The Panasonic TM900 Users Thread

[Luc Spencer]

Alright guys, I just uploaded my first edited work with the TM900. Here it is:

Quality Demo on Vimeo

Would really appreciate any feedback, since I am a beginner at this and have a lot to improve.

I have noticed a few things regarding the TM900 while filming for this.

1. Notice how in the blue labyrinth scene the camera is shaking while I was adjusting focus - this happens all the time when I want to adjust focus on a tripod. Maybe I'm using too cheap of a tripod? No idea. The slightest touch and the camera produces a shaky image (stabilizer off when on tripod).

2. The time lapses don't look clean if you look closely. Seems like compression problems to me.

3. The sun isn't the clear-rounded sphere I was hoping it to be - I'm guessing I need a polarizer filter for that?

Roger, I followed your advice and exported from Premiere as 1920x1080 @ 25 fps (original footage was 50p) at 10 mbps. For some reason, Vimeo sees it as 720p footage, because when "Scaling is off", the video in fullscreen mode occupies half my monitor. Your canyon video fills the entire screen, so does Mark Rosenzweig's baseball video (good work with that, Mark :-) ). Any ideas why this happens? This video will be shown to potential customers, so I need it to be at its absolute best.

Thanks guys.

EDIT: Think I found out why Vimeo refuses to show it as 1080p: I need to be a Plus user.

[Roger Shealy]

Luc,

Nice footage. An inexpensive tripod does show its flaws when adjusting the camera, as I know all too well!

Are you a Vimeo Pro/Plus member? There are some limits to non-members and 1080 and/or file size may impact your ability to upload certain files. 720-30P @ 5Mbps is a good setting for Vimeo and I'm not sure the 1080 is better for most users when streaming. 1080 is nice when allowing others to download the source file for local playback.

[Luc Spencer]

Yes, apparently that's the problem, me not being a Plus user. Well at least we know it's not a technical problem. I uploaded the same vid to youtube and the quality is better. I can choose the 1080p option there too.

[Tom Hardwick]

Answers as I see them Luc.

1) Undoubtedly a tripod that's not up to the job. You're at full tele on the TM900 right? That's the equivalent of 420 mm telephoto. Could be you had the 20x zoom option engaged - in which case you're talking of a 700mm lens. Those sort of focal lengths need tripods made of concrete if you're going to fiddle with the lens.

Try the same shot with the OIS turned on and see what you think. You're only told to turn off OIS when on a tripod because they expect you to pan or tilt. You're doing neither in this shot.

2) Don't look clean? You mean they have video noise? What gain settings were you using for the night time-lapse? And look at the crude iris blade flare from point light sources. A known problem with this camera.

3) A polariser will only help because of it's ND filtration properties - looking directly into the sun like that has grossly over-exposed the chips, and the resulting flare has spread much further than the sun's circumference. Take the same shot with very high shutter speeds (use the still camera facility if you like) so that zebras are not covering the sun and note that it is indeed (allowing for atmospheric haze) a true circle.

tom.

[Luc Spencer]

I appreciate the feedback Tom.

1. Yes, I think I was using the iZoom function. Will use the OIS next time then, see if that helps. You know what disappoints me though? The fact that it has a remote control, but you can't adjust the focus with it. It would have made a great difference...

2. Not video noise (was careful not to exceed 6dB gain), more like compression artifacts. Garbled video here and there, then it clears up, then it garbles some more. It's just not nearly as constant in clarity as the 50p mode, or even regular AVCHD.

3. Doesn't very high shutter speeds mean underexposure? Yes, the sun will be a clean circle but I fear everything else will be just... black. Hm, have to try this evening.

Thank you again sir!

[Tom Hardwick]

Oh yes, exposing for the sun will mean massive under-exposure of the rest of the scene - I thought you were just checking out the sun's roundness. We all have to accept the sun as a grossly over-exposed blob if it's going to be in frame.

