This is the light captured. There are four ways of controlling this (three on a still camera):
Iris (aperture on a still camera). This is the main control and the smallest circle on the camera. If it’s dark, have this fully open at around F1.5. Ours goes up to F22.
Shutter speed. This is the number of times the picture is recorded off the chip. Electronic rather than the mechanical shutter speed of camera. This is set to the frame rate, standard is 25 frames a second – the camera setting is double that, 1/50th of a second.
Gain. This amplifies available light, is like ISO on a camera. Looks a bit like night vision, creates a lot of noise. This can be set low, medium or high. Have this switched off as default.
ND filters. Neutral density - use this if it’s too bright, eg on a sunny day. It’s like putting sunglasses on a screen. Or if you have a larger depth of field (with foreground in focus and fuzzy background), you can use the ND filter and a high iris.
This is the third circle on our camera (the outside).
You can set this to auto AF, or manual M. If manual, zoom in to someone’s eyes to get the focus, then out again. On our camera, the zoom keeps the focus.
‘Push AF’ is a very useful button - press it when something is out of focus and will put it in focus.
Indoor - lights are slightly orange (incandescent/tungsten)
Outside – reflects blue light
White balance sets this straight. Set to auto white balance – AWB.
Sound accounts for 60% of a video in terms of importance.
Auto meters on the small screen – give a visual measure of sound. It gauges levels when people are speaking, even if it is not recording. The levels should be as high as possible, but not on full. Controls for volume recording – 1-10.
Be aware that the directionality of ears – being able to identify where in a room sound is coming from – is lost in recording. Also bear in mind that recording picks up all background noise.
Our camera is automatic, sound should be ok. You can use an external mic for extra volume. The wireless mic plug in (jack) is hidden under the top cover.
Real sound effects are often good to record - particularly if there is no voiceover, noises such as books thunking down on a desk can add a lot.
Always use headphones to record sound effects.
Record additional audio, such as subtitles, in WAV.