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General discussion

Panasonic HC V720 Tips

Apr 1, 2014 5:47AM PDT

Hi there I've had this fine camera for almost a week and I'm getting used to it... I did my first video test and the picture was fine... I thought it was abit "grainy" if you get what I mean... I used the manual settings still the picture was not what it seemed.

Today I did another test and noticed in the "Record Setup" in the menu there is a "Picture Adjust" i.e Sharpness, Color, Exposure and WB Adjust....

I whacked the color upto the top and I noticed a huge improvement,

My question is what should I do with the other settings should I crank them for more performance and what do you recommend?

Thanks
Rob

Discussion is locked

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Panasonic 720
Apr 1, 2014 7:33PM PDT

First are you recording at 1920x1080/50p? (or 60p if you are in the Colonies) I tend to leave the settings at IA unless I am forced to go Manual. Really you will need to experiment with the Picture Adjust or try the various pre-sets for portrait, fireworks etc.
Finally you don't say what you are filming. If the subject matter is dark then the video amplifiers will kick in and a grainy picture will result.
I should explain I am not an expert on the 720, I have just moved from the brilliant little V700 to its new grandson the V750. So good luck with the "Dad".

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Response
Apr 11, 2014 8:17PM PDT
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Panasonic 720 plus
Apr 12, 2014 6:05AM PDT

Yes there is definitely an improvement with the colour adjusted but do try the 1080/50p. I record in that setting all the time and it does make a difference. Incidentally I use Corel VideoStudio Pro X7 which accepts 1080/50p as a standard..

Well its a small world. I live in the sight of Snowdon just behind Criccieth. Plus I am a bit of an organ nut myself being a founder member of the Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust. Unfortunately I am of the opposite persuasion (i.e. Theatre Organs!!!) to yourself but still a great fan of the "straight" instruments. I play electronic in the form of a Yamaha EL900 spinet.
You have one of my favourite instruments located near Tenby. The Manchester Granada WurliTzer now installed in Folly Farm . I used to play that unit when it was in the Gaumont cinema.

Back to the serious stuff. I have just upgraded from the V700 to this year's V750. It is quite a step change. The quality of the picture is slightly better than the 700 but the 750 has a lot more in the form of Slow Motion as well as everything that the 720 comes with. The Wi-Fi was a bit of a headache at first but works well now. (just for remote control - I don't use the other stuff) The small adjuster wheel is quite handy now I am used to it, It will control focus, white balance, colour saturation and so on.

Good luck and I will watch for your reply and any new videos on YT.

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Response
Apr 12, 2014 8:24AM PDT

It's amazing what you can do of a flick of a button.... I will try 1080p on my next test to see what it's like then... I did firstly try the "HG" Mode couldn't see allot of difference except it seemed to use battery juice?
The current software I use is Magix 2013 and Corel X6 I may look into X7 as it looks to have support for "Mutlcam Mode"

I know North Wales very well and Criccieth visited there a good number of times when I go on Holidays and staying in Pwllheli.

I've been suggested to go and visit the Folly Farm Organ, I have a friend of mine on Youtube who is a Compton Organ Fanatic and also the Cinema Organ, so I must check that out in due course and make a visit!

I'm really please with the V720 and I'm it will serve me well, keep watching my videos!

Cheers
Rob

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Corel X7
Apr 12, 2014 4:56PM PDT

Corel VS X7 looks quite stable. It was released last month and I use the "ultimate" version but the standard version is quite satisfactory. An upgrade is available.
In a sense X6/7 has always been "multicam". When you download the files from the 720 you can then load them into the library of X6 as thumbnails. But you can then add files from any previous folder to make a compilation of a number of earlier shoots. For example I compiled all the video of my Granddaughter from birth to two years. So, as all the shots are independent files, you can pull in any shots from any folder and compile using insert or overlay. X7 has the potential for 20 overlay tracks.

My Daughter lives in Saundersfoot so we are hoping to visit later in the year and take the Grandkids to Folly Farm. When we had the Gaumont organ in Manchester, it was installed in the so called Granada Studio Tour. While it was there we fitted an electronic based relay set up, this was controlled by a PCU which, unfortunately, meant that the organ could be played from a DVD. So no organist required. They do have live concerts but it is too far to travel just for a couple of hours.