The Official Panasonic HC-V700 Owners Thread - Page 18

OK, I figured it out. It's the conversion process. I thought iMovie does it automatically, but when I converted the MTS files to AIC first, everything is fine. (I have to do this extra step because I have a Mac.) I'm using Borosoft's converter, which is free if you're willing to accept its logo in the center of the video. So, Mac users! any recommendations for MTS to AIC converters?

I'm getting Adobe Premiere. Does it do the conversion for you?

Thanks!

There are two Adobe Premiers. I use the affordable elements Premier Elements Version 11 on a PC. It runs nearly the same on a Mac. The current version 11 has no issue with AVCHD files from Panasonic video cameras, so nothing has to be converted. You just use the files as is.

Premier Pro is entirely different, on a different release schedule and I have no idea what it does.

Bill

The top rated conversion software that a lot of Mac users get is ClipWrap:
http://www.divergentmedia.com/clipwrap
It can either re-wrap files to standard MP4 without any video loss at all or convert to ProRess.
I'm not sure about AIC files but I'd rather re-wrap the files that use that codec or go Pro-Ress. Still if you go the ProRess route, you'd have to upgrade to Final Cut X. Big difference in features against iMovie.

EDIT
My post ended up being copied for some strange reason.

your video looks great! Did you use any manual settings while shooting?

I just ordered this camcorder off of amazon. At the time (yesterday) it was listed as out of stock, today amazon only directs you to other 3rd party sellers. Is there a new model coming out? I don't mind waiting a little but I do want it before Christmas.

For traditional consumer camcorders, they wont be announced until next month at CES and it might not be until February to April that you see them available to buy. The prices will most likely be retail and the prices of the 2012 models might actually go up a little since once the stock dies down.

If you need a camcorder now, you should buy it now or you'll be missing out on important things to record.

Thank you Paulo. I was looking at the V500 and decided to get the v700 since it was only around $70 more. I see that the V500 dropped now from $289 to $259 and now amazon doesn't carry the V700. I started wondering if they were clearing out stock and wouldn't be getting anymore. I've emailed Amazon to see if they can confirm that they will be getting any more of the V700 back in stock. I have an Amazon gift card that is paying for the majority of the camcorder so i'm locked into buying from them.

Joshrocker -- also check bhphotovideo.com.

Thanks bing, I'm using an amazon gift card to pay for a majority of the camcorder so I'm locked into amazon at the moment.

Their support did get back to me but can only tell me that the camcorder is back ordered. I may wait it out for a week and then order the sony cx260. I really did have my heart set on the v700 however.

I have Premiere Pro CS5, which is a couple of years old now. It will import 1080p/50/60 files without any problem but its AVCHD presets will only output 1080p/25/30. It looks like I'll have to upgrade to CS6 (thank God for student pricing).

I also noticed something irritating in HD Writer. I "stress tested" the camcorder by shooting known problem objects like corrugated iron and brickwork and I found that in order to get adequate 1080p/50 playback i had to set the media player settings to Manual and choose 1080p @50 frames instead of the default 16 frames. 16 frames? Who chose that for a default?
Edited by Potoroo - 12/10/12 at 10:37pm

Perhaps the next step for me: a microphone. What do you guys use? What are your recommendations for someone on a budget? How much should I look to spend to see an improvement over the microphone that comes with the V700?

I'm mainly looking for something to attach to the shoe on the camcorder, so no lavalier or hand-held. It seems that this sort of microphone is primarily the shotgun type. Is this right?

Thanks!

There are lots of microphone choices, including mono shotgun and stereo. Look here, for example: http://www.rodemic.com/mics

You should first decide what you are going to be shooting - interviews of people (shotgun) or general scenes and/or music performances (stereo).

Then, how much do care about quality versus price.

Okay a follow up to my post from a few days ago..

I took the 700 outside today. Bright sunny day. The results were terrific! 1080P produced amazing results. Crisp, sharp and colorful. The auto focus worked better than my HV20 ever did. Very happy.

