Panasonic HC-VXF1 : timestamp and picture sizes

ricorico94

Hi,
I have 2 questions which I can't solve with reading manual and forums...
1-Does this camcorder records timestamp or any mecanism to keep date/time of each shootage ? I can't find that information in the manual.. I see in manual that you can sort movies in the SDcard by date, but I don't see how to recover date/time once you have transferred movies/pictures to an external drive (computer,..). Is there EXIF info in the movie file ? or name including date/time ?

2-I don't understand if still pictures can be taken while shooting movie in 4K MP4 or 24p: manual suggests it's not possible to take a picture during recording 4K MP4 or 24p, but another page (about "image size" in chapter about recording settings) shows a table where VXF1 would  be able to take pictures during "animated pictures" up to 6016x3384..

3- Maybe a last question.. though very naive.. Do you think the quality of that camcorder can replace my Canon EOS7D for still pictures ? The optics of VXF1 seem quite good and zoom is much better than my 35-105mm of EOS 7D, but this doesn't mean that final quality is as good.

thanks,
Ricorico94

Terfyn

1) I know the recorder timestamps the file and I think it will show on screen if EXT DISPLAY is set to DETAIL.

2) One way to find out - try it!

3) The camera will take decent pictures. I have often used stills from my camera and printed up to A3 size.

ricorico94

What you mention seems a detail shown on the camcorder itself, but once you've transferred fiels to a computer hard disk, how can you retrieve time codes ? (at least date/time of the start of the movie)

Well.. I can't since I'm raising the question before deciding if it's a good buy.. ;-)

Thanks, this does look promising.

Terfyn

It is part of the data on the file. In my case, when I load a series of files into my editor a click on the thumbnail will give the date and time the video was shot.
Fair enough. I do not use this feature as I find it easier to lift the photo from a frame of the video in the editor. I do use the stills feature when I just want a photo outside a video recording.

12harry

Hi, Pana Guides do need a lot of reading and patience, er IMHO. However, my Sony Video files ( copied to HDD several times), do have the date-time - you click on the File /Properties, but Win does appear to confuse (me) over the date the file was created ( i.e. in the camera/ gizmo/ etc.) and when I copied it to the HDD. This will be common to all video ( and Still) files I expect.... and Audio if you have a Digital Audio Recorder.... since this is a Win property.
(( FWIW I take the SDHC card out and Copy-Paste to the folder for that card... which is marked so I know which card it is. Once on a HDD it can be Copied to a second drive for back-up; but I don't delete the Original.... otherwise you can get files with the same numbers... very confusing.)).

Most 4K camcorders boast you can print their movie stills - this is true ( and was for HD movies), but whereas HD makes 2Mb Stills, 4K is a more respectable 8Mb . . . but hardly an improvement over almost any cheapo Stills Camera - I do wonder why Mfrs push this feature.  However, in Stills-mode  you can take quite good still pictures ( as I read the VXF1-Spec.... I am thinking of buying one when Pana integrates ND filters =some hope!)... As I read the Instructions, Stills can be something like 25Mpx  . . .  which means with a 24x Zoom you'll not need an El Cheapo stills-camera.

Yet, one suspects that a modern DSLR ( or Mirrorless) with a claimed 24Mpx APSC sensor will beat the camcorder - esp. in low light, since you always have the option of buying a larger (diameter) piece of glass, which means more light-input.
However, a feature that Stills Camera fail is "Battery-Life" whereas most camcorders are much better and you can use a larger battery ( Expensive ), or an external power-pack.
---Whilst camcorder are usually very good in low-light, a picture always improves when the scene is lit well. Also, there has to be some advantage in hauling a large Stills-camera about - although my Sony HD camcorder takes modest 8.9Mpx Stills, against my NEX5 which is older and takes 14mpx....but has only the "Kit" 3:1 Zoom. However, even the Camcorder can't do Panorama - where you swing the camera and it stitches about 5-frames together... in Stills playback via a Projector,( after Editing),  this can be panned, giving a slightly more interesting view.
Of course you can solve this FILEs issue by recording your voice at the start of each Day / Session, giving the Date, Place and Project . . . Later on, this will be useful - I don't know why I don't make a habit of doing this myself.... But I guess I see the Scene Change to confirm "Place", which is a good starting-point.

   Hope that helps   

BTW You've not mentioned anything about Editing.... plenty of ADVICE on these pages. Can of Worms methinks.

Good Luck, with your camcorder purchase...