The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread

[James Millward]

This 900 series seems to be a wonderful little camera.

I have looked around but can anyone tell me if you can record to the internal media (flash on the TM and HDD on the HS) AND and sd card at the same time??

This would give a safety net for say wedding fottage. The HDD could fill up with the days shooting, and I would have it on SD card at the same time?

If you can do this, then I cant think of any other camera that would offer this redundancy at this price.

Let me know guys :)

James

[Andy Wilkinson]

Simple answer.

Yes it is a wonderful camera.

No you can't "dual record" in the manner you describe.

Maybe next year's model!

[Mark Ahrens]

Alastair, Thanks . . . How long is the lead to the camera? Is it an IR LED or one of those adhesive pads?
Is there a lag in response when activating zoom?

Impressive that you went as far as a motor for focus . . . are you satisfied with the setup over all?

I've seen others attempt to integrate a fiberoptic cable for extended control . . . any experience with that effort?

[Alastair Traill]

Hi again Mark,

I have two camera leads one about 7 feet long and the other about 25 feet. I can use either or both to together to give a 32 foot total if required. I do not know what the limit is but I am happy with what I have got. The 10 cores all have roles (sometimes more than one) including the option of powering the camera from an external supply, focus and motorized head control.

There is no noticeable delay when using the set-up to control the zoom.

The IR extender has two output sockets so that I can control two cameras from the one point. The sensor for the extender is housed with the DP6 monitor so that I can watch the DP6 screen and with the relevant IR remote run the TM900 and/or the EX3 and the DP6.

I have a selection IR emitters to cater for different mounting options. One is in the lower end of a “J” shaped tube. The long arm of the “J” clips to the bottom of the camera mount platform and the IR emitter points back to the camera. Another clips to the bottom of the tripod head mounting plate, the emitter points forward to a reflector that directs the signal to the front of camera. The advantage of this being that I can use the remote on its own if required.

I have not tried a fibre optic cable but I would expect that there are limits to in the ways they can be cut and joined..

Basically I am happy with the set up but there a couple features of the TM 900 that are disappointing; one is that the very useful prerecord function has to be set in the menu for every shot and the other is that I have no way of manually fiddling with the exposure remotely.

I am very pleased with the remote focus. It is particularly useful for close ups and also there is no risk of bumping the camera when making adjustments. I am full of praise for the blue focus assist function of the TM 900 and I am hoping that Small HD will give DP6 users a blue option.

[George Taylor]

Hi All:
We leave for Africa Wednesday, and I am doing some last-minute checking of my equipment.

I have been playing with various file upload processes, as we have discussed previously in this thread. I thought I would report what I have found, although this may be old news to many of you.

I recorded some 1080-60/P footage to a newly reformatted SDHC card. I removed the card from the camcorder and copied the entire cart contents into a folder on my computer, using the onboard card slot. There were three folders: DCIM, MISC, PRIVATE. I followed the trail as follows: PRIVATE/AVCHD/BDMV/STREAM/to my file 00000.MTS. That file played flawlessly on Windows Media Player.

I then copied the entire computer file directory onto a DVD RW. Again, I was able to play the .MTS file via Windows Media Player. I then copied the entire set of directories from the DVD back onto a newly formatted SDHC card, which I inserted into the TM 900, and I was able to play the footage flawlessly on the camera.
I then uploaded that footage using HD Writer directly from the camcorder to my computer, and here's the rub. The file would play on my computer using HD writer, but it was jerky, although the sound was flawless.

I think that has something to do with me not using HD Writer properly. I hope that is so, because otherwise I feel confident that if I upload files from the camcorder to a computer and thence to a DVD using drag and drop, I will have preserved the integrity of the files for future use either with HD writer or some other editing software.

I'm wondering if anybody might have more light to shed about this.

Thanks again, and I'll let you know when I get back safely in late January. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all!

[Carol Berman]

George- I'm looking forward to seeing your video when you return! I've got a quick question if you have time before you leave. My cigarette lighter battery charger hasn't arrived yet. Did you get yours and did you get a chance to test it? I leave in 3 weeks and it's the last piece of equipment that I am waiting for and I am getting worried in case it either doesn't arrive or doesn't work. I hope you have a fabulous trip and you return with an amazing documentary!

We'll have to have that beer in San Francisco when you get back!

Carol

[George Taylor]

Carol - I'll call you Sunday with the name of a place that sells them in Fremont, CA

[Greg Mlotkowski]

What do you folks find to be the best tripod for this Tm900? I see mostly junk out there. They stick, wobble, nothing seems available to provide a smooth pan. We don't need to support a heavy unit. Also, I'm frustrated with the touch screen zoom function. It zooms in well, but when zooming out it is unresponsive.

