The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread

[Andy Wilkinson]

Thanks Claire. Yep, you spotted the tendency to slight overexposure too - believe me it's not just YouTube mangling it - but the only way you find these things out is to actually try! No I did not use any scene mode - this test was really very simple but I knew my stationary shots would be a challenge on the image stabilisation system with such a lightweight camera!

I really like your idea of ultra slow panning for those times when I'm out and about without a tripod/wall/chair/child (not my two - never stationary!) to lean on. Great tip! Thanks also for all the other great info!

[Phil Lee]

Hi

Originally Posted by Andy Wilkinson

...
You're right. No "bondi blue". We can all now put that debate to bed with the 900 series, for good! Please post that link to that forum!

Well your clip has been seen by a few now and the question raised is the sky is too blue and did you use a polarizer? :-) No pleasing some people I suppose.

Regards

Phil

[Andy Wilkinson]

No polarizer, (as I can't find a B+W 46mm one anywhere in the UK - for a sensible price).

Camera straight out of the box! Some people just like to be critical of ALL new gear.... and others just get on and do stuff with it (and have fun!)

BTW, as a side note, I've just found a reputable camera supplier (that I've used several times before) who has the new larger batteries for the TM900 on their website, the Panasonic VW-VBN260E-K (for £89 plus £10 delivery). I have placed an order just now so should know soon if they have them in stock or what the likely delivery date will be. It's the same company that I bought my TM900 from (and indeed my Canon 7D and a few other things). They sell cameras and are in Bristol ;-)

[Phil Lee]

Hi

Cheers, I've updated them over at avsforums. I knew the blue sky would draw some questions as there has been a lot of chatter there regarding "bondi-blue" on the older models.

Regards

Phil

[Claire Watson]

Hi Phil,

I know there is a lot of concern out there over this Bondi-blue issue that affected some TM700 users, I can say with certainty the deep blue sky in Andy's TM900 film would not require a polarizer with the weather we enjoyed these last few days here in the UK.

We had high pressure over the country bringing us cold frosty nights and clear blue skies during the day, unusual for us being surrounded by ocean so we try and make the most of it, but I can assure you the sky colour in Andy's film is exactly what I have been seeing with my TM900 about 250 miles north of him.

With over exposure on this camera blue sky can become different to how it looks to the eyes, it usually turns white but not always, however with correct exposure the only time I have wondered about bondi blu is close to sunset when a very narrow strip right next to the horizon looks a touch green, however I realise it's my paranoia when looking over the camera that is how it appears to my eyes, ie: it's there in reality, not introduced by the camera.

Edit: Sorry Phil, Just realised you are in London so I don't need tell you we had blue sky recently !

[Ian Newland]

In Sony Vegas, no need to set undersampling to .5, leave at 1 and just select disable resample in clip properties.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Thanks Ian. Anyone tried this conversion software on a Mac? Its $29 ...and comes with "warm afterservice" (!)... Any good?

Aunsoft Introduces Panasonic HDC-TM900 AVCHD Video Converter on Mac

[Alastair Traill]

Thanks Andy,

I have not been able (till now) to download 1080 50p clips from my TM900 into my iMac unless I convert them to AVCHD in the camera first.

I have just tried the new Aunsoft MTS/M2TS Converter for the TM900 etc and for the first time I have been able to download 1080 50p clips without prior conversion. I could not do it with the Aunsoft vidoconverter.

I cannot answer your question as to whether it is any good but at least and at last I have something to work with.

If it is of interest I have found that I can download clips (1080 50p and HA1920) from the TM900 into a Nexto 2500. Furthermore I can play the clips back on the Nexto screen and now with the Aunsoft I can download from the Nexto to my iMac.

Many thanks, greatly appreciated.

[Andy Wilkinson]

More early TM900 footage (not mine this time I stress). Filmed in the Italian Dolomites (Cortina).

If anyone has any doubts about how good the TM900s 1080p50 codec/how sharp the lens is etc. then they should simply watch all of this in 1080p. :-)

Look at the detail of all the tiny figures in the closing shots. There are a few times where there is a slight greenish tint to the sky but other times when I see colours exactly as I'd expect from my own use of the TM900 in sunny conditions. It simply might have been that colour in those distant hazy horizons or simply an incorrect white balance setting, I guess we'll never know - but no matter.

YouTube - Dolomites, Italy 2011 - Panasonic HDC-TM900 Full HD Test

[Andy Wilkinson]

I've just put a couple of short (30MB and 36MB) raw clips (.mts) onto Vimeo.

Have enabled downloading if anyone wants to test anything out.

NOTE: I'm not a Vimeo Plus user so I think they will only be available in the original format for about a week.

If you download these clips please consider giving a donation to the people in Japan at this difficult time as soon as your country has systems in place to do this.

Panasonic TM900 - Raw 1080p50 Short Test Clip (.mts) on Vimeo

Panasonic TM900 - Raw 1080p50 Short Test Clip 2 (.mts) on Vimeo

[Andy Wilkinson]

Notes on the Vimeo page and in my rough and ready narrative - it's just finished converting but the HD version does not seem to be available just yet even on Vimeo site - hopefully it will be soon. Anyway, the raw 1080p50 .mts (Note 59 seconds, and 174MB) should be available to download for 1 week.

Remember the Japan request - those clever people brought you things like the TM900.

Panasonic TM900 1080p50 Extreme Low Light Test (.mts) on Vimeo

[Ronald Jackson]

Andy,

I use a nanoFlash with my XLH1 so 25p only. I guess cutting in 50p footage off a TM900, assuming my FCP/iMac set up up to it, would be problematical.

I am talking about TM900 footage off the camera and not via a nanoFlash. Can the TM900 be set to record/output 25p?

I know the TM900 can be used with a nano but sometimes it would be too "fiddly" to swap nano from cam to cam in the field.

Ron

[Andy Wilkinson]

OK, well it seems Vimeo's encoders assumed my TM900 Extreme Low Light Test video clip was not worth encoding to their version of 720p so I put it up on YouTube this morning and it's now available in 1080p (albeit after it's been through YouTubes encoding engine - but hey at least you can see it in 1080p on the web now), link below. Note that the original footage looks a lot cleaner/nicer - and that's an understatement:

YouTube - Panasonic TM900 Extreme Low Light Test (1080p50)

Remember, you can still download the original 1080p50 clip (from Vimeo) until the end of next week and decide for yourself what it looks like.

Ronald, the TM900 has a setting to record in 1920x1080p25 at 17Mbps in a fully compliant AVCHD codec. Full specs are in the Panasonic Global link I posted at the very start of this thread. I've not really started using my Mac Pro/FCP for TM900 footage yet so will let others comment more about that.

[Ronald Jackson]

Thanks Andy. I'll be interested in reading of your experiences with FCP etc and 50p footage. Seems the cam will record/output 25p okay. I wonder whether possible to record 50p and "down res" to 25p in post, and if so, whether worthwhile given the 25p capabilities "in camera".

Not even sure whether my monitor will handle a 50p signal, my telly certainly won't as it's only "HD ready", so more expense.


Ron

[Andy Wilkinson]

Hi Ron. Maybe try downloading one of my short 1080p50 sample clips from Vimeo (see in thread above a few posts back) and trying it on your Mac and monitor somehow?

I find my 2-3 year old Dell 24-inch 2408 UltraSharps (1920x1080p) handle it no problem at all (playing off a RAID 0 in a 2010 Windows 7, 64-Bit Intel i7 Box) and I typically use the VLC Player on this PC. Yet to try the Mac Pro so can't really help with that yet.