is a lot lower bitrate than the 60P mode, so you will get more artifacting as well. The is absolutely no reason not to use 60P. If you want 30P output this is easily converted using any NLE.

Good luck!

"I am considering the TM900 (over the HMC150) for indoor hockey."

Here is a TM900 hockey video (in a dim arena):

Panasonic TM900 HD Video: College Ice Hockey on Vimeo

Shot 108060p.

1) The focus ring, in my experience, is almost useless for fine focusing and tracking. Autofocus works much more reliably

Kind of what I thought with such a small form factor. I really don't like AF for sports. I shot for a while on a GL2 and found that focus ring adequate. Perhaps I'll get the HMC150 for it's manual control, and use Twixtor for post-production slo-mo.

Here is a TM900 hockey video (in a dim arena)

Shot 108060p.

Then, again, that 1080p60 for <$1000 sure in appealing! (I could get 2 of them for the price of one used HMC150).

Thanks for posting this nice footage (and I enjoyed poking around your Vimeo :)

And thank you, Keith Moreau for your long informative post.

The 150 is a much better camera, though it's lo light ability is still a bit a weak compared to larger sensor cameras.. However i think you'd love it. I did. there is really no comparing it to a 900. A different tool. Much more sophisticated.

Then, again, that 1080p60 for <$1000 sure in appealing! (I could get 2 of them for the price of one used HMC150).

And thank you, Keith Moreau for your long informative post.

I am considering the TM900 (over the HMC150) for indoor hockey (webcast and post production distro), primarily because of the 1080p60 slo-mo potential at a low cost. I would love to find 1080p60 in a camera in the price range of the HMC150.

My questions are:

1) How usable would the TM900 ring be for manual focus for close-up hockey action?

2) How useable would the remote zoom control (rigged on the wand with an optical connection to the front of the camera) be for a smooth but responsive zoom effect? (I would imagine that it would be physically awkward to use the power zoom rocker along with the ring for focus, which would take both hands off the wand.)

3) How much of an improvement in image quality would I see in the 1080p60 at 30fps for slo-mo over my current use of my HV30 in 1080 60i deinterlaced for slo-mo?

Thanks.

_________

Dave,

Forgive me if this is old news to you - but have you seen whats coming?

Panasonic introduces AG-AC90 AVCCAM HD handheld camcorder | ENG content from Broadcast Engineering (http://broadcastengineering.com/eng/panasonic-introduces-ag-ac90-avccam-hd-handheld-camcorder)

Other then 1080 60p one of the best parts of this camera is that it does what Canon did and went the 2.1 mega pixel route in order to do NATIVE pixel for pixel 1920x1080 acquisition - it should be great in low light.

http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/news/story/panasonic_introduces_handheld_camcorder_with_3mos_sensor_hd_and_sd_image_ca/

Thank you, Clayton. I can't believe how good that AC90 looks! Almost certainly the camera for my sports needs.

No built-in mic, but that's okay.

Can you tell if there is an LANC port?

I'm sure glad I procrastinated on my purchase... and that you thought to lay that one on us. Thanks again.

Larger pics here:

CVP blog & more Archives Panasonic Announce New AG-AC90 AVCCAM Camcorder (http://blog.creativevideo.co.uk/2012/08/panasonic-announce-new-ag-ac90-avccam-camcorder/)

"The AC90 includes such desirable professional features as time code/UB recording; time/date stamp, and two wired remote control terminals (for zoom, focus, iris, REC start/stop controls). "

It has a built in mic that works like the TM900 switchable between 5:1 and Stereo.

VariZoom Panasonic Lens Controls | Control Zoom, Focus, and Iris (http://www.varizoom.com/panasonic-lens-controls-s/1815.htm)

Enticing camera. Almost everything you get with the ac130 but smaller sensor, less reach.
2 ports for remote . . . are Panny's not LANC compatible?

LANC is a SONY Remote protocol implementation called Control-L and its bi-directional

Panasonic uses "Control-M" a similar 5 pin bi-directional protocol but implemented differently.

Some controllers like this one are switchable.
Manfrotto MVR901ECPL Lanc/Panasonic Clamp-On Zoom MVR901ECPL B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=816007&is=REG&A=details&Q=)

and

Libec Zoom Control for DV Cameras ZC-3DV B&H Photo Video

Okay... wow... thank you.

If you pic one up, please post your impressions of it and LOTS -"grin"- of sample video. ;-)

Here a short vid taken with both a TM-900 $ HC-X900M.

So, these kids now take me to the ball game!

