Useful Information, Hints for Better Shooting

References

Useful Information

Hints for Better Shooting

•Position the subject in the center of the screen. When you are using auto focus, whatever is in the center of the screen is kept in focus.

Position the subject in	Focus manually when
the center.	you need to position
	the subject off center
	(see page 44).

•Avoid backlit subjects. For the best picture, shoot with the light source behind you. When the background is brighter than the subject, the subject often becomes too dark. If you have to record with this lighting, use the Gamma Brightness Compensation or correct the exposure level to improve the picture (see pages 30 and 46).

Light from behind

Backlighting

•Before zooming, think about how to best frame the shot. Frequent zooming produces unattractive pictures. It also increases the battery power consumption.

•When image shakes are noticeable during zoomed-in telephoto shooting, use a tripod, or push the Power Zoom control to the W side to zoom out.

•Horizontal panning (lateral movement) and tilting (vertical movement) should be done slowly to emphasize the wide expanse of a scene or the height of a building, and to make scenes easy to watch during playback.

•Use a wide-angle setting for fast-moving subjects.

Note:

•It may take longer to focus when zooming and panning are used frequently.

Lighting

For clear, good-quality recording, 500 to 100,000 lux is needed. Recording is possible with less light, but the picture quality may suffer. Adequate lighting is also essential for correct white balance.

Brightness	Situation (Lux)
(Lux)	Situation (Lux)
(Lux)

100,000	Blue sky
100,000	Clear day at noon (100,000)

	Clear day at 10 am (65,000)	Optimal
	Clear day at 3 pm (35,000)	Optimal
	Cloudy day at noon (32,000)
10,000	Cloudy day at 10 am (25,000)	lighting
		lighting


	Cloudy day, one hour after sunrise (2,000)	range
1,000	Clear day, one hour before sunset (1,000)	range
1,000	Fluorescent light near window (1,000)

	Factory floor (700–800)
	Sales counter in department store (500–700)
	Bowling alley (500)
	Library (400–500)
	Office with fluorescent lighting (400–500)

	Fluorescent desk lamp (400)
	Flashlight at 3 ft (1 m) (250)

100Shop stairway