Panasonic HDC-TM700 – Part 1

16 thoughts on “Panasonic HDC-TM700 – Part 1”

1. Thank you for your kind mention of B&H Photo. Please accept our warm thanks and deep gratitude for your patronage. We look forward to earning your trust and continued business for many years to come. I invite you and your readers to check out our new informative and entertaining blog at http://www.bhinsights.com

   Hershel K. Waldner
   B&H Photo, Video, Pro Audio

2. Hi Foo,

   How are the still photos? Up until my Panasonic DMZ-T7 broke I have been using the point and shoot cameras with HD Video recording quite a lot. I record a lot of HD Video on my panasonic cameras, so thought perhaps I should look at a Camcorder such as the DHC-TM700, which reports it does stills as well.

   But how good is the quality of the stills? Would it be a good replacement to a point and shoot camera such as the DMC-TZ7 or DMC-FT1. (I had both).

   Great website by the way, you and your family have an interesting life. Good to see on a website.

   Kind regards,

   Mike

3. Heya thanks for the visit to our blog. I haven’t done a lot of stills on the TM700 so far; I’ve used it almost exclusively for just video. In good to average lighting, the video’s image quality and resolution is amazing. In poor light it suffers a little, but still loads better than the Panasonic HDCam it was replacing.

   Stills wise; based on the very few I’ve taken on the TM700, I don’t think the still image quality is going to match to either of those two P&S cameras (I don’t have those two models; but the older LZ8).

   If all you do are web pictures, it might still be alright though since the TM700 can cram a lot of pixels into the image, and upon resizing, a lot of those defects won’t be as obvious as it would be if you were to view the images in full resolution.

4. Hi Chek Yang,

   I’m from Malaysia, I’m looking to buy TM700…did you get a PAL or NTSC from B&H?
   The price is $1284 vs $799. We just can’t playback on our PAL TV rite? We can still download, edit and burn as DVD?

   Thanks
   BP

5. Heya BP,

   Thanks for the visitation to our blog. The unit I got from B&H was NTSC I think since it shoots at 29.97 frames. I don’t think modern TVs should have a problem playing back the footage since many TVs today is autoswitching between NTSC and PAL (can check with your TV’s specifications).

   However, be aware: the footage you’re shooting is in HD format and won’t play off a normal DVD player unless your DVD player itself supports the HD codec. Moreover, the software IIRC supplied with the unit doesn’t include tools to convert to DVD video too, though there should be freely available tools around to do this.

   We’re primarily playing off the footage taken on the TM700 on the PC and on the PS3, both of which handle the HD footage just fine. The video on a Plasma looks absolutely gorgeous – a quality level that’s hard to see from the Vimeo and Flickr samples we’ve got here.

6. Hi Yang, thanks for sharing your experience with the TM700.

   As you had pointed out the price differential between importing from the US versus buying one in Singapore is significant (USD 1.5k vs. SGD 2.3k). I understand that the US model is using NTSC (60p), whereas Singapore uses PAL (50p) standards. Is there any issue to playing videos shot on the US model on local TV sets or devices? Any other shortcomings that I should be of if getting the US set?

   Also, there are reports that some sets of the TM700 is picking up the noise of the inbuilt fan. Is this your experience as well?

7. HI Rayson,

   I noted in my earlier comment to an earlier reader that the local TVs in Singapore seem to be autoswitching between NTSC and PAL – so I don’t face difficulties playing back NTSC video taken using the TM700. This is – however – for the 29.97 frame/sec encoding. The TM700 has a 60 frame/sec mode I think; but I haven’t tried playing that back yet.

   Yea; some of the users on AVSforum and elsewhere have complained about the fan noise issue. Funnily, my unit’s OK. I’ve placed the fan out-vent next to my ear but haven’t heard anything especially audible.

   Moreover, I think the fan noise might be an issue if you’re going all out to listen for it in the event you do get a unit that isn’t silent, or if you’re shooting in really quiet rooms. In normal and ordinary use, there’s so much other ambient noise around that the fan noise should be the least of one’s worries.

