The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread

David Pritchard · January 14th, 2012, 05:45 PM

So my first fully edited video, 3 mins long training montage of one of our students. A beginner. Uses a fair bit colour editing to get that movie look (at least I attempted to)

Dennis Freeman · January 15th, 2012, 08:51 PM

Hi All,
I am new to this forum. I got my TM900 just a few days ago. I have some questions I would like to pose to the members to see what their experience is.
1. Is anyone using the new Laxar Class 10 128 gig chip, and if so what has your reaction to it been?
2. What auxillary microphone is best used with this camcorder?
3. What wide angle accessory are people using?
Thanks in advance,
Dennis Freeman

Al Bergstein · January 16th, 2012, 01:35 AM

I have the Panasonic wide angle lens. Works great. Wouldn't be without it.

I use the Rode Videopro mic. Works great also.

Ian Cope · January 16th, 2012, 11:48 PM

I tried Panasonics HD writer edit function last night just to put all my recent NZ trip clips into 1 file for viewing on my WD Live. Works extremely well for this as no rendering is required. Only problem is, it splits the final file into 4GB sizes. Is there any way to stop this happening??

Dennis Freeman · January 17th, 2012, 03:17 PM

The reason for the separate files is the fact that many of the editing systems will not support spanned clips i.e those occupying more than 4 gig.

Dennis Freeman · January 17th, 2012, 03:18 PM

Does anyone have any experience using the 128 gig Lexar chip with the TM900?
Dennis Freeman

Ian Cope · January 18th, 2012, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis Freeman

The reason for the separate files is the fact that many of the editing systems will not support spanned clips i.e those occupying more than 4 gig.

Yes thanks, I know what it is for, I was asking if there is a way to stop it.

Dennis Freeman · January 18th, 2012, 07:39 PM

Take a look at the trial version of the Aunsoft program. I believe that it will transcode spanned clips.
Hope this helps,
Denny

George Taylor · February 2nd, 2012, 10:34 PM

Well, as with Carol, I'm happy to report I'm back from my eight weeks in Africa (Chad). In due course, I'll write about my experiences in the Home Away From Home thread. But i want to report that I had tremendous success with the TM900 (at least I think so; I hope the more professional amongst you might critique after I can post some visual results).

Here's a rundown of the equipment I used and some of my first impressions:
- TM900 w/one each extra 130 and 260 batteries and sundry 120V/240V and 12V chargers
- Raynox .66 wide angle adapter (I am sooooooo glad I invested in this!)
- 72mm B&W polarizer from my D200 that fit the Raynox
- Azden SGM2X mic w/Stormblack windsocks, 2ft and 30ft. Audiotek cables, and CAVision fiberglass collapsible boom pole
- JuicedLink CX211 2 XLR audio adapter
- CamCaddie with accessories (priceless for kids and other low-level shots)
- 12 32GB class 6 and class 10 SDHC cards (Patriot, Lexar, and Transcend)
- 126 LED light
- HP DM1z Netbook loaded w/Panny software and USB DVD writer w/25 blank DVDs
- Manfrotto /Bogen 394 tripod w/Integrated Video/Photo head
- Kata 3N1-22 Sling Backpack w/tripod holder accessory

My friends who have seen the raw footage played from the camcorder directly to my 60” Samsung HDTV are awestruck by the clarity, brightness, and crispness of the images. I shot everything in 1080/60P, almost all of it using IA with AIS on, except when using the tripod. Like Carol, I found it too cumbersome and error-prone to try making manual adjustments on the fly.

And I’m not sure if they would have improved my images. Most of my shooting was in a village during the daytime, and the IA worked fine. I don’t see over-exposure in those shots, although, I will definitely welcome some more expert opinion in due course. I also found the exposure adjusted very quickly when I moved into different light situations.