I purchased one of those Led light array add ons from amazon. Attached to the shoe. Only 20 something bucks. You can vary the light intensity with a dial. HOLY COW! Indoor quality with the array was better than I could have ever hoped for. It solved all my issues with indoor quality. I set the intensity to a medium value and I got fantastic results. This array is better than any camera light I have ever used.

So now I am thrilled with the V700.

Thanks!

This was shot completely in auto mode, at the time I had not yet learned the manual settings.
To be honest about the only time I do use manual is to boost shutter speed for good slo-mo shots if the lighting is good enough (waterfalls, running dogs and such).

Still happy with it and have a TON of footage from our summer backpacking trips, will eventually get around to editing them.

Which one?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009HU6RI8/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00


Far superior to any single bulb light I have ever used. Comes with three different diiffusers although I have yet to use any of them. The array itself diffuses the light so well that my 4 year old does not cover her eyes like she did with my other lights.

Hello! I'm new to this thread, I got my V700 about a week ago and yesterday took my first filming session outside. As it is cold and snowy winter here in Finland so I have to look at the weather carefully before going out with the camera. I posted a video from yesterday's session on youtube, you can check it out. I haven't seen that many white snowy videos taken with V700, so I was very interested in how it would perform in bright winter conditions.

So far I'm very satisfied with the output of my V700. I'm looking forward to spring/summer to get to record outside in dry and warm weather and no risk of snow sneaking into my camcorder .

In this video I was playing a lot with the zoom as the whole video is taken from the same position. Auto settings are mainly used, but I also tried some "snowman looking icon" that I had in the recording settings. I don't know if that is some kind of winter setting or not.

I have also been thinking that if I should get a UV filter to protect the lense and maybe it could even help capturing the bright white winter outdoor videos?

PS. Ignore the music if you don't like it, I just added some random BGM from my laptop

Hi folks,

New here so please be gentle!

Yesterday I picked up a 3-month old HC-V700 in mint condition for $300. I've done a couple of tests and am pretty happy so far. I'm a Mac user so downloaded MTS converter which seemed to work okay and the footage plays smoothly in FCP 7. A quick question, is it possible to do slow motion with this camera? I'm more familiar with the DSLR workflow so I'm still learning here. Can I conform the 60p footage from the V-700 to 24p so it ends up as smooth slow-mo?

Thanks in advance. Looks like a cool community here.

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure what the word "conform" actually means, so I can't directly answer your question.

My suggestion is to buy Adobe Premier Elements version 11. It has easy and flexible slow motion tools, runs on both Macs and PCs and is relatively cheap. For a week or so around Black Friday it was selling for $50. The normal price is around $90.

Bill

Auto settings work well most of the time. Winter snow scenes are not one of those times. The issue has to do with exposure and white balance.

With auto exposure the camera is trying to make it look like a "standard' picture where 18% of the light is reflected and if all the colors were mixed, would be grey. You can actually buy "18% grey cards". I used to have one so that I could get a reading with a exposure meter. That was when cameras didn't have exposure meter of any sort built in. So, when you look at your video the parts that are mostly snow are grey because that is what the camera thinks it is supposed to do. When you do the close up of the tree there is less snow. The camera thinks the colors of the tree are mixed and it is closer to the 18% grey. The snow gets whiter.

White balance is about the color of light. Sunlight is white, light bulbs are yellow and florescent tubes are blue. The camera tries to figure that out with "Auto White Balance" or "AWB". It tries to adjust the color so that when you view the footage you think the colors are "accurate". Again, most of the time the auto settings are pretty close and snow is hard. The camera is not smart enough to tell that you are pointing it at an entirely white thing and the sun is hiding behind a cloud.

To fix this, you will need to read a little bit in your manual about how to set the white balance and exposure manually. The snowman setting is an attempt at getting it better, but you can improve on that.

