Video Camera Solution Needed

I have a Pansonic HDC=SDT750. It came with an HDMI cord and remote. When plugged into with the HDMI cord you see a live picture. The camera is part of the TM700/SD800/TM900 family.

My guess is that most camcorders with an HDMI out port will do this.

I would think just about any HD camera with hdmi output would work. We have been using a Canon (HV20?) for a year or so now, couple of hours per week, as a stage monitor for our video production at church. What remote functions do you need? On-Off, focus, zoom, exposure, pan and tilt? Pan & Tilt, you'd need special apparatus. Other operations? Wireless line-of-sight, Lanc cable? Check specs on current cameras.

The only downside that I can see with the Panny TM lines (at least with TM700 and TM900) is that they have a fan. The unit gets darn hot with extended use. Not sure if you want to do that to the unit if you have long recording sessions.

Not necessarily true. I use my TM700 exclusively outside in the sun on 90+ degree days from 3-5 hours at a time. It gets warm but so would any other camcorder.

I think "darn hot" is a little overblown.

The fan is there exactly to prevent the camcorder from getting darn hot.

Get the Sony 560 it does not need the fan and it's noise. ;-)

Not every unit has the 'fan noise' issue.

It does not have full manual exposure control either.

Why would he need manual control for camera that is ceiling mounted?

Touché.

That is a very good question.

And how many users of the small low priced camcorders use or really need manual controls?

@dakotase, yes, the TM700 had not shut down due to over heating yet but from my experience, I have mounted the camcorder on a big metal tripod mount and a plastic one with a metal stud. When on the metal mount, the mount is warm to the touch with extended use. I am guessing it acts like a big heat sink and dissipates the heat. When using the plastic mount with metal stud, I remember one time unmounting after a long time lapse shoot and almost "burned" my finger. Of course it was not a burn but a very big ouch. This time, I think because the stud is the only metal part to touch the TM700, it just became so hot that it concerned me.


@Ungermann, yes the fan is there to cool the unit down. But not many consumer camcorder requires a fan. It just tells us this unit can build up too much heat so the manufacturer opted to include a fan, even though it's another moving part AND it creates noise.

So I an not saying the unit will fail but given my experiences, I would be very hesitant to run the TM700 for extended periods of time.