Aside from the indelible memories of the beauty and kindness of the people of the village, the things that stick most in my mind are the shots I missed – either because my camcorder was not at hand or because of mistakes made in the heat of the moment. Examples – boy driving two oxen pulling a sled at a gallop across a setting sun (I was peeing when I realized what I was missing), twelve kids of varying heights passing by with a long, woven rattan fence hoisted over their heads looking for all the world like a human caterpillar (camcorder was in my room 100 yards away), and many more. For a while, I agonized over those missed shots; now that I’ve seen what I did get, I’m more philosophical about losing them. You can’t win ‘em all!

I used the tripod only twice, but it was worth the effort. We interviewed the three village teachers about the trials and tribulations of teaching six grades in an open air environment. Also, I took a five-minute shot of the setting sun – at or near the equator, it goes down very fast and actually disappears in the haze before it hits the horizon. I read the discussions on this thread about focusing directly into the sun, but at that low level, the intensity did not harm the image nor, I hope, the sensors.

The professionals among you will cringe when I report that I didn’t back up my cards to my netb0ook, as was my plan. It wasn’t for want of trying. The first upload did not work, and I got “recovering data” and other scary messages during the attempt. So I decided to wait and not tempt fate in the field where I had no good advice to follow. I came back with 10 full 32 GB cards and no backup. However, my netbook was a great source of entertainment for the villagers because I had loaded a bunch of African jazz and pop music as well as videos, and someone produced a couple of DVDs taken at the village a few years previously.

I will report more later on my success (or lack thereof) with the external mic and other gear. Also, I’ll upload some images –even if they are only still shots – as soon as I figure out how to do it.

My profound thanks to everyone on this thread who directly or indirectly provided invaluable advice in the months before my trip.

Finally, to Carol – I certainly understand what you must have felt and probably are still feeling emotionally about Africa and especially the people. This was my return to Africa after a 40 year absence, and it confirmed to me that I hadn’t just suffered some sort of immature emotional reaction when I left the first time those many years ago. I always knew I had to go back, and I’m confident you will return also. I don’t know who wrote it – I read it a long time ago, and I like to think it was Hemingway – but someone said no one can leave Africa without having been profoundly affected by it.

Aside from all that, Africa is a photographer’s dreamscape.

Adrian Lepki · February 6th, 2012, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by George Taylor

In due course, I'll write about my experiences in the Home Away From Home thread. But i want to report that I had tremendous success with the TM900

Congrats on the successful trip.
I am looking forward to your accounts from behind the scenes - especially the use of Raynox wide angle adapter and the JuicedLink CX211.
Adrian

David Pritchard · February 7th, 2012, 08:00 AM

Sinbi Muay Thai day trip to Coral Island, Phuket last Sunday - YouTube

No colour correction, just a slight vignette added. Edited video of our day trip to a tropical island. Crabs, lizards, people, sand and boat trips!

Alan Christensen · February 7th, 2012, 04:52 PM

Has anyone figured out what the SET+/AGC menu screen does? I'm not at all convinced that I understand why the manual audio setup screen has an AGC button on it. Are you setting anything associated with "AGC" on this screen or only turning it on and off? If only turning it on and off, then why have the button here rather than just use the "auto" setting for audio when you want AGC?

What settings have folks found work best with the Rode VideoMic Pro for both the camera and for the VideoMic Pro?

