Panasonic TM900 zoom

[Greg Mlotkowski]

I'm having a bit of a problem with my zoom as stated in another thread. I get the creepy slo-motion in/out by using the lever located on top of the camera, but that just makes me miserable. Touching the camera at all most always imparts vibration into the picture. Maybe it was too much ice fishing and frostbite, but I can never seem to touch it light enough, at exactly the right moment, then hold it in place steadly, to get the effect I'm hoping for. I've been capturing choreographed musicals, and camera jitter, jerky pans, just destroy the high quality video this camera can get. The on screen zoom bars seem unreliable, never seem to invoke when you want them. Once I zoom in a bit, I can never seem to back out without reverting back to the lever on top. Frustrating.

A nice feature that could be incorporated into this camera would be programed presets for zoom, that can displayed as icons on the lcd screen. Something like this.
Go from wide angle to 2x zoom in 4 seconds, or
Go from 3x zoom to 8x zoom in 6 seconds, or
Go from 10x zoom to wide angle in 10 seconds.
Have these commands displayed as an icon, and get it without ever touching a rotating lens ring, little lever on top, or slide bars.
Seems like a simple software update.
This way one can concentrate on making smooth pans, or enjoy whats happening in front of the cameraman, me.

[Dan Carter]

Unfortunately, our cameras cannot always adapt to how we want to work, however, we can adapt to our cameras. With several months practice, you may be surprised how well you'll zoom.

"Never zoom" is a popular videography rule. Better to stop the camera, reframe, then continue. However, if it's for your own enjoyment, rule one is have fun.