[Alastair Traill]

Hi Greg,

There are several ways of zooming with the TM900. The lever on the top of the camera gives the most control. The multi control ring on the lens barrel can also be used as can the IR remote.

You may find some helpful comments on tripods and heads elsewhere on DV Info net.

[Greg Mlotkowski]

The lever on the top has absolutly no contol. It is either in, or out, right now. Not gradual, no easy in or out. The ring around the lens tends to capture your fingers or is like stepping on a mushy gas pedel, might take you a few turns, or steps, to get you where you want to be. Anytime you touch the camera with a crappy tripod, (which I initally posted), things (subjects) are just going to jump around. Lets start over.
What kind of tripod or device can give me a smooth pan with a Panasonic TM 900?

I'm thinking of an invention here perhaps?

[Dan Carter]

Any Gitzo carbon fiber series 1 or 2 tripod, and nothing lighter than the Manfrotto 701HDV head will do.

[Greg Mlotkowski]

Nice work Dan.
How did you get such a smooth pan with your Grand Canyon video?
I'll take the time to watch some of your others, but just be ready for questions.
Thanks.

[Roger Shealy]

Alastair,

Would you be kind enough to post a few pictures or videos of you rig with the motor focus and IR set-up. I've been considering the same options, but would love to see how you accomplished it. Is the focus variable speed, or just on-off?

[Dan Carter]

Originally Posted by Greg Mlotkowski

Nice work Dan.
How did you get such a smooth pan with your Grand Canyon video?
I'll take the time to watch some of your others, but just be ready for questions.
Thanks.

Thanks Greg. On a recent Canyon project I used only a Manfrotto 561 fluid monopod. For three days there was little wind and I could get 1 good pan in 3 to 5 attempts. I often use a lightweight setup of a Benro Travel Angel tripod & Manfrotto 700RC2 head. This head also requires 3 to 5 attempts for 1 good pan or tilt. However, with the TM700 or GH2 on a Manfrotto 700HDV head, 1 attempt is usually enough.

Good luck.

[Alastair Traill]

Roger, below are some pictures of some of my gadgets.

The motor is a salvaged Faulhaber. It is attached to piece of metal shaped to fit in the TM’s accessory shoe mount. Drive is by pulley and “O” ring. Faulhabers are very classy and are possibly an overkill. I have just discovered some Chinese motors marketed by Marcmart, their size is similar but their cost is less than $9 au. each including postage. They run very nicely and like the Faulhaber pictured should do the job with just one AA cell. The control box shown has one AA cell and a momentary contact switch set up so that if I push the toggle away from me the focus plane moves away also. Toggling the switch towards me brings the focus closer. At the moment the speed is fixed and happens to take about 22 seconds for one revolution of the control ring. I find it to be a good speed for focussing and if I try zooming it takes about 70 seconds to get through the full range i.e. up to 20x from wide angle. At that speed the zoom is so slow that you have to look twice to see if anything is happening. The motorised head uses Faulhaber motors with zero backlash gear boxes. I can get quite a good range of pan and tilt speeds just by varying the applied voltage. By increasing or decreasing the voltage slowly I can get smooth starts and stops. It would be relatively easy to apply a similar control to the zoom.

There is a picture of the housed extender and the TM900 remote. Note I have two leads and a splitter attached. One lead goes to my EX3 and the other to the TM900. I was worried that splitting the signal may cause problems but it works OK. Fortunately the EX3 and TM 900 are controlled by different signals, I just have to remember to pick up the right remote. There is a picture showing the IR emitter end of the extender cables, the top one is used for the EX3, the middle one clips to the underside of the tripod head and points forward to the reflector, the lower one clips to the underneath of the camera platform on the motorised head.

I have also shown two pictures of my DP6 field monitor. It housed in a semi-permanent hood together with its oversized batteries, another IR extender and a couple regulated voltage sources. One voltage source is set at at 9.3 volts and will run the TM900 if need be. The housing for the DP6 has a pair of rounded buttocks that sit in a cradle. The cradle can be set on the ground or on a bench. It can also be mounted on a tripod or hung from a tree. To change the viewing angle the the housing is simply tilted in the cradle. There are no clamps.

Greg is asking what tripod and heads we are using. The tripod shown is a Chinese e-Image found in a bargain bin minus ball and head. It is now fitted with a nodal head. Nodal heads do not use counterbalance springs, instead the centre of gravity of the camera, its accessories and in this case the microphone all align with the tilt axis. There is also has a column arrangement that provides for easy height adjustment. A short boom permits movement in a horizontal plane. These movements are not extensive but with them the camera position can be varied without moving the tripod, all highly desirable if you are working at very close range with a close up lens and a focussing range of a few inches. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/images/a...attach/jpg.gif