Topic: Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 - Feedback for HD Video

[indiie]

recorded some stand up this weekend with mine...audio came out pretty sweet....

see what you think...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbH7Kp9H744&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A7al72ypq0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EytxnoAPKc&feature=related

chuckling is my girlfriend btw...

I listened to the first minute of the first one but am afraid my Australian ears couldn't understand the strong accent!

Although I was surprised to hear Brisbane's own Regurgitator playing "I sucked a lot of **** to get where I am" as the opening music

[polewka]

Yep, proper Laandaann that !

Brisbane? Spent 6 months there a few years ago....great place.....

[carbine000]

This brings up another subject - the mics in these little cams simply are not made to handle the SPLs of a concert - so you should seriously consider recording the audio separately yourself.  I have been shooting video and recording audio at the same time for a while now.  For the audio - it's pretty much "hit the record button and hope it turns out nice."  I don't check it during the show because I put all my concentration into the video shooing.  Even a less than stellar audio recording will almost always sound better than what the cam's mic will record.

While I agree with you technically, I think the mics on the ZS3 have been doing a fantastic job at all the shows I've taped so far. I do still run my audio rig though because I can't seem to find a good (hopefully free) program to extract the audio from the video. And speaking of which, can you recommend a program for syncing up audio and video?

Thanks


Also I wanted to post a clip from the chemical brothers show I was at. I was hoping for a full concert but I fell into some rookie mistakes and had some crowd issues with people in way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op5ge_XrVME

[Ziggz]

TsMuxer can demux the mts files: http://www.smlabs.net/tsmuxer_en.html
Sony Vegas is pretty good for syncing  A/V.

I was thwarted from shooting an entire gig, thanks to the announcement at the start of this    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCq8657CBRc
Just whipped the cam out at the end and shot 2 songs, chest high.

[tcf]

I've filmed Clapton, isbell and double trouble with mine and the audio isn't distorted. The zs series can handle high spl.

[polewka]

Filmed Section 25 in Leicester last night, and did get some distortion problems......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67UNBpje5Yk

Not too bothered though, as I got a sweet audio. The smaller clubs with oversized PA's seem to make my TZ7 sweat some when coping with bass. Not an issue really, shooting some great stuff these days.....and for me it's great... it's pretty much idiot proof.

[indiie]

I'm not an audiophile (but do have an ear for sound) and can say the TZ7 (ZS7) has the best sound I've heard for a point-and-shoot and is more than adequate for amateur recordings.

[guitard]

I'm not an audiophile (but do have an ear for sound) and can say the TZ7 (ZS7) has the best sound I've heard for a point-and-shoot and is more than adequate for amateur recordings.

To say the audio is "more than adequate for amateur recordings" is of course, a very subjective statement.

I think there is a tendency to listen to the cam audio and as long as there isn't any clipping or distortion - to conclude that it's decent audio.  In part it's a matter of expectations - you don't really expect much from a cam mic - so when what you get is listenable...you're happy with what you hear.

I think being able to consistently compare cam audio with a "decent" audio only recording (once again...treading into that subjective area...) will really open some eyes.  Even when I record with omni mics, my CA-11 --> CA-9100 --> Edirol audio recordings sound way better than the cam audio.  Obviously, I'm recording from the same location.  The big difference to me is not what the Edirol record - it's what it doesn't record.  The audio-only recording doesn't have nearly as much "big sound" from the venue in it.  It's mostly just music.  As I've said previously - I don't put a lot of effort into the audio recording either.  Basically I clip the mics to my body, set the levels, hit the record button, put the recorder away - and I don't look at it again until I'm outside the venue after the show - at which time I turn it off.

[beatkilla]

I do not own one of these but as guitard was asking about manual exposure in video mode whilst recording i searched you tube and didn't find much. However i did come across a canon that has MANUAL exposure as well as MANUAL focus which the panasonic does NOT have.And a 14x optical zoom.Prices are similar.Check it out   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPe-K9zkRGA

[indiie]

I'm not an audiophile (but do have an ear for sound) and can say the TZ7 (ZS7) has the best sound I've heard for a point-and-shoot and is more than adequate for amateur recordings.

To say the audio is "more than adequate for amateur recordings" is of course, a very subjective statement.

