TM700: Monument Valley at DVinfo.net

Dan Carter · February 9th, 2011, 05:20 PM

Over the years, Monument Valley has been the setting for more Western movies than any other site in the United States. Unique sandstone formations, the Navajo Indian Nation and the Four Corners Monument define this vast, open desert region.

Panasonic HDC-TM700
Canon EOS 7D (Starlapse)
Benro C068M8 Travel Angel Tripod
Acratech Leveling Base
Manfrotto 700RC2 Head

Jim Michael · February 9th, 2011, 05:29 PM

That was great. Thanks for posting that.

Kirk Candlish · February 10th, 2011, 01:52 AM

Why not shoot the stars with time-lapse on the TM700 ?

Too much noise in the low light ?

Andy Wilkinson · February 10th, 2011, 03:16 AM

As we've come to expect nice shots from you out of your TM700 Dan! Looks like your tripod struggled a bit (in the breeze?) at times though!

Kirk, the Canon 7D (I have one) enables much better astro timelapse work because you can set it up with a cheap intervalometer (I have one of those too!) to do e.g. 30 second still pictures and then easily assemble them into a timelapse movie (well easily in FCP/QuickTime). That large sensor on the 7D (relatively) and long exposure possibility can give superb results in VERY dim light in a way a camcorder can't (even my 3-Chip Sony EX3 with it's class leading low light ability, for a 1/2 inch camera). At least from my experience.

Also, Dan, out of interest (if you can remember), were any of the shots done with the intelligent zoom? (i.e. full HD resolution but beyond the 12X optical zoom). This feature appears to be a great advantage of the 3-chip design of the little Panasonics so I was wondering how good it is. Some of the alternatives (e.g. new smaller Canons) are now single full raster chips (i.e. 1920x1080p) which, whilst they improve low light ability, seem to lack the crisp sharpness/colour saturation in normal light (giving a slightly soft washed out look) and also lack this ability for further reach on the Tele end as they are typically 10X only (at least from the clips and test reviews I've seen so far)....not to mention lacking that lovely 1080p60 (or 50 in PAL land) frame rate at 28Mbps.

I've a TM900 on order (at £775 from a very reputable UK dealer it was too good a price to miss out on...) so I guess I'll find out soon! It'll be my C cam/crash cam/holiday cam/always have with me because it's so small cam etc. I may still buy a XF100 very soon but I'll need a little more convincing before I push the button on that one.

Andy Wilkinson · February 10th, 2011, 09:49 AM

Just got this e-mail update from my UK supplier. :-)

"Good news! We have had further updates. The Panasonic TM900 have already been dispatched to us and it will be with you Tuesday 15th February."

Dan Carter · February 10th, 2011, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Michael

That was great. Thanks for posting that.

Thanks for watching Jim.

Dan Carter · February 10th, 2011, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirk Candlish

Why not shoot the stars with time-lapse on the TM700 ?

Too much noise in the low light ?

In low-light the TM700 is fairly impressive, but nights were so dark it required a series of 350 7D images taken at a 30 second shutter speed and f2.8. Slowest shutter of the TM700 at 1080/60p is 1/30.

Thanks for watching Kirk.

Dan Carter · February 10th, 2011, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Wilkinson

As we've come to expect nice shots from you out of your TM700 Dan! Looks like your tripod struggled a bit (in the breeze?) at times though!

Kirk, the Canon 7D (I have one) enables much better astro timelapse work because you can set it up with a cheap intervalometer (I have one of those too!) to do e.g. 30 second still pictures and then easily assemble them into a timelapse movie (well easily in FCP/QuickTime). That large sensor on the 7D (relatively) and long exposure possibility can give superb results in VERY dim light in a way a camcorder can't (even my 3-Chip Sony EX3 with it's class leading low light ability, for a 1/2 inch camera). At least from my experience.

