Focus

All camcorders have auto focus system to ensure that the subjects that we are shooting are sharply focused. The systems use infra-red beams fired from beside the camcorder's lens to measure the camcorder's distance from the subjects. Some others camcorders use the method through the lens(TTL) where the image sensor detect the image sharpness.


AUTO FOCUS

The systems can interprete what the lens sees and keep the shot always in focus. An auto focus works firing infra-red beams to the subjects. The infra-red reflected back to the image sensor in the lens. The camcorder measure the time take by the infra-red beams to return back to the sensor. With the times, the system will calculate the distance. Then the focussing ring of the camcorder will adjusted by an electric motor.

However in certain situation, auto focus setting cannot be used, because the subject that we are shooting becomes inaccurate. In other words the subjects are not accurately focussed. To overcome this problem, we should use manual focussing.


The situation where auto focussing is not effective:

• Shooting subjects through the bars or netting. Auto focus will focus the bars in the foreground not the subjects.

• Subjects are under low light situation. The infra-red systems have difficulty to measure the distance of the subjects.

• Subjects that are move very fast. The subjects will cause a temporary lost of focus.

• Subjects that are placed at the edge of the frame.
  

White Balance

What is white balance?. Besides manual white balance, most of the camcoders are equipped with automatic white balance facility. The automatic white balance register the color temperature of the source and makes the adjustments to ensure the correct reproduction of all colors.


What is the color temperature?. 'White' light is made up of all the colors of the spectrum and differant source of light of different colors temperature. The lowest temperatures are at the red end of the spectrum and the highest are at the blue end.


Some camcorders have PRE-SET white balance position to cope with the different lighting conditions. If we fail to set right setting of the white balance, the subjects that we recordered on the tape will have an unnatural color cast. Some camcorders have automatic white balance where we can set the button to indoor or outdoor shooting. The camcorder will automatically set the white balance according to the condition of the light source.

The camcorder feature

Lux;

Lux is the unit for measuring the amount of light illuminating the certain area. Since the camcorders are able to operate in low light, a subject lit by a candle can be seen in the shooting. But for the best result, we should shoot subject which is fully lit by bright light. Sharp, bright colors and natural looking image can be seen during the shooting.

Back light compensator;

One of auto-exposure problem is when we shooting subject with bright light coming from behind the subject. The iris closes down and the face of the subject can't be seen clearly or silhouette. The back light compensator(BLC) open up the iris to correct the exposure on the subject. However the background of the subject is looking bleach.

Camcorder features

The 'iris diaphragm' is a form of exposure system in camcorder. It is located in the lens system. The iris is adjusts the aperture by electronic control. The adjustment of the aperture is to ensure that the image that recorded to the tape is faithful. Auto-exposure systems which is fully electronic control, enable the cameraman to concentrate on the other aspects of shooting. The aperture closes down automatically to its minimum size during shooting in bright sunlight. It will opens up to its maximum in poor light.
In manual iris, the cameraman are fully control over the exposure. He is able to adjust the aperture during the shooting by looking through the viewfinder.

Tripod/ stands

chestpod

monopod

Tripods are very important in video shooting. Since camera steadiness is important, using support will improve our scenes that are recorded to the tape. Tripod is essential whwn we are using a telephoto converter and longer focal lengths. The tripod also important when we using macro shooting and shooting subject in long period. Fluid head tripod provide freedom of movement and the cameraman able to pan and tilt more smoother. The tripod can be adjusted to any height that we want to. If we want to use support lighter than tripod we may use monopod, shoulder holsters, chest pods or many others.

tripod

More about camcorder

All camcorders more or less have the same function. They have viewfinder that acts as a monitor, able to playback the scenes that are recordered before. Besides with AC current the camcorder can be powered by rechargeable batteries. Camcorder also has zoom lens and built in microphones. The different are their format(tape size used), image resolution, sound system, shape, weight and etc.



Format;

In broadcasting the most common format camcorders used are Betacam, DVCam, MiniDV, DVC Pro and many more. The common home used camcorders are palmcorders. This palmcorders use mini DV tape, video disc or Hard Disc. Nowaday VHS camcorders with VHS tape are no longer used by videographers. That type of format are very seldom available in the market.



How to choose camcorder:

Besides the price, there are several features to consider before buying camcorders;

• The camcorder should be light and portable if we plan to do a lot of travel videos
• Picture quality should be hight to avoid picture drop quality during copying
• The tape length is also very important.
• The quality of sound.
• The robustness of the camcorder is very important especially in broadcast.