Of course you are correct. I guess my main opinion I wanted to express was that this cam has the best audio I've heard for a cam of it's class. Would be interested to know of any other 'cheap' cams with comparable audio quality.

[justink]

Hello yall. 

1.) i noticed that i could get about 2h05m of video on my TS7 using a 16gb sd card.  i need to do a test tomorrow but i'm wondering if the stock battery will hold that long...?  how much run time can you get for the stock battery on avchd lite mode?

2.) what is the largest sized card that has been tested as successful with the TS7?  maybe in the 32gb range... any suggestions specifically?

3.) what/where is the best backup battery i can find?  price/length of recording is key.

thanks again.  hoping to maybe do Smashing Pumpkins tomorrow.

[exxile]

Hey dude, I don't think you'll get a battery that lasts that long, you'll need to change at some point. How long the battery lasts will depend on the amount of zooming that you do, if you're recording on the SH, H or L setting (SH uses most juice) and of course the quality/charge/capacity of battery.

I did some tests with the supplied OEM battery and some clones that I have, approx. useage below (all in SH setting)...
No Zooming: OEM = 90mins, Clone = 65-70min
General Zoom Useage: OEM = 60-65min, Clone = 55-60min
Heavy Zoom Useage: OEM = 45-50min, Clone = 40min

Re: cards, I've been using the Transcend Ultimate Class 10's in 8Gb & 16Gb sizes and they've both performed very well. I get just over an hour with the 8Gb & just over 2hrs on the 16Gb (again on SH setting) - dropping the quality setting to H or L will increase the amount you can record/battery life slightly, but I've not done any quality comparisons yet.

Hope this helps.

[justink]

Hey dude, I don't think you'll get a battery that lasts that long, you'll need to change at some point. How long the battery lasts will depend on the amount of zooming that you do, if you're recording on the SH, H or L setting (SH uses most juice) and of course the quality/charge/capacity of battery.

I did some tests with the supplied OEM battery and some clones that I have, approx. useage below (all in SH setting)...
No Zooming: OEM = 90mins, Clone = 65-70min
General Zoom Useage: OEM = 60-65min, Clone = 55-60min
Heavy Zoom Useage: OEM = 45-50min, Clone = 40min

Re: cards, I've been using the Transcend Ultimate Class 10's in 8Gb & 16Gb sizes and they've both performed very well. I get just over an hour with the 8Gb & just over 2hrs on the 16Gb (again on SH setting) - dropping the quality setting to H or L will increase the amount you can record/battery life slightly, but I've not done any quality comparisons yet.

Hope this helps.

thanks.  i'm doing a test right now AVCHD (lite) @ GSH, not too many zooms.  i got 1h46m of record time before the battery died and saved the file (good to know).


is there any way to get a larger/longer running battery for long video shoots?  i could swap batteries between songs... but that gives me flashbacks to the md/cassette swap days.   

[guitard]

Is there any way to get a larger/longer running battery for long video shoots?  i could swap batteries between songs... but that gives me flashbacks to the md/cassette swap days.   

You indirectly re-enforce the idea that it's a good to record audio separately.  When you have to switch out batteries and/or chips, obviously, you are going to miss a little video here and there during a show.  If you have a separate audio stream, you not only have better audio - you can drop some still photos into your video to cover those spots you missed video and you still have the complete show.

Another thing you can do - record some video clips of the venue before the show (outside vendors, fans partying, etc., etc.) and you can drop that video into the parts that are missing.  With the alternate audio stream - those clips fit in really well.  And you are essentially using a technique that tv shows use all the time, so it looks perfectly normal to someone who watches your video.

[justink]

Is there any way to get a larger/longer running battery for long video shoots?  i could swap batteries between songs... but that gives me flashbacks to the md/cassette swap days.   

You indirectly re-enforce the idea that it's a good to record audio separately.  When you have to switch out batteries and/or chips, obviously, you are going to miss a little video here and there during a show.  If you have a separate audio stream, you not only have better audio - you can drop some still photos into your video to cover those spots you missed video and you still have the complete show.

Another thing you can do - record some video clips of the venue before the show (outside vendors, fans partying, etc., etc.) and you can drop that video into the parts that are missing.  With the alternate audio stream - those clips fit in really well.  And you are essentially using a technique that tv shows use all the time, so it looks perfectly normal to someone who watches your video.

good point.  is there an option to do video but drop the audio tracks to save card/battery life?