AVC (Easy as 123)
Since i started university, I've been getting used to the different types of equipment that I've been using for my tasks and my "Me, Myself And I" project. I have however had experience with equipment such as cameras, Boom Ops and editing software, but with new versions of equipment, i had to learn how to use the equipment so i can efficiently use them to the best of my efforts, such as, the panasonic AVCCAM Model NO: AG-HMC151E.
what makes this different to other cameras, The AVC records directly to an SD card unlike most professional cameras that use tapes to record. An SD card slot is visible when the viewfinder is moved up. To insert an SD camera, push the "open" button while pushing the SD slot door to the left from the right hand side, then insert the SD card into the slot.
Not only does the camera have an adjustable digital view finder, It also has a LCD screen view Finder that is at the side of the camera. which allows you to see what you're recording. With the Menu buttons, you change the screen display with the menu buttons aswell through the LCD screen. To format the SD card, scroll to "card functions" and then "format card".
Unlike my previous courses, i did not get into much depth into the cameras in my past courses, however i managed to get a understanding of the importance of white balancing, using the iris to control the amount of light that goes through the lens (or the exposure) and also how to correctly focus a shot. Focusing a shot is quite simple, rotating the 1st ring nearest to the lens focusing, however it is possible to get the camera to focus automatically, but it is not recommended as it tends to focus on objects that are not the main focus of you're shot, however if you do want to use it there is a switch to allow auto focusing (or focus assist) on the right hand side.
Focusing usually isn't enough to get it focused correctly, so the 2nd ring allows you to zoom the shot in and out. if using the ring is not as smooth as you wanted, you can flick the switch at the right from zoom to servo, allowing you to zoom in using the zoom button on the handle, however using the zoom ring while in servo can damage the camera. to correctly set you're exposure, there is a wheel next to the auto focus to allow you to increase/decrease you're exposure. right next to the wheel is a button labelled "iris", pushing that sets the auto iris. however this creates another problem as the exposure will change every time the lighting changes, making shots suddenly brighter or darker at some points. Another useful tool to help with lighting issues are the ND filters, which can help reduce the intensity of the light which is situated next to the focus assist. If you find that the view on the viewfinder seems a little dark, you can also adjust its gain from low, medium or high.
Finally, another tool to improve you're lighting or correcting you're
colouring is the white balance. to correctly white balance, use a white pattern or a piece of white paper, zoom into the paper so that the whole. using the WHITE BAL switches set where you would like to save the adjustments to (A or B) and then using the AWB button (which is under the lens of the camera)to then begin adjusting the balance. The viewfinder will then show the message "AWB ACTIVE" and then "AWB ACH OK" when the white balace is successfully adjusted. However two error messages can appear if they're problems when white balancing, such as LOW LIGHT and LEVEL OVER which requires you to reduce or increase the light or gain.
these are what i've found out through the actual handbook that comes with the camera. thanks to the info i found here, i can safely say i can properly use this camera to its full extent.