Replacement for HDC-TM700

Roger Gunkel · February 9th, 2019, 06:27 AM

I've never felt the need for field monitors as the screen on the camera folds out to and is fully rotatable for low or high level shots. It's also bigger than your TM700 screen and a lot sharper. If yo want a much bigger monitor, you could use the built in wireless connection to a pad, which I have done with my iPad when using as a remote camera and with full remote camera control.

Roger

Edward Cook · February 9th, 2019, 06:34 AM

OK thanks.

I just did a Google search and found that, apparently, the FZ1000 can't use a field monitor anyway, at least according to this article:

https://www.imaging-resource.com/new...ean-hdmi-video

In other words, it can't send a signal via HDMI to a field monitor at the same time as internally recording video to an SD card.

Chris Harding · February 9th, 2019, 08:16 AM

You cannot use an HDMI monitor with a FZ1000 unless you use something like an Atmos recorder. The 1000 can either record to card OR send out HDMI not both. If you feel you need a monitor then rather look at a FZ2500 which can output HDMI and record to card at the same time. Personally I cannot see the point of using a 7" monitor on the cameras ... the EVF is really high def already (way sharper than a monitor) plus you have good focus peaking if you want to manual focus ... We still shoot auto focus at weddings and have yet to have a focus issue.

Edward Cook · February 9th, 2019, 08:18 AM

Thanks Chris for your input!

My FZ1000 will be here Tuesday. Can't wait! :-)

Roger Gunkel · February 10th, 2019, 05:22 AM

Let us know how you get on.

Roger

Edward Cook · February 13th, 2019, 06:14 AM

I have the camera now. It arrived in an untaped box--miraculously everything was OK. Unbelievably shoddy packaging by the merchant.

Anyway, I've had a few moments to try it out, and first off I must say it's a definite improvement over my TM700 as far as picture quality. I'm really pleased about that.

There does seem to be a steep learning curve compared to the TM700 but hopefully not too bad.

One thing I did notice is that the footage I shot in 4K seemed a bit, what shall I say, choppy? I didn't try it on a tripod, I was just using it handheld. But whenever I zoomed or panned around, the resulting video was shaky/choppy or something (not sure how to describe it). I read somewhere that in 4K the image stabilization doesn't work; is that true? If so, a person would have to use a tripod for 4K, right?

Overall though I'm impressed and thank you all for the recommendation. I believe it's a keeper!

Chris Harding · February 13th, 2019, 06:04 PM

Hi Edward

Sounds good. Your 4K footage is not shaky at all ..your computer simply doesn't have the oomph to play the file smoothly ..I have shot plenty of 4K and it takes an incredible amount of CPU to run 4K video. Just remember that you do lose a bit of your wide angle in 4K mode too! My standard shoot settings are 1920x1080 and I use MP4 20mbps ...it's more than fast enough and is sharp as a tack!!

Roger Gunkel · February 14th, 2019, 06:44 AM

Hi Edward,

I agree with Chris on this, it will be you computer that is too slow. As regards stabilisation, there is stabilisation in 4K but if I remember correctly it is less effective than in HD. You will almost certainly find that HD on the camera will also have a noticeable improvement over HD on the TM700.

Roger

Edward Cook · February 14th, 2019, 06:56 AM

OK sounds good.

I'll probably use 1080p60 for most things, just like I did with the TM700. The footage for that is awesome on this camera.

I do want to be able to get decent footage in 4K though, which is part of the reason for upgrading at this time. My son competes in robotics competitions and I like to video those. After the matches, the team likes to analyze those videos for things that went wrong or areas for improvement, and sometimes this requires zooming in on things like the smartphone attached to the robot, etc. to see what was happening at a particular time. I was hoping this would work OK without a tripod because I never take my tripod to these tournaments.

In researching this I had come across some comments that said the jitters could be caused by the camera trying to refocus all the time and that it's better to focus the camera manually rather than depending on auto focus. Which concerns me because I'm the guy that usually tries to let the camera manage everything. Thoughts?

