The Official Panasonic HDC-TM900 Owners Thread - Page 32

Any news? did you finally manage to copy .mts files from pc to cam? How?

I wish HD Writer had an option to write files larger than 4 GB. I use NTFS on my Win 7 PC and NAS and I need not be restricted to the FAT32 size limit.

Playback of the videos (locally via VideoLAN or over the network by dlna streaming to my PS3) requires me to play the clips in sequence for long recordings.

Inconvenient.

How do you guys carry this camera while strolling around?

A neck strap would be very handy. But this camera has no place to attach one.

A camera bag is the only alternative, I suppose. But it is not convenient to take things out, shoot, put thing back yadda yadda.

Besides, a neck strap is a great insurance against fumbling and dropping the camera!

Why did Panasonic not include a neck strap?

I just returned from a month long trip in Europe. I spent a lot of time walking around were some said pick pockets and petty thieves operate.

I did a couple of things, depending on the circumstances.

Normally, if I am actively shooting video, I have it screwed via ball head to a monopod and carry them as a unit. I have a piece of cord attached that I loop around my wrist so that anyone wanting my camera would get my arm with it! It is long enough to not get in the way and short enough that the camera and monopod would not hit the pavement if I dropped it.

If I want to put it away for awhile, an I use a "Lowepro Digital Video Case 30 for Camcorders" (http://www.amazon.com/Lowepro-Digita...4677634&sr=1-8). The case has an unusual belt loop that either remains snug on your waist or loosens when you need to sit and don't want it digging into your ribs. Inside is an unique elastic strap that allows use like holster. I CAN conveniently get it out and put it back. I like the case well enough that I bought a second one that I can use for an extra battery, wide angle lens

I also use a "D" ring (maybe called a "snap ring") that I also keep on my belt. It gives me a place to securely hang the camera by its hand strap when I need both hands for something, like paying a cab driver.

And, the camera does have a place to attach any strap or cord you might want. Consider getting a 1/4 x 20 eye bolt or bolt and some kind of ring to screw into the tripod/monopod socket.

Bill

I assume you want to put video back on the camera so you can use it as a portable media player. If you used HD Writer to move, catalog and store your video files, you can move them in either direction. It won't work if you have separated the .mt2s files from their Panasonic accessory files.

Although it seems like you should be able to play any .m2ts file on the camcorder, it does not work. However, the PMB software that came with my Sony HX9V does recognize the files from the Panasonic and I have successfully used it as a portable media player for a mixed combination of files from two cameras.

Bill

These are some good workarounds for the lack of the shoulder strap. I don't like the idea of using the tripod socket for an eye-bolt. That makes it inconvenient to switch to using a tripod if I am using the eye-bolt for attaching a shoulder strap. I might as well run a shoulder strap through the hand strap.

The lack of shoulder-strap is an inconvenience that I'll have to get used to

Will the TM900 and an extra battery fit in this case?

I have an SDT-750 that I think is the same size as the 900. It fits perfectly with the lens hood, UV filter and standard battery. An extra battery will not fit. I bought mine at Best Buy. Take your camera an try it.

Actually if you burn to DVD as most of us do then 4GB is just about right as a DVD can only hold 4.7GB. The camcorder is limited by it's FAT32 file system. Unless they update that there is noyhing that can be done. Be glad you don't own a canon we are limited to 2GB file sizes.

Here is a link to a case I will be picking up soon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

As you can see it offers an attachable battery case. This case is ideal for fast shots when you need to whip out the camera and get a shot.
I leave my camcorder in standby mode for 30 minutes. That way I can open the LCD and I'm good to go pretty much instantly. Yes it drains the battery but less so than if I was keeping it on. I know the battery case looks like an afterthought but considering the size and style of this case it's worth the hassle.
This style of case would probably not be ideal in areas heavily frequented by pickpockets.

While the camcorder is playing it safe by assuming FAT32 as the lowest common denominator that users will have on their PC's, the HD Writer doesn't have to.
IMO, HD Writer should detect the OS and file system being used on the PC and offer the user a choice on file sizes. Do the major editing software on the PC (like Adobe Premiere, Vegas etc) also limit the file sizes to 4 GB? I don't know ...

Looks like an interesting choice as the most compact case for this camera. Please let us know how this works with the TM900+VW-VBN260 battery.

