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Panasonic HDC TM-300 and Leica APO77 (1 Viewer)

birdboybowley

Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
England
Hey all

Am looking to upgrade my current (tape!!) camcorder and the title product seems pretty good at a pretty good price (£499). Question is, will I be able to use it to videoscope with my Leica fitted with the 20-60xW zoom...does anyone use one and what do they think? Tried Eagle Eye Optics for their opinion on a custom-built attachment but no reply to email - are they still going? Website's a bit crap to say the least and the latest 'news' refers to a 2001 competition winner....????
Any idea for a teleconverter also as the optical zoom is only 12x....so a 2.2 would actually give me less than what I have now as standard...is there anything bigger?

Cheers
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Hi,

I have the very same camcorder you are planning to buy. I have written about my experiences with it in the following BF threads:
Panasonic HDC-TM300 + Olympus TCON 1.7 Lens
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=168795

Panasonic HDC-TM300 + Raynox 2.2 Teleconverter
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=174300

Panasonic HDC-TM300 + Kowa TSN-883 + Kowa TSN-VA1 video eyepiece
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=152458

In summary this camcorder is an excellent one. But none of these examples is in the mode you want to use your system. Regarding your specific question on whether you will be able to use it with your 20x60 zoom eyepiece the answer is basically no because of the high crop factor associated with camcorders in general. From the specifications for this camcorder one finds that its lens system has focal lengths varying from 4mm to 48mm with a sensor size 1/4.1" . This means, if my maths were done correctly, that its crop factor is almost 10 (9.8), that is the 35mm SLR equivalent is from 39mm to 470mm. Now the 20x60 Kowa zoom (the one I have) has eye relief of about 17mm, when I try to use this camcorder with it I have to use almost maximum focal length in the camcorder to eliminate vignetting. Thus the minimum effective focal length I can get without vignetting is about 20x400mm = 8000mm which, our digiscoping friends tell us, is way too much magnification. Thus to be able to use this camcorder with your telescope you need an eyepiece with lower magnification and long eye relief. Whether such an eyepiece is available for Leica scopes I don't know. For example, the TSN-VA1 Kowa eyepiece I used in one of the examples above has a magnification of 9x (when used in the TSN-883) and an eye relief of 57mm, thus allowing for a 35mm equivalent range of 350mm to 4230mm.

Dalcio
 
Cheers Dalcio

Not worried too much about vignetting as the Sony I use now has optical zoom of 25x and when combined with 20x lowest zoom I end up with 500x mag which is fine for mid-distance birds as I often find myslef wandering backwards when everyone else is creeping forward - no flushing by me!! So long as it can fix to my lens I'm not that worried - my video is only for my own reference library.
Will check out your threads, ta
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Last edited:
Dalcio - one thing, how long roughly does the standard battery last? I suppose it's better to buy a 'long life' one.....but £100 is a bit steep!!!

Cheers again

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"How long roughly does the standard battery last?"

I don't know! If I remember correctly its specification says one hour of recording time but I am not sure. When I bought my camcorder I bought an additional battery pack made by "Impact" which was very unexpensive [compared to the Panasonic batteries] and provided extended life, up to 3 hours of recording time. I haven't been able to find it again, I bought it from B&H in NYC. It is a very interesting product, still working fine for me [see a discussion here: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1882818 ]. Basically the Panasonic batteries are expensive because they have a bit of electronics in them to communicate with the camcorder. This pack from Impact does not include the electronics and was made to be used with a Panasonic battery (or equivalent) piggybacked on it. It cost about US$ 10 ! Seems to have been discontinued though...
 
Hey all

Am looking to upgrade my current (tape!!) camcorder and the title product seems pretty good at a pretty good price (£499). Question is, will I be able to use it to videoscope with my Leica fitted with the 20-60xW zoom...does anyone use one and what do they think? Tried Eagle Eye Optics for their opinion on a custom-built attachment but no reply to email - are they still going? Website's a bit crap to say the least and the latest 'news' refers to a 2001 competition winner....????
Any idea for a teleconverter also as the optical zoom is only 12x....so a 2.2 would actually give me less than what I have now as standard...is there anything bigger?

Cheers
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Hi
Recently I have tried to get in touch with 'Eagle Eye Optics' without any success - I hope they are still in business.
I would recommend getting in touch with 'SRB-GRITURN' if you require an
attachment for your camcorder onto the scope lens. Visit their new e-store and go into the 'Digiscoping' section and look at the 'Digiscoping sleeves'. You will need a 43mm threaded sleeve to attach to your camcorder filter thread. The 'sleeve' then screws into the tube that slides over your eyepiece.
I would recommend that you phone them to discuss your needs.
I use this camcorder with my Nikon 82ED Fieldscope and have achieved great results.
Regarding a long life battery for the camcorder, I will provide you with this info soon - I have forgotten the contact and will have to look at past emails.
The battery is perfect and fits the supplied battery charger, and is guaranteed
for 2 No. years - price around £30.00.
Regards Phil
 
Dalcio - one thing, how long roughly does the standard battery last? I suppose it's better to buy a 'long life' one.....but £100 is a bit steep!!!

Cheers again

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Hello again,
Info for you and Dacol. The place to obtain a long life battery for the Panasonic TM300 camcorder is 'Digi-Quick' the digital accessory superstore.
Email: [email protected]. The battery ref is VW-VBG260 Replacement Battery and was for sale @ £21.99.
The battery can be charged using the battery charger supplied with the camcorder and the amount of battery life is indicated on the camcorder screen.
Regards Phil
 
Hi

I would recommend getting in touch with 'SRB-GRITURN' if you require an
attachment for your camcorder onto the scope lens. Visit their new e-store and go into the 'Digiscoping' section and look at the 'Digiscoping sleeves'.
Regards Phil

Would add my own recommendation re: SRB-GRITURN. They have been incredibly helpful and responsive in all of my dealings with them.

Cheers, Ian
 
I use an EagleEye digiscoping eyepiece on my Swarovski scope with my Sony 10x zoom camcorder. It gives a magnification of 12x with my 80mm scope and gives a usable zoom range of approx 25-100x magnification. Results are very good.

Mike
 
After using my set-up in the field it works ok....not brilliant as the adapters hold the camera lens too far from the eyepiece so the view when panned out is soooooo small and over-exposed it's very hard to find what you need to zoom in on!! This could all be sorted by bashing whoever thought putting the built-in flash proud of the lens casing over the head repeatedly with a spade. I mean, how retarded??? By taking off the lens hood you gain nearly 5mm closer...but nothing can screw into it as the stupid flash stops it! It actually works better holding up to the eyepiece by hand!! Panasonic - you d*cks!!!
 
Yep, that flash location is indeed stupid. Specially since for the kind of application discussed here a flash will not ever be useful.

Dalcio
 
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