Dennis Freeman · February 8th, 2012, 05:59 PM

Check page 73 of the users manual. It states the following:
73
VQT3K80
When recording, the input level from the built-in microphones and the external microphone
terminal can be adjusted.
≥ Switch to manual mode. (l 80)
1 Select the menu.
≥ It is possible to select the setting from the quick menu in manual mode. (l 40) The
microphone level returns to the setting adjusted previously, and it cannot be set from the
quick menu.
2 (When [SETr ]/[SET] is selected)
Touch / to adjust.
≥ Touch to activate/disactivate AGC. When AGC is
activated, the icon is surrounded by yellow and the
amount of sound distortion can be reduced. When
AGC is disactivated, natural recording can be
performed.
≥ Adjust the microphone input level so that the last
2 bars of the gain value are not red. (Otherwise, the
sound is distorted.) Select a lower setting for
microphone input level.
3 Touch [ENTER] to set the microphone input
level and then touch [EXIT].
≥ (Microphone input level meter) appears
on the screen.
≥ When switching to intelligent auto mode, the setting is fixed to [AUTO] and cannot be
changed.
≥ When [MIC SETUP] is [ZOOM MIC], the volume will be different depending on the zoom
rate.
≥ When [MIC SETUP] is set to [STEREO MIC] or external microphone input is used, the
sound is stereo (2 ch) and only the front-left and front-right input level meters function.
≥ The microphone input level meter shows the largest volume for the microphones.
≥ You cannot record with the audio completely muted.
[MIC LEVEL]
: [RECORD SETUP] # [MIC LEVEL] # desired setting
[AUTO]: AGC is activated, and the recording level is adjusted
automatically.
[SETr ]/[SET]: The desired recording level can be set.
MENU
A Centre
B Front left
C Back left
D Front right
E Back right
F Microphone input level

Dennis Freeman · February 8th, 2012, 06:01 PM

I am wondering if anyone is having as issue with the lens cover closing on the TM900. Once it is opened, after the camcorder is powered off it can take up to 2.5 miinutes before it closes.

Denny

George Taylor · February 8th, 2012, 06:37 PM

Can't think of anything directly, except perhaps dirt?

Which leads me to a question I have been meaning to post....My unit took a fair amount of dust while in Africa. I wiped it off assiduously (your word for today) but I'm wondering if anyone can recommend how I go about finding a good professional cleaning service. I searched on the Panasonic website and came up empty except for cleaning heads on older tape models. Thanks.

January 14th, 2012, 05:45 PM	#541
David Pritchard New Boot Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Phuket, Thailand Posts: 14	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread Training Montage "Street Fighter" @ Sinbi Muay Thai on Vimeo So my first fully edited video, 3 mins long training montage of one of our students. A beginner. Uses a fair bit colour editing to get that movie look (at least I attempted to)

January 15th, 2012, 08:51 PM	#542
Dennis Freeman Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: West Bloomfield, MI Posts: 42	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread Hi All, I am new to this forum. I got my TM900 just a few days ago. I have some questions I would like to pose to the members to see what their experience is. 1. Is anyone using the new Laxar Class 10 128 gig chip, and if so what has your reaction to it been? 2. What auxillary microphone is best used with this camcorder? 3. What wide angle accessory are people using? Thanks in advance, Dennis Freeman

January 16th, 2012, 01:35 AM	#543
Al Bergstein Major Player Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Port Townsend, WA Posts: 456	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread I have the Panasonic wide angle lens. Works great. Wouldn't be without it. I use the Rode Videopro mic. Works great also. __________________ Al Upper left hand corner of the map

January 16th, 2012, 11:48 PM	#544
Ian Cope Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Brisbane Australia Posts: 25	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread I tried Panasonics HD writer edit function last night just to put all my recent NZ trip clips into 1 file for viewing on my WD Live. Works extremely well for this as no rendering is required. Only problem is, it splits the final file into 4GB sizes. Is there any way to stop this happening??

January 17th, 2012, 03:17 PM	#545
Dennis Freeman Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: West Bloomfield, MI Posts: 42	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread The reason for the separate files is the fact that many of the editing systems will not support spanned clips i.e those occupying more than 4 gig.