Chris Harding · February 16th, 2019, 07:01 PM

Hi Edward

I doubt whether the jitters are a focus issue ..I use my cameras for both weddings and realty work and continuous focus is on at all times and I seldom have an issue even with realty condition reports where the camera is moving rapidly over walls and ceilings where there is no real contrast. The focus is really good as long as you do a half shutter press when you start each clip! What focus mode are your using?? You should be on AFS 99% of the time (I don't think I have even run either camera in any mode except AFS)

With your 4K footage take a bit of footage that has "jitters" and render it down to 1920x1080 and see if it still "jitters" if it's smooth then the issue will be your computer CPU

Edward Cook · February 17th, 2019, 03:02 PM

I have rendered the footage down to 1920x1080 and it does seem better, so it's probably just a CPU issue as you say.

I had not even thought about doing a half-press on the shutter. Coming from the TM700 that wasn't an option.

So when you are shooting in 1080, you set the dial to iA, half press the shutter, and then press the red button to start recording (pressing the shutter all the way at that point would take a still picture, right?).

Chris Harding · February 17th, 2019, 06:21 PM

Hi Edward

Nope .. I set everything to P mode in the menu and also focus to continuous in the menu too then set your mode dial to Movie to shoot video and if I need to shoot stills I set my mode dial to P so I can bracket if I need to ..In Movie mode on the mode dial you only need to use the shutter button (I have never used the video button EVER!) Just half press to grab focus and then full press to record your video and then full press to stop recording. Exactly the same process is used to take a still ..just change the mode dial from Movie to P This way you only need to work with the shutter button for both stills and video and focus is brilliant!!

Edward Cook · February 17th, 2019, 07:49 PM

Awesome tip! Thank you so much!

Roger Gunkel · February 18th, 2019, 05:55 AM

I do exactly the same as Chris, never use the video button.

Out of interest, my Canon 5DII failed on Friday and I had a photography only wedding on Saturday so shot the whole thing on the FZ1000. results were brilliant!

Roger

Chris Harding · February 19th, 2019, 02:05 AM

One of my Nikons had a shutter arm loading issue it was virtually useless ..I shot alternating between my FZ1000 and Nikon ...when I saw the results I sold both Nikons and bought a second FZ1000

That was 3 years ago!!

February 9th, 2019, 06:27 AM	#16
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 I've never felt the need for field monitors as the screen on the camera folds out to and is fully rotatable for low or high level shots. It's also bigger than your TM700 screen and a lot sharper. If yo want a much bigger monitor, you could use the built in wireless connection to a pad, which I have done with my iPad when using as a remote camera and with full remote camera control. Roger

February 9th, 2019, 06:34 AM	#17
Edward Cook New Boot Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Shoals, IN Posts: 24	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 OK thanks. I just did a Google search and found that, apparently, the FZ1000 can't use a field monitor anyway, at least according to this article: https://www.imaging-resource.com/new...ean-hdmi-video In other words, it can't send a signal via HDMI to a field monitor at the same time as internally recording video to an SD card.

February 9th, 2019, 08:16 AM	#18
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 You cannot use an HDMI monitor with a FZ1000 unless you use something like an Atmos recorder. The 1000 can either record to card OR send out HDMI not both. If you feel you need a monitor then rather look at a FZ2500 which can output HDMI and record to card at the same time. Personally I cannot see the point of using a 7" monitor on the cameras ... the EVF is really high def already (way sharper than a monitor) plus you have good focus peaking if you want to manual focus ... We still shoot auto focus at weddings and have yet to have a focus issue.

February 9th, 2019, 08:18 AM	#19
Edward Cook New Boot Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Shoals, IN Posts: 24	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 Thanks Chris for your input! My FZ1000 will be here Tuesday. Can't wait! :-)

February 10th, 2019, 05:22 AM	#20
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 Let us know how you get on. Roger

February 13th, 2019, 06:14 AM	#21
Edward Cook New Boot Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Shoals, IN Posts: 24	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 I have the camera now. It arrived in an untaped box--miraculously everything was OK. Unbelievably shoddy packaging by the merchant. Anyway, I've had a few moments to try it out, and first off I must say it's a definite improvement over my TM700 as far as picture quality. I'm really pleased about that. There does seem to be a steep learning curve compared to the TM700 but hopefully not too bad. One thing I did notice is that the footage I shot in 4K seemed a bit, what shall I say, choppy? I didn't try it on a tripod, I was just using it handheld. But whenever I zoomed or panned around, the resulting video was shaky/choppy or something (not sure how to describe it). I read somewhere that in 4K the image stabilization doesn't work; is that true? If so, a person would have to use a tripod for 4K, right? Overall though I'm impressed and thank you all for the recommendation. I believe it's a keeper!