I might even take the neck strap from my now retired Sony DV camcorder and attach it to my TM900 (to the handstrap, I suppose ...). I hate using any equipment without a reassuring neck strap.

It will be ironic to use a Sony case and neckstrap, with Handycam logo all over it, for a Panasonic.

Aloke
PS: I am thinking of this case, which has some mpre space for remote, CF cards, battery+charger etc.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Are you creating data backups on DVD? or burning AVCHD disks (for playback on BD players)?

One would lose quality if starting with 1080/60p and creating AVCHD on DVD.

I am also ending up with longer edited video files of events, like high school football games, music concerts. HDWriter splits these into 4GB chunks, so I suppose I could do a data backup of these on to DVD's.

I'm thinking of getting a BD writer just for the larger capacity of the BD disks. Will HDWriter or Nero then create playable BD disks with 1080/60p files on them?

Just discovered this freeware

http://multiavchd.deanbg.com/

Anyone using this to burn 1080/60p to DVD's?

One would have to split recordings to 4 GB segments to do this. Luckily, HDWriter and the camera already do that.

Ok first off I no longer have my TM900 I now have a Canon HF G10 and it's bigger than the TM900 it will fit in that Sony case no problem. The local store had one (I didn't buy it at the time ) and I put a full sized camcorder in it with no issue.
If you want a small case that literally will hold everything, buy this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Lowepro-Nova-1...4752958&sr=8-1

I own this case and it will attach to your belt, it has a shoulder strap and carry handle as well plus a waterproof cover that tucks away. I have 3 spare batteries in it, my mini pistolgrip tripod, a LCD hood and it holds my HF G10 with the lens hood on! I also keep my cameras remote and a few other things in it. I have pics of it somewhere on here if you do a search for it.
I have worn this on my belt all day on trips but I lighten thee load at the hotel as much as I can. If it's going on my belt I only take the camcorder with lens hood. the 3 extra batteries, the LCD hood, the pistol grip tripod and the remote.
My HF G10 has 2 SD card lots in the camera setup for relay recording, So I don't carry a spare.
This is the biggest small case you can get, lots of pockets too.

I burn my files to DVD for archival purposes but they will play just fine in my PS3.

Which software do you use to create your archival DVD's?
All the software that I know of use AVCHD 1.0 to put HD media on DVD's and don't keep the same original content as 1080p60,

I just burn the files to the DVD as a raw file. I don't try and make it playable although they will play on my PS3 if I want to. I just use imgBurn to burn my discs if that's what you mean. It's free and it works great!

Anyone using Nero Video ver 11 for editing vidieos?
Does it handle 1080p60 videos and create AVCHD 2.0 DVD's?

TIA
Aloke

Ah! I see. You create data DVD's with the .m2ts files. And read the data DVD's in PS3.

I should change my paradigm from thinking about playing conventional BD/DVD disks in dumb BD players. It is a world of connected devices that can read data off a LAN or data disks.

By the way, the PS3 is also streaming off my Netgear Duo NAS using DLNA without any visual or audible problems. My motivation for getting the WD media server is less now.

Yeh basically that's it, and most people have a PS3, if not I'm not sure if a Blu-Ray player would play the DVD. I use DVD+R's and they work great.
The only thing is to play them on the PS3 you need to press the triangle button to get the files to show up, or name the Folder VIDEOS which actually doesn't work 100% of the time for some weird reason.
BD+R's are expensive and DVD+/-R's are pretty darn cheap.
Whatever works for you tho.

showing off the TM900, in good and dim light.

http://vimeo.com/34347925

A day in a famous city: A hall, a bell, a horse winny, flags, street music, holiday decorations, Amish, food, memorials, holiday light show.

108060p, manual shutter, aperture and sometimes focus.

I liked it! It played well on my laptop with a relatively slow DSL connection. Vimeo seems to be good for that.

I am using you for inspiration! I'm working at putting together 5 to 10 minute videos of 10 cities we saw last month on a cruise ship. I'm trying to combine video from both a Panasonic SDT-750 and a Sony HX9V. If I can get my Rome to come out even close to your Philadelphia I will be happy.

I liked the way you put the ranger clips together. It appeared to be one audio file with three clips in it. Does HD Writer 3.0 let you do that? Or were you merely clever with your in and out marks?