January 17th, 2012, 03:18 PM	#546
Dennis Freeman Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: West Bloomfield, MI Posts: 42	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread Does anyone have any experience using the 128 gig Lexar chip with the TM900? Dennis Freeman

January 18th, 2012, 07:39 PM	#548
Dennis Freeman Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: West Bloomfield, MI Posts: 42	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread Take a look at the trial version of the Aunsoft program. I believe that it will transcode spanned clips. Hope this helps, Denny

February 2nd, 2012, 10:34 PM	#549
George Taylor Regular Crew Join Date: May 2011 Location: San Francisco, California, USA Posts: 41	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread Well, as with Carol, I'm happy to report I'm back from my eight weeks in Africa (Chad). In due course, I'll write about my experiences in the Home Away From Home thread. But i want to report that I had tremendous success with the TM900 (at least I think so; I hope the more professional amongst you might critique after I can post some visual results). Here's a rundown of the equipment I used and some of my first impressions: - TM900 w/one each extra 130 and 260 batteries and sundry 120V/240V and 12V chargers - Raynox .66 wide angle adapter (I am sooooooo glad I invested in this!) - 72mm B&W polarizer from my D200 that fit the Raynox - Azden SGM2X mic w/Stormblack windsocks, 2ft and 30ft. Audiotek cables, and CAVision fiberglass collapsible boom pole - JuicedLink CX211 2 XLR audio adapter - CamCaddie with accessories (priceless for kids and other low-level shots) - 12 32GB class 6 and class 10 SDHC cards (Patriot, Lexar, and Transcend) - 126 LED light - HP DM1z Netbook loaded w/Panny software and USB DVD writer w/25 blank DVDs - Manfrotto /Bogen 394 tripod w/Integrated Video/Photo head - Kata 3N1-22 Sling Backpack w/tripod holder accessory My friends who have seen the raw footage played from the camcorder directly to my 60” Samsung HDTV are awestruck by the clarity, brightness, and crispness of the images. I shot everything in 1080/60P, almost all of it using IA with AIS on, except when using the tripod. Like Carol, I found it too cumbersome and error-prone to try making manual adjustments on the fly. And I’m not sure if they would have improved my images. Most of my shooting was in a village during the daytime, and the IA worked fine. I don’t see over-exposure in those shots, although, I will definitely welcome some more expert opinion in due course. I also found the exposure adjusted very quickly when I moved into different light situations. Aside from the indelible memories of the beauty and kindness of the people of the village, the things that stick most in my mind are the shots I missed – either because my camcorder was not at hand or because of mistakes made in the heat of the moment. Examples – boy driving two oxen pulling a sled at a gallop across a setting sun (I was peeing when I realized what I was missing), twelve kids of varying heights passing by with a long, woven rattan fence hoisted over their heads looking for all the world like a human caterpillar (camcorder was in my room 100 yards away), and many more. For a while, I agonized over those missed shots; now that I’ve seen what I did get, I’m more philosophical about losing them. You can’t win ‘em all! I used the tripod only twice, but it was worth the effort. We interviewed the three village teachers about the trials and tribulations of teaching six grades in an open air environment. Also, I took a five-minute shot of the setting sun – at or near the equator, it goes down very fast and actually disappears in the haze before it hits the horizon. I read the discussions on this thread about focusing directly into the sun, but at that low level, the intensity did not harm the image nor, I hope, the sensors. The professionals among you will cringe when I report that I didn’t back up my cards to my netb0ook, as was my plan. It wasn’t for want of trying. The first upload did not work, and I got “recovering data” and other scary messages during the attempt. So I decided to wait and not tempt fate in the field where I had no good advice to follow. I came back with 10 full 32 GB cards and no backup. However, my netbook was a great source of entertainment for the villagers because I had loaded a bunch of African jazz and pop music as well as videos, and someone produced a couple of DVDs taken at the village a few years previously. I will report more later on my success (or lack thereof) with the external mic and other gear. Also, I’ll upload some images –even if they are only still shots – as soon as I figure out how to do it. My profound thanks to everyone on this thread who directly or indirectly provided invaluable advice in the months before my trip. Finally, to Carol – I certainly understand what you must have felt and probably are still feeling emotionally about Africa and especially the people. This was my return to Africa after a 40 year absence, and it confirmed to me that I hadn’t just suffered some sort of immature emotional reaction when I left the first time those many years ago. I always knew I had to go back, and I’m confident you will return also. I don’t know who wrote it – I read it a long time ago, and I like to think it was Hemingway – but someone said no one can leave Africa without having been profoundly affected by it. Aside from all that, Africa is a photographer’s dreamscape.