[Luc Spencer]

Hm, think I was a bit too late today, the sun was not as bright. So yes, now it looks much better :)

sunset snapshot from movie

[Guy Caplin]

Pop Video using SD900
This is my first post but I have been following the information on this site about using the Panasonic HDC 900 series for some time. This persuaded me to buy an SD900 just before Xmas. I must say I have not been disappointed. I have uploaded a pop video made entirely on this camera to YouTube and would welcome any constructive comments.

Its Not Over.mp4 - YouTube

I used the camera in the manual mode, leaving it in auto focus and auto shutter speed. As the camera was on a jib-arm, I was unable to monitor the aperture 'zebras' so I used Adobe On Location to monitor the luma waveform.

I found only one slight problem with the camera: as you zoom in the camera appears to stop down. This effect is well known even on the cheaper professional cameras and easily fixed in post. The real problems are physically controlling the camera at the end of the jib - but that is another thread.

[Adrian Lepki]

Originally Posted by Guy Caplin

I have uploaded a pop video made entirely on this camera to YouTube and would welcome any constructive comments.

Its Not Over.mp4 - YouTube

Nice video. The editing rhythm and pace of the whole are good, so are the choices of camera angles. (Noticed one shot repetition of a drummer). One thing I'd change though, is the second shot in this video. The video starts with a very dynamic and tight shot of a drummer and then it cuts to a static wide shot of a whole band. The dynamic beginning is thus lost in this second shot IMHO.

[Guy Caplin]

Tried it in the rough cut without the second shot but it needed the wide shot to give 'geography' to all the players. I guess I needed a a more dynamic geography shot to make it work better.

[Tom Hardwick]

Guy, the camera can't be in manual if the shutter speed's allowed to roam. You must lock the iris (and the associated gain) as well as the shutter speed to lock the exposure.

And the camera doesn't stop down as you zoom - you can shoot at f/2.8 using max wide, then zoom all the way to 20x telephoto and it will continue shooting at f/2.8. What you've seen is lens ramping, and it's very common. You can shoot at f/1.5 if you stick to max wide, but f/2.8 is the max aperture at full tele.

tom.

[Guy Caplin]

Thanks Tom. Are you saying that if the camera is in manual mode and I set the iris, then the shutter is also locked at the speed that it was set at when I switched out of auto?

[Luc Spencer]

That is correct Guy. That's because they were too cheap to incorporate an aperture-priority function on these cameras, so that when you lock down the aperture, the shutter value isn't left floating but is also locked down.

[Tom Hardwick]

The 900's auto/manual exposure switching is not easy to grasp. In iA the camera controls the shutter speed, the iris and (by default) the gain. If you push the little chrome button iA disappears and MNL appears on screen.

The camera is still in auto exposure mode (I know, daft). If you now touch iris, it puts a yellow rectangle around the word and locks the exposure, if you touch it again to remove the yellow, it's still locked.

In iA the camera will choose any shutter speed from 1/25th up to 1/8000th, in MNL mode touching SHTR will lock in the reading iA had chosen as you suggest.

So, you're presented with a scene you want to manually expose, but have no idea as the the settings you should choose.

1) Ask the camera - call up iA, then press it again for MNL
2) Push SHTR to make sure it's 1/50th (the default - unless it's incredibly dark or light)
3) Push IRIS to lock in that iris/gain setting.

Strangely, if you go from iA to MNL and then push IRIS you'll lock the exposure ok, but then hitting SHTR makes the iris return to auto! Why, Panasonic? So make sure you follow the 1, 2, 3 sequence above to really lock that exposure down.

tom.

[Colin Rowe]

Originally Posted by Guy Caplin

Thanks Tom. Are you saying that if the camera is in manual mode and I set the iris, then the shutter is also locked at the speed that it was set at when I switched out of auto?

Guy. Thats a good clear explanation from Tom. One other thing to watch out for when switching between iA to manual. The white balance will reset to AWB, you need to change it to your desired preset. The manual white balance settings remain in memory, even though the set idicator will be flashing