New cams! 1080p60! Panasonic HDC-HS700 & HDC-TM700

Has not video become IT? Video clips are files. Editing stations are off-the-shelf computers with readily available software. There are clearly defined specs on codecs, containers and other related stuff. If a software vendor chooses to implement a codec/container/format, it should do it at its fullest capability. Whether Avid is a golden standard or not, its developers are either lazy or deliberately hold off to support as many standards as possible to charge for every small upgrade.

Maybe they are holding off, maybe they aren't. Right now there is no delivery medium for 1080/60p, as even BD doesn't support it.
Edit stations are not just off the shelves computers, they are systems with RAID bays, and calibrated monitors, which usually cost several thousands of dollars. Upgrading these- both hardware and software is usually a huge expense, plus a lot of people don't like upgrades, since you usually have to deal with a lot of new issues.


These new Panasonic cams are consumer ones, not professional. They are supported by some consumer NLEs already. If I am not mistaken, Vegas 8 was released more than 2 years ago. It works just fine. I don't see why professionals who have "certain standards" should care about these cameras at all. Panasonic makes the HMC40 for pros, with 720p60 and without 1080p60.
Looks to me they are gunning after pro-sumer camera market with this one.
 
I think this camera a Trojan horse meant to infiltrate minds of professional users ;-) Cameras like this will sway the industry towards 50p/60p, like EBU wanted at the first place. I see the 900/1000 line resolution of this camera in progressive mode as a proof (well, "proof") that 50p/60p delivers more resolution and thus better image. Soon pros will whine "why damn soccer moms have 60p and we don't?" and things will start happening.
 
I think this camera a Trojan horse meant to infiltrate minds of professional users ;-) Cameras like this will sway the industry towards 50p/60p, like EBU wanted at the first place. I see the 900/1000 line resolution of this camera in progressive mode as a proof (well, "proof") that 50p/60p delivers more resolution and thus better image. Soon pros will whine "why damn soccer moms have 60p and we don't?" and things will start happening.

1+

That's too funny. Well, I'm not a soccer mom but I LOVE 60P as most of my video interests fall into a "sports" type of setting.

cheers
JohnG
 
My TM700 arrived yesterday. I am able to open & edit the 60P files in Vegas 8, no problems. Finding the best render settings will take some trial and error.

First impressions of the cam are positive. I like the manual control ring, the buttons for OIS & 60P mode, and the camera handles well. The cold shoe bracket works well -- once it clicks into place, it's locked and sturdy. I'm impressed with the camera's performance in low light. It's no EX1, but it's leaps & bounds ahead of other consumer cameras I have used.

I've only shot a few minutes of footage so far. I had some weird playback issues in Windows Media Player on my machine (Core i7 920, 12GB RAM, Win 7 64-bit) of 60P footage. More experimentation is necessary. But the footage looks excellent via HDMI on a 1080P HDTV.
 
It's no EX1 in what sense? Sharpness, picture quality, skew?

Let us know when you can.

Any chance of getting some decent 28 mbps mts files to download?
 
Is anyone familiar enough with the 3D Blu-Ray format to know if 60p has been added there? I know that 3D blu-ray movies are playing double the frames of video, perhaps Sony slipped something in for 1080/60p, or perhaps it's possible to use the 3D standard to deliver 60p.
 
David, CCInfo makes crappy reviews. The best part of their review is the resolution chart and a sorta low light test. Everything else is not worth reading. One will be better off reading the operation instructions and official advertising materials.

I opened 60p files in Vegas 8 with no problems, and CoreAVC has no problems playing them.

Though professional products are not updated as often as consumer ones, it would be nice if the HMC40 or its successor were updated with better lens, sensors and 60p mode. A larger higher resolution LCD screen is a must.

1000 lines horizontally, 900 lines vertically. If the HF11 was comparable with the EX resolution-wise, how about the TM700? Yay!
No doubt there are some shortcomings in CCI reviews, but CCI is the only camera review site I know of that routinely takes performance measurements. Most other reviewers only provide subjective (naked eye) assessments in their reviews. They would not tell you the TM700 produces 1000 lines H and 900 lines V, which is more useful data when comparing to other cameras. I appreciate subjective evaluations, but I also rely on (relatively) objective measurements of performance, especially when I plan to invest $1,000 or more in new gear. I have to give credit to CCI for filling that gap.
 
I agree, because I've located a couple of other forum threads that indicate native use in a bunch of programs.

I would love to see comparisons between the 40 and this cam.
I would also love to see a comparison between the TM700 and HMC40, as well as 1080/60p vs. 720/60p. At the present time, the TM700's 60p mode poses problems in editing and viewing on a BD player. According to CCI, when they attempted to convert the TM700 1080/60p footage to AVCHD, Panasonic's conversion software kept crashing. :(
 
I like the meaty, juicy reviews that Adam Wilt writes. He reviewed the HF11, the HMC40, so hopefully he will check out the TM700 sometime soon as well.
 
Coming up.. I just tested the clips from this post at the AVS forum:

"Here are some videos straight off the TM700 at the original 1080/60p by Mrpenpengusa.

Cat on Ginza St sign, 4th district:
http://firestorage.jp/download/b802c...4192c5e12b4b98 "



The 1080/60P clips play and edit flawlessly in Edius Neo 2.5 (and soon Edius 5.5 due out in a few weeks).. They look great btw...
Anyway, I'll post the edit video in a few showing that clip edited natively in Edius if you like.
They are no longer on firestorage but he posted the same clips on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qONESSSithw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-G4JsWFWE4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXZ6o4QxxH0
 
Every time I try to upload a TM700 60P MTS file to Vimeo, I get an error message. I'll see if I can find an alternative way to post some footage.
 
Okay, I just uploaded a few files to Vimeo. The first couple failed, but some appear to have worked.

60P-orsche
http://vimeo.com/10643698

30A in 60P
http://vimeo.com/10644225

These failed but maybe you can download the file:

60P-uppy
http://vimeo.com/10644449

60P-Beer
http://vimeo.com/10643574
I was able to view two of these clips. Thanks for posting. Was '30A in 60P' shot in 60P and converted to 30P? If so, was that conversion done in the TM700, your editing software or vimeo? There were some weird motion artifacts as the cars drove by.
 
I will be buying this camera shortly. My son and I will be going on a month long motorcycling trip to Alaska to work a new gold claim a friend has there. We want to do a documentary of the travels, camping and gold hunting. It will be a blast and it would be even better fun and perhaps even more profitable doing an adventure doc the same time. We've been looking at all kinds of camera gear (along with all kinds of other gear), but for sure this camera will be part to what we take along. I've been waiting for just this camera to show up for a couple of years now -- Looks really good and just in time.

-Rodger
 
I will be buying this camera shortly. My son and I will be going on a month long motorcycling trip to Alaska to work a new gold claim a friend has there. We want to do a documentary of the travels, camping and gold hunting. It will be a blast and it would be even better fun and perhaps even more profitable doing an adventure doc the same time. We've been looking at all kinds of camera gear (along with all kinds of other gear), but for sure this camera will be part to what we take along. I've been waiting for just this camera to show up for a couple of years now -- Looks really good and just in time.

-Rodger
I am also seriously considering this cam as well. A camera of this quality and capable of 1080/60p for about $1,000 was a very pleasant surprise in 2010. :)
 
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