   The one issue though is noise handling. There are just a few select consumer models at this range that handle low light well (I think Sony has a couple of equivalent but maybe somewhat more expensive models that seem to handle low light better). The TM700 performance in low light is better than the Panasonic HDCam it replaced (the SD20), but the image still isn’t clean in iAuto mode. If you’re willing to tweak settings however, you’ll get better results.

   There was a big argument about low light performance between the Sony and the TM700 earlier this year; with some posters remarking that while the TM700 video image in low light is noisier, the color rendition is significantly better and more realistic.

   On balance; I’ve been quite happy with the TM700. I think it’s a pretty good deal to buy it from the US too; especially considering how much the price of the unit has dropped.

8. Hi CY,

   Much thanks on your review on TM700 and it seems PAL or NTSC makes no difference in todays video display. The delivery from B&H Photo Video seems pretty fast (From Tuesday order to Sat receiving?).

   Which delivery package did you choose and can you provide a more detailed breakdown of the cost ?

   Much thanks in advance!
   Simon.

9. Heya Simon,

   BH Photo & Video do dispatch pretty quickly, so unless you’ve placed your order on the weekend (do check their web site for when last orders need to come in for them to process before closing for the week), from what I’ve seen the orders do go out within a day. I went with the cheapest delivery option too (UPS Worldwide Saver).

   That said; depending on the carrier there might be a delay once it arrives in Singapore (I’m assuming Singapore here as your recipient country), and you’d need to check if they deliver on weekends.

   Also, do check this:

   http://www.chekyang.com/musings/2009/08/06/package-delivery-for-you-sir/

   

   The screen shot here shows you the timeline for a package I ordered from BH Photo & Video.:)

10. Hi CY
    Was at SITEX this weekend, but found the prices (vis a vis US/Japan ones) too high. Do you have an issue with warranty for your US purchases – can you get an international warranty? What happens when your item has a problem?

    Thanks for your post (was a great help to me and other folks too)

    JL

11. Heya;

    Thanks for the visitation to our blog, and I’m glad that you found my notes on the TM700 useful.

    As far as I know, this unit isn’t covered under international warranty (that doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed here if repair is needed; just that it’ll be at cost to you), and the warranty terms are local to where you bought it – i.e. the United States. If the unit requires repair and you want it repaired under warranty, then I’m assuming that shipment back to the United States at your own cost is required. The repaired unit will then need to be directed to a local (US) address that will forward parcels back to you here in Singapore, e.g. Borderlinx or Vpost.

    That said; all the equipment – and that’s included the TM700, a Panasonic digicam, and a zoom lens – I’ve bought from B&H Photo Video have always arrived safely without damage or equipment failure to Singapore.

12. Hi again CY

    I’m about to put in my order to B&H. Just a couple of questions you may be able to help with:
    1. Have you considered getting the SageMax protection plan?
    2. Did you have to get a replacement power adapter in Singapore (so that it works with local power)?

    Thanks!
    JL

13. Hi Jeannie,

    I didn’t get the SageMax protection plan, but I kept my fingers crossed that the unit would work well over the standard coverage period (it has wonderfully so far, 9 months already).

    The battery the TM700 came with could be recharged using the same charger that came with my earlier Panasonic HD camcorder. However, the power cable itself you are getting will be the US version like mine, but the charger itself should be able to toggle between the different voltages/currents. So, all that’s needed for you to do is to find a matching power cable, and the one the charger uses is a standard one.

    I’ll take a picture of what I mean, later if I can remember.

14. Hi CY

    Thanks for the quick reply – much appreciated!

    I guess the power cable issue can be solved by cutting off the US 2-pin type end and wiring up a regular SG 3-pin plug? Will that work?

    rgds
    JL

15. Hi Jeannie,

    Ah – nothing quite so complicated! Do see this picture of the Panasonic charger + a standard power cable I’m using:

    http://www.chekyang.com/musings/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/power-adapter.jpg

    Basically, the power cable that you can use to connect to the Panasonic charger is a standard one that you might already own several of from our local electronic appliances.

16. Hi CY,

    Good review on this TM700. I bought this camera from bhphotovideo also. Just need 6 days to be delivered to my door. Good service and love the shipment tracking of UPS. Anyway nice blog…

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