UV filters were invented for real film. I don't think our electronic image sensors care about UV. Many people, including me, use one anyway, but as a lens protector. If you want to play with the light using a filter, get a CPL or "circular polarizer filter" . Some use 'ND" or "neutral density" filters in the snow, especially if the sun is out. The reason is that when the world is that bright the camera has to work at extreme settings shutter speed and f-stop where results will not be optimum. An ND filter is like putting sun glasses on your camera so it doesn't have to squint so much.

Have fun with your camera. It will take great winter scenes, but you will have to help it more than in the summer. Just don't try to get a shot of a jet black crow on a sunlight snow bank!

Bill
Edited by bsprague - 12/17/12 at 11:31am

"circular plagiarizer lens" !

I believe this is an example why spell checkers are known to have a good sense of humor. I assume you meant circular polarizer filter. If not, I would be interested, as a writer, in the filter you describe...

Me too! I fixed it. Maybe I should have an another cup of coffee earlier this morning.

I found another reference to the circular plagiarizer, but it is 52mm so it will not work with the Panasonic:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/13257323

Hello all,

First post in this great forum. My native language is Dutch so please spare me if my English not perfect .

A couple of days ago i bought a HC-V700 to replace my dead Canon HV20. I think the video quality is not on par with the HV20, but it's good enough for me. I have an issue with panning though that's bugging me a lot .

When i slowly pan (using tripod) and view the file (without any conversion) on my computer (Intel i7, with a GTX 660) or media player the pans don't come out smooth. There is a stutter approx. every half second. It does't matter if i pan horizontally or vertically. Hell, it even appears when zooming in. I tried it with and without stabilization. Tried different video players (with and without hardware acceleration of my video card). Tried generating MPEG-2 files (and any other format) with PowerDirector 11. Whatever i try the problem remains the same. So i thought it must be a defect in the camcorder. Finally i thought of playing the footage back directly from the camcorder on my tv (using HDMI). Lo and behold, no stutter anymore. So the camera is not to blame. I am probably doing something wrong but i can't figure out what. I know AVCHD can sometimes be a pain in the ass when it comes to editing and playback.

Anyone have similar experiences? And more important, any clues how solve this issue.

Trzema

Welcome! Your English may well be better than mine! One of the things I enjoy here a lot is meeting people from around the world. It is even better when they share video clips of places I don't get to go.

Over time on this forum, "shaky" playback will show up. It seems that the AVCHD format can make playback machines work too hard. It is especially true of the 1080p60/50 version of AVCHD. A common fix for many is using a different players. A popular one is "Splash LITE" available for free download: Mirillis

Bill

I guess I really do need a new computer. Here's a screenshot in Premiere Elements 11, just started a rendering (only adjusted brightness and contrast) of a 1080i video shot in HX mode, so it's on the low end of what the V700 can shoot: (Note the 100% utilization of all 4 CPU cores of my ~4 yr old Dell desktop...I think it would melt down if I let it finish)




So, is it safe to assume that a workstation-class laptop like a Dell Precision M4700 would be far below 100% utilization of all 4 cores? Like 25% maybe? I wonder if even a run-of-the-mill modern laptop like an HP Envy DV6t with an i7-3rd generation CPU would be less taxed by Premiere than my desktop?

I have to say, I was shocked! My desktop isn't that old.

I have an i5, plain jane, Tosiba Laptop with max memory that runs PrE10 well under Windows 7 64bit. I bought a 'gamer' laptop with an i7 that has an Nvidia processor, SSD, more RAM and Windows 7 64bit. PrE11 appears to use all of it, but runs nicely!

A properly built pc with adequate cooling should be able to run at 100% without melting, lol. Worry more about the temps, which seem fine in your pic. Video processing is very cpu intensive. My 2nd gen i5 laptop does the same as your pc, except reaching 80deg sometimes. On my i5 desktop it will still use close to 100% on all cores since premiere pro is pretty good at using all cores to get the job done. So a new computer will probably still run close to 100% on a lot of things. It will just do it faster

Hello,

if your PC monitor is set to 60Hz and source video is 25 or 50 fps then panning or zooming can't be smooth during playback. Some frames has to be repeated by player. Try to switch your monitor to 75Hz or 100Hz if available.

aazinek