Replacement for HDC-TM700

[Edward Cook]

Using this method (mode dial set to movie, P in the menu, half shutter press to set focus), during the shoot, does the camera re-focus itself if I zoom in or out or does the shutter button have to be half pressed again?

[Chris Harding]

As long as continuous focus is on in the video menu ..it will keep focus and yes, refocus too during a zoom. If you are patient enough the continuous focus will eventually grab focus and keep it but it's way better to using the half press shutter at the start of each new clip ..in short half press at the beginning of a clip and then let the camera take over the focus. The only time you need to touch the shutter to to stop recording!!

[Edward Cook]

OK thanks so much.

Sorry to be asking such elementary questions, but with my TM700 I just always shot in iA mode and hit the record button. The camera took care of everything else.

My son has a robotics competition Saturday and I won't really know how it all turns out until I get home and download the footage to my computer. So I'm trying to get this all figured out ahead of time.

Thanks again for all your input.

[John Nantz]

Edward -

Originally Posted by Edward Cook

Sorry to be asking such elementary questions, but with my TM700 I just always shot in iA mode and hit the record button. The camera took care of everything else.

Don't feel bad. Cam software has been on a steep development curve and the next time you upgrade to one a few years newer you'll have a similar problem.

For myself, went from the Sony AX100 to the AX700 and ... there was a lot of new stuff to figure out. Basically the camera body is the same but with more bells and whistles but the menu has a lot of changes.

Unless you're really sure about something you just might want to shoot with your old cam while continuing to figure out the new one, or maybe just use the new one on the "safe" shots. For myself, I went through some soft focus and exposure issues the first few times using it but fortunately it was on some family shots. The menu is similar but much more in depth so takes longer.

[Edward Cook]

Everything went great at the robotics competition on Saturday. I'm beyond happy with this camera and thank you again for the recommendation.

What I love is that it's also a great stills camera, so I'm interested in taking more advantage of that. Which brings me to a question. If there is a robot game in the foreground and my son is in the background waiting his turn on the playing field, with the camera in auto, how can I focus on him and not the robot game?

[Chris Harding]

Hey Edward

The simplest way is to use plenty of zoom which will reduce the depth of field but the more correct way is to open up the iris and increase shutter speed to make the depth of field smaller ...You can actually do this in "semi-auto" by using P mode when shooting a still ..the camera will determine a correct exposure using shutter speed and aperture but you can adjust this to lessen the DOF and still keep the bracketed exposure so lets say the camera sets F8 at 1/100 shutter , you can move the "bracket" to F2.8 and it will automatically adjust the shutter speed higher to keep the same exposure. Check the manual for details!!

[Roger Gunkel]

Hi Edward,

I always use the 'Direct Focus Area' mode from the custom menu whilst shooting in M,S,A,or P modes. Direct focus is set from the custom menu, 3rd down on the left, then page 3 of 8. Once set, pressing any of the arrows around the menu button, will give you a yellow square with 4 arrows in the centre of the view finder or screen. Using the direction arrows, you can set the square to wherever you want the point of focus to be. You can also resize the focus area and the mode is available for still or video filming.

Roger

[Edward Cook]

Reviving this thread in hopes someone can help me with a problem with the FZ1000 and audio. I purchased the Tascam TM-2X stereo condenser mic thinking this would gve me better audio than the built in mic. However, I am getting a noise--not too sure how to describe it...static, buzzing, crackling, hissing. Loud enough that it makes the audio totally unusable. Does anyone have any clues why this mic would be introducing a noise like that? TIA

[Roger Gunkel]

Originally Posted by Edward Cook

Reviving this thread in hopes someone can help me with a problem with the FZ1000 and audio. I purchased the Tascam TM-2X stereo condenser mic thinking this would gve me better audio than the built in mic. However, I am getting a noise--not too sure how to describe it...static, buzzing, crackling, hissing. Loud enough that it makes the audio totally unusable. Does anyone have any clues why this mic would be introducing a noise like that? TIA

Hi Edward,

You would probably get a better response posting in the FZ1000 section and a short sample of the sound would also be useful so that we can hear the same as you. Purely as an aside, I use the Rode video mic in my FZ1000s with no problems at all.

One question is whether the you have set the camera audio input levels correctly and that they are not way too low.

Roger

[Edward Cook]

Thank you Roger.

Here are a few clips strung together and uploaded to Vimeo. This is some kids practicing for a Christmas program.

Sound Test on Vimeo

I haven't done anything with sound settings on the camera as I assumed the mic would override anything there. What I can't understand is why the mic seemed to do fine for the first half hour or so, then started doing this. I'm not aware of anything that changed.

Thanks again.

[Roger Gunkel]

Hi Edward,

Listening to the clip, the noise sounds very much like wireless interference being picked up by the cable between the mic and the camera. I had an experience a few years back when one of my mics was picking up interference that turned out to be electrical interference that was being created when an old freezer in the room was coming on every so often. The pulsing sound also suggests wireless interference.

It does sound to me like externally generated interference rather than something within your system. Does it occur at all locations or did you just notice it at the one you have shown?

Roger

[Edward Cook]

Thanks Roger. I've only had it a few weeks and this is the first time I've used the mic anywhere other than my house.

Is there a way to stop the interference?

I've done some google searching and one result suggested this kind of thing could be caused by the fact the mic does not have its own power (i.e. doesn't take batteries) but rather depends on power from the mic port. Could that be a factor?

[Edward Cook]

Do you think something like this would fix the problem:

Amazon

 

Amazon

[Roger Gunkel]

This has now been reposted in the FZ1000 forum.

Roger