Also, Dan, out of interest (if you can remember), were any of the shots done with the intelligent zoom? (i.e. full HD resolution but beyond the 12X optical zoom). This feature appears to be a great advantage of the 3-chip design of the little Panasonics so I was wondering how good it is. Some of the alternatives (e.g. new smaller Canons) are now single full raster chips (i.e. 1920x1080p) which, whilst they improve low light ability, seem to lack the crisp sharpness/colour saturation in normal light (giving a slightly soft washed out look) and also lack this ability for further reach on the Tele end as they are typically 10X only (at least from the clips and test reviews I've seen so far)....not to mention lacking that lovely 1080p60 (or 50 in PAL land) frame rate at 28Mbps.

I've a TM900 on order (at £775 from a very reputable UK dealer it was too good a price to miss out on...) so I guess I'll find out soon! It'll be my C cam/crash cam/holiday cam/always have with me because it's so small cam etc. I may still buy a XF100 very soon but I'll need a little more convincing before I push the button on that one.

Thanks for the good words Andy. Good find on the camera shake. Many of my timelapse were unuseable as a result of the high winds. Good news though, I've had this camera and others in much higher winds on lighter tripods, and image stabilization "ON" with much better success. I'd bet the TM900 will perform even better.

Though not for this video, I've used Intelligent zoom with good success. A fair amount here:

I hope you enjoy the TM900 as much as I do the 700.

February 9th, 2011, 05:20 PM	#1
Dan Carter Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 366	TM700: Monument Valley Over the years, Monument Valley has been the setting for more Western movies than any other site in the United States. Unique sandstone formations, the Navajo Indian Nation and the Four Corners Monument define this vast, open desert region. Panasonic HDC-TM700 Canon EOS 7D (Starlapse) Benro C068M8 Travel Angel Tripod Acratech Leveling Base Manfrotto 700RC2 Head Monument Valley on Vimeo

February 10th, 2011, 03:16 AM	#4
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	As we've come to expect nice shots from you out of your TM700 Dan! Looks like your tripod struggled a bit (in the breeze?) at times though! Kirk, the Canon 7D (I have one) enables much better astro timelapse work because you can set it up with a cheap intervalometer (I have one of those too!) to do e.g. 30 second still pictures and then easily assemble them into a timelapse movie (well easily in FCP/QuickTime). That large sensor on the 7D (relatively) and long exposure possibility can give superb results in VERY dim light in a way a camcorder can't (even my 3-Chip Sony EX3 with it's class leading low light ability, for a 1/2 inch camera). At least from my experience. Also, Dan, out of interest (if you can remember), were any of the shots done with the intelligent zoom? (i.e. full HD resolution but beyond the 12X optical zoom). This feature appears to be a great advantage of the 3-chip design of the little Panasonics so I was wondering how good it is. Some of the alternatives (e.g. new smaller Canons) are now single full raster chips (i.e. 1920x1080p) which, whilst they improve low light ability, seem to lack the crisp sharpness/colour saturation in normal light (giving a slightly soft washed out look) and also lack this ability for further reach on the Tele end as they are typically 10X only (at least from the clips and test reviews I've seen so far)....not to mention lacking that lovely 1080p60 (or 50 in PAL land) frame rate at 28Mbps. I've a TM900 on order (at £775 from a very reputable UK dealer it was too good a price to miss out on...) so I guess I'll find out soon! It'll be my C cam/crash cam/holiday cam/always have with me because it's so small cam etc. I may still buy a XF100 very soon but I'll need a little more convincing before I push the button on that one. __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

February 10th, 2011, 09:49 AM	#5
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Just got this e-mail update from my UK supplier. :-) "Good news! We have had further updates. The Panasonic TM900 have already been dispatched to us and it will be with you Tuesday 15th February." __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

February 9th, 2011, 05:29 PM	#2
Jim Michael Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 895	That was great. Thanks for posting that.

February 10th, 2011, 01:52 AM	#3
Kirk Candlish Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Southern, CA Posts: 198	Why not shoot the stars with time-lapse on the TM700 ? Too much noise in the low light ?