The guys at the ball field say, "You'll be able to set up and get some really good shots, which amounts to "stay here" once on the field. *Using two cameras, I was able to use what they did, when I couldn't do what I wanted to. *I all came out good!

*GPS Choir at Comerica Park 22Sept12 720p on Vimeo

Night shots

Village road/K?nd yolu/???????? ??????/Caminos rurales - YouTube

Dusk
Marvelous dusk in Baku/???????? ????? ? ????/Alaqaranl?q Bak? - YouTube

Meditation

?????????,???????????,???????,/Meditative video - YouTube

I'm having a problem with image quality loss when rendering files from the TM900 to .MP4 using Sony Vegas Pro 11. The attached files show the project settings used, the rendering settings, and the output. The original video image (top) and the rendered image (bottom).

Does anyone have advice for what settings to change so that the image quality is retained better?

My workflow is to take the MTS file and convert it to .AVI with Cineform and then edit the .AVI file in sony vegas pro and output to .MP4 at 1280x720p. The original file is 1080/60p.

Not been in this forum area for a while - been very busy! However, about 6 weeks ago I did shoot something on the TM900 which I've only just found time to edit so I thought I'd share that. The only shot not taken on the TM900 was the aerial shot of Cambridge - a still from my 7D taken from a noisy 1941 biplane!

Summary below the video player but if you want more info about some of the College locations and artifacts featured or the Whipple Museum there are some very useful and informative web links on the YouTube info page. This video is also now on Vimeo too.

Open Cambridge - YouTube

Open Cambridge is an annual event organised by Cambridge University. It is held every September and many of the Cambridge Colleges and other interesting and historically significant buildings open to the public allowing a glimpse of some rare treasures.

This film was shot in about 3 hours and features Christ's College and its Bodley Library, Corpus Christi College and its Parker Library, Queens' College, Chapel and Old Library and St John's College and Old Library (including a telescope that belonged to Fred Hoyle). The excellent Whipple Museum is also briefly covered (note the Orrery as well as Charles Darwin's old microscope).

Found the Service Manual for the Panasonic HDC-TM900 here:

PANASONIC HDC-SD900 TM900 SM Service Manual free download, schematics, eeprom, repair info for electronics (http://elektrotanya.com/panasonic_hdc-sd900_tm900_sm.pdf/download.html)

Very interesting stuff. If we can bypass the MPEG CODEC IC3401 we could get an uncompressed raw signal to IC3801 HDMI LSI.

Im looking for a clip that has a good sample of the internal microphone. The floor model I purchased is not great and does not seem to even get a good stereo signal ... seems to be all mono all the time. A factory reset does nothing to change it. I use external most of the time and thats perfect but for a quick and dirty grab and go, Id like to think its working normally. So Im looking for a sample clip to compare.

I have a new microphone element to install if needed but I wanted some information first. So any links or samples of what that mic should sound like would be great.

Thanks

FIXED! I put in the new mic element and its fine now.

Speaking of microphones, I encountered a weird problem with the TM900 recently - I tried hooking up the Zoom H1 to it at my last event and mounted it on the shoe, because I'm a bit disappointed with the sound quality of the TM900s internal mic. I was very surprised to hear a LOUD hissing sound (noise?) over the already loud music playing at the event (was using headphones to monitor sound). Could it be because I used a cheap stereo cable to connect the H1 to the TM900?

I set the TM900 on manual mic volume and tried all sorts of values, fiddled with the H1s input volume as well, the hissing just wouldn't go away. Oh, one more thing - I had to set the H1 to a very low input volume, I think anything past 15 caused severe distortion, even with the TM900 on minimum mic volume (no red bars shown on the mic volume though!). It's as if the H1 was feeding it already distorted sound. Maybe connecting the H1's headphones/line out to the TM900's mic in is a bad combination? Hm.

Its about the gain and the mic pre-amps in both the 900 and the zoom tend to be on the noisy side if levels get cranked a bit. So it will be a combination of recording levels on the zoom dialed in so you get a strong yet quiet signal out of the headphone jack of the zoom then you don't need to push the gain to much on the 900 to get good recording levels. I have both pieces I may have to run a test on this myself.

Here is a video I shot last weekend, with both my TM900K and HCX900M. Both cameras were set to full manual mode, no external microphones (something I'll investigate in the future, comments are welcome). The set lighting was very very dark at times, and I shot from the rear of the auditorium.
I captured approx 100 minutes at 1080/60p, edited with Avid Studio. This video is only a short trailer advertising the results of the play. Great bunch of kids. Cameras performed well.

Your comments are welcome.

Pointe Players present Midsummer Night's Dream Trailer 720p on Vimeo