I also liked the way you minimized the zooming and panning. Most of you clips were tripod steady relying on subject motion for interest. Were you using a tripod or monopod? Do you use Panny's extra thumb activated "Optical Image Stabilizer Lock"?

Bill

Nice video Mark. Those places of interest and historic sites look very familiar to me, as I live about 45 minutes northeast of Philadelphia.

I have had a very busy holiday season and have not had time to do any more testing with HD writer files and PMB yet.

I will get time after New Year's day, when I return home, to see if I can burn HD writer combined files to blu-ray AVCHD 2.0 disc's using PMB. I did get my new Sony BDP-S580 BD player set up and it does play the native 1080/60p files of the TM900 from my external HD attached to the usb port on the 580.

It looks to be lowering the bitrate of the files a little while playing them. I did not see the bitrate go above 30Mbps when playing the files on the 580. Playing files on my PS3 the bitrate goes well into the 35-38Mbps range. So it's definitely manipulating the videos somehow.

The BDP-S580 is ok. I wasn't that thrilled with it's video quality, even with blu-ray movies. The colors are not as good as the PS3's for whatever reason. I feel that TM900 files look better viewed with my ps3 as well. It's such a shame that the PS3 struggles with them most of the time. I would have no need for the 580 if the PS3 played TM900 files and AVCHD 2.0 disc's. Hopefully Sony will provide a firmware upgrade to make both playable someday.

I recorded some footage with the TM900 from the reenactment of "Washington's Crossing" on the Delaware River on Christmas day. It was a bear to get video as there was 1000's in attendance. Some of this was shot with the cam mounted on my monopod elevated 4ft. above my head...what a pita, but I had to do what I could to get footage in that situation. I'm glad I took the monopod but wish I had the remote with me as well, as I could have used it in the crowded circumstances I was recording in. This is a quick video of some footage I put together of the event using HD writer. Just trimmed and combined some files..no transitions. YouTube does it no justice, it looks tremendous on my big screen.

Bill, Thanks for the kind words; I hope you can share your videos, and if so, I look forward to seeing them.

"I liked the way you put the ranger clips together. It appeared to be one audio file with three clips in it. Does HD Writer 3.0 let you do that? Or were you merely clever with your in and out marks?"

I only used trimming to get smooth transitions. You can in HD Writer manipulate the soundtrack, mixing in your own.


"I also liked the way you minimized the zooming and panning. Most of you clips were tripod steady relying on subject motion for interest. Were you using a tripod or monopod? Do you use Panny's extra thumb activated "Optical Image Stabilizer Lock"?"

All handheld, and never used the lock, but certainly used the regular OIS. I mostly avoid pans, and only zoom (slowly) if action calls for it (see the approaching horse and buggy) and in sports.

Tingham,

Great little video - the first boat scene is A+. The Panasonic colors and sharpness shone through the Youtube processing. I bet your video is of higher quality than that taken by the costumed videographer with his massive camcorder!

Has anyone had any luck with using a third party vbn-260 battery?I have seen them for sale but i am not sure that they work. i would like some input before i purchase one. thanks

I put one together at Halloween that I had a lot of fun with. I used my other camera so I posted it in the old HX9V thread you started: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post21422881

One I did with my imitation TM900 (an SDT-750) and edited in HD Writer is about my granddaughters who, with no help from me, got involved in a 4H type chicken showing contest.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0GdrYhUCHQ
(On edit: Oops! I had it set to "Private". It is now "Unlisted", meaning that with the link you should be able to see it.)

I'm currently trying to figure out editing well enough to put up some videos of our trip through parts of Europe last month. I have to use an editor that will do multiple cameras sources, including a few stills. We stopped in 10 cities. I think I want to see if I can make a 10 part series with titles like "Six Minutes in Rome", "Six Minutes in Lisbon", etc.

Bill

oops i didnt realize there was a thread about this camcorder. would someone plz answer my question related to this camcorder and SD card compatibilty in the new thread i created?

I did.

Bill

Anyone using this Class 10 64 GB card? It is significantly cheaper than other 64 GB cards but from an unknown reseller.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...A1C0E2G2LZFK00

Has generally positive comments on Amazon, but still, I figure that I'd check here with other TM900 users ...