February 13th, 2019, 06:04 PM	#22
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 Hi Edward Sounds good. Your 4K footage is not shaky at all ..your computer simply doesn't have the oomph to play the file smoothly ..I have shot plenty of 4K and it takes an incredible amount of CPU to run 4K video. Just remember that you do lose a bit of your wide angle in 4K mode too! My standard shoot settings are 1920x1080 and I use MP4 20mbps ...it's more than fast enough and is sharp as a tack!!

February 14th, 2019, 06:44 AM	#23
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 Hi Edward, I agree with Chris on this, it will be you computer that is too slow. As regards stabilisation, there is stabilisation in 4K but if I remember correctly it is less effective than in HD. You will almost certainly find that HD on the camera will also have a noticeable improvement over HD on the TM700. Roger

February 14th, 2019, 06:56 AM	#24
Edward Cook New Boot Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Shoals, IN Posts: 24	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 OK sounds good. I'll probably use 1080p60 for most things, just like I did with the TM700. The footage for that is awesome on this camera. I do want to be able to get decent footage in 4K though, which is part of the reason for upgrading at this time. My son competes in robotics competitions and I like to video those. After the matches, the team likes to analyze those videos for things that went wrong or areas for improvement, and sometimes this requires zooming in on things like the smartphone attached to the robot, etc. to see what was happening at a particular time. I was hoping this would work OK without a tripod because I never take my tripod to these tournaments. In researching this I had come across some comments that said the jitters could be caused by the camera trying to refocus all the time and that it's better to focus the camera manually rather than depending on auto focus. Which concerns me because I'm the guy that usually tries to let the camera manage everything. Thoughts?

February 16th, 2019, 07:01 PM	#25
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 Hi Edward I doubt whether the jitters are a focus issue ..I use my cameras for both weddings and realty work and continuous focus is on at all times and I seldom have an issue even with realty condition reports where the camera is moving rapidly over walls and ceilings where there is no real contrast. The focus is really good as long as you do a half shutter press when you start each clip! What focus mode are your using?? You should be on AFS 99% of the time (I don't think I have even run either camera in any mode except AFS) With your 4K footage take a bit of footage that has "jitters" and render it down to 1920x1080 and see if it still "jitters" if it's smooth then the issue will be your computer CPU

February 17th, 2019, 03:02 PM	#26
Edward Cook New Boot Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Shoals, IN Posts: 24	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 I have rendered the footage down to 1920x1080 and it does seem better, so it's probably just a CPU issue as you say. I had not even thought about doing a half-press on the shutter. Coming from the TM700 that wasn't an option. So when you are shooting in 1080, you set the dial to iA, half press the shutter, and then press the red button to start recording (pressing the shutter all the way at that point would take a still picture, right?).

February 17th, 2019, 06:21 PM	#27
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 Hi Edward Nope .. I set everything to P mode in the menu and also focus to continuous in the menu too then set your mode dial to Movie to shoot video and if I need to shoot stills I set my mode dial to P so I can bracket if I need to ..In Movie mode on the mode dial you only need to use the shutter button (I have never used the video button EVER!) Just half press to grab focus and then full press to record your video and then full press to stop recording. Exactly the same process is used to take a still ..just change the mode dial from Movie to P This way you only need to work with the shutter button for both stills and video and focus is brilliant!!

February 17th, 2019, 07:49 PM	#28
Edward Cook New Boot Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Shoals, IN Posts: 24	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 Awesome tip! Thank you so much!

February 18th, 2019, 05:55 AM	#29
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 I do exactly the same as Chris, never use the video button. Out of interest, my Canon 5DII failed on Friday and I had a photography only wedding on Saturday so shot the whole thing on the FZ1000. results were brilliant! Roger

February 19th, 2019, 02:05 AM	#30
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Replacement for HDC-TM700 One of my Nikons had a shutter arm loading issue it was virtually useless ..I shot alternating between my FZ1000 and Nikon ...when I saw the results I sold both Nikons and bought a second FZ1000 That was 3 years ago!!