I have bought the new X1500 and I have found that slow motion and time lapse can only be used in MOV format. Normally I record, edit and export in MP4.
I am using Premiere Elements for editing which will import both formats but Panasonic suggest MP4 is better for general use including YouTube, where I have a channel.
Obviously using MOV gives me access to more facilities on the cam which would be nice. Can anyone think of any reason why I should stick to filming in MP4. I am assuming that I can import MOV into Premiere and then export it in MP4 but should I?

From what I understand mov mp4 are just containers the video is the same inside. I would use mov if it gives you the options you want. when you upload a video I believe it gets converted anyways.

YouTube accept MOV but why does everyone say MP4 is the preferred international standard? Is it just because the file sizes are bigger?

It’s kind of a long answer. Mov is Quicktime and owned by Apple. Last year Apple dropped support for it on Windows and is no longer consider secure but that’s an even longer and more complicated topic. But you still can download the free Quicktime player and Adobe Premier still uses it. That’s what makes it less universal and why mp4 is recommended especially when distributing it.

Thanks for the explanation Pete. It makes it even more annoying that Panasonic have made features on the new cam that are only possible in MOV. Slow motion and time lapse. Hardly features that are rare on other cams. It means having to switch formats when I want to use them.

For simplicity sake I would record everything in mov and not let it bother you. If you’re editing the footage it doesn’t matter what the initial container it was filmed in.

That makes sense. Thanks.

I've got the choice and use .mov. Windows 10 however, won't play it using the Windows built in player, which annoyingly gets put back to default on every other reboot or so, or when it updates. Premiere doesn't. seem to care.

It's a pity Apple insist on going their own way. Life could be so much easier.

I always decompress video material before editing, so that I can process the video however I want, without worrying that my computer will run out of horsepower. As I use Edius for editing, it makes sense to use the Grass Valley HQX format (a type of AVI, but these are BIG files !). Once editing is complete I produce an HQX master within Edius, and then process this using Handbrake to reduce to a relatively small MP4 file for playback on my Home Theatre computer, or to send up to Youtube. I usually run the big number-crunching processes overnight.

Best Regards