Panasonic HDC-TM700 Low Light Test - Default Settings

This was shot with a Panasonic HDC-TM700 at 12 minutes after dusk. With daylight all but gone, only two 25 watt tungsten bulbs illuminate the pool area. This was done to stress the 3 CMOS sensors in resolving light and dark image areas. I chose the pool area to capture a good blend of blue, green, and red hues to check for saturation and noise. Typically the blue channel in an image carries the most digital noise, so this could be considered a good low-light performance test. Camcorder settings were all default.

While there is some image noise in the clip, the image retains a phenomenal amount of resolution and edge detail. Saturation is muted, but not washed out as some reviews would have you believe. In post-processing, it is preferable to have to perform some noise removal rather than to give up image detail. The Panasonic performs admirably for a consumer-level camcorder.

The humming in the background audio is not the camcorder cooling fan. It is my air conditioning unit.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Panasonic
• TM700

[mireltek]

its not that dark .. still day time.. look at the trees you will see partly the sky..

panasonic camera very good but suffer in low light..

i recommend canon m41 or hf g10

[bubbah]

So basically, the 700/900 has excellent low light capabilities?

[SOSODEAF5]

@TheTastyMorsel kk thxs

[TheTastyMorsel]

@SOSODEAF5

For the Panasonic TM700 clip you see here, I used Sony Vegas Pro 9. The project settings were Custom 1920x1080/60 Progressive. The render was performed with the MainConcept codec. Settings were 1920x1080/30p, Variable Bitrate, 8Mbps average, 10Mbps maximum. Entropy encoding was set to CAVLC. The resulting file has an MP4 file extension. These settings give you a good file that shows great on YouTube, and when copied over to the PS3. However, rendering to 720p will save time & space.

[SOSODEAF5]

@TheTastyMorsel what did you use to edit this because I have almost all video editing programs and I would like to know how you got it so high resolution and hd when i render mine mines shitty ='( so if you can tell me how you rendered it thanks =D

[cjdog23]

@TheTastyMorsel ok, thanks! thats good to know

[TheTastyMorsel]

@cjdog23

The final video lags as well... it's the nature of the stabilizer mechanism. Mode 2 really should only be used if you are filming from a moving car or boat. Mode 1 on everything else will give you the highest quality picture with the best correction for handheld motion.

[cjdog23]

@TheTastyMorsel ah ok, is it just with the LCD or does the final video also lag?

[TheTastyMorsel]

@cjdog23

Mode 2 is too agressive for a video pan from left to right, which is what I was doing in this example of the pool. I don;t have an example, but you can see it on the LCD screen. When motion begins from left to right, the LCD image lags, then catches up. When panning motion stops, the LCD screen continues moving. This is not desirable for a horitzonatal pan. If you are pointing the camcorder in one direction, and which to reduce camera shake, then Mode 2 should be ok.

[cjdog23]

@TheTastyMorsel what do you mean by too agressive? do you have an example?