February 7th, 2012, 08:00 AM	#551
David Pritchard New Boot Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Phuket, Thailand Posts: 14	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread Sinbi Muay Thai day trip to Coral Island, Phuket last Sunday - YouTube No colour correction, just a slight vignette added. Edited video of our day trip to a tropical island. Crabs, lizards, people, sand and boat trips!

February 7th, 2012, 04:52 PM	#552
Alan Christensen Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: California Posts: 139	AGC on TM900 Has anyone figured out what the SET+/AGC menu screen does? I'm not at all convinced that I understand why the manual audio setup screen has an AGC button on it. Are you setting anything associated with "AGC" on this screen or only turning it on and off? If only turning it on and off, then why have the button here rather than just use the "auto" setting for audio when you want AGC? What settings have folks found work best with the Rode VideoMic Pro for both the camera and for the VideoMic Pro?

February 8th, 2012, 05:59 PM	#553
Dennis Freeman Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: West Bloomfield, MI Posts: 42	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread Check page 73 of the users manual. It states the following: 73 VQT3K80 When recording, the input level from the built-in microphones and the external microphone terminal can be adjusted. ≥ Switch to manual mode. (l 80) 1 Select the menu. ≥ It is possible to select the setting from the quick menu in manual mode. (l 40) The microphone level returns to the setting adjusted previously, and it cannot be set from the quick menu. 2 (When [SETr ]/[SET] is selected) Touch / to adjust. ≥ Touch to activate/disactivate AGC. When AGC is activated, the icon is surrounded by yellow and the amount of sound distortion can be reduced. When AGC is disactivated, natural recording can be performed. ≥ Adjust the microphone input level so that the last 2 bars of the gain value are not red. (Otherwise, the sound is distorted.) Select a lower setting for microphone input level. 3 Touch [ENTER] to set the microphone input level and then touch [EXIT]. ≥ (Microphone input level meter) appears on the screen. ≥ When switching to intelligent auto mode, the setting is fixed to [AUTO] and cannot be changed. ≥ When [MIC SETUP] is [ZOOM MIC], the volume will be different depending on the zoom rate. ≥ When [MIC SETUP] is set to [STEREO MIC] or external microphone input is used, the sound is stereo (2 ch) and only the front-left and front-right input level meters function. ≥ The microphone input level meter shows the largest volume for the microphones. ≥ You cannot record with the audio completely muted. [MIC LEVEL] : [RECORD SETUP] # [MIC LEVEL] # desired setting [AUTO]: AGC is activated, and the recording level is adjusted automatically. [SETr ]/[SET]: The desired recording level can be set. MENU A Centre B Front left C Back left D Front right E Back right F Microphone input level

February 8th, 2012, 06:01 PM	#554
Dennis Freeman Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: West Bloomfield, MI Posts: 42	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread I am wondering if anyone is having as issue with the lens cover closing on the TM900. Once it is opened, after the camcorder is powered off it can take up to 2.5 miinutes before it closes. Denny

February 8th, 2012, 06:37 PM	#555
George Taylor Regular Crew Join Date: May 2011 Location: San Francisco, California, USA Posts: 41	Re: The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread Can't think of anything directly, except perhaps dirt? Which leads me to a question I have been meaning to post....My unit took a fair amount of dust while in Africa. I wiped it off assiduously (your word for today) but I'm wondering if anyone can recommend how I go about finding a good professional cleaning service. I searched on the Panasonic website and came up empty except for cleaning heads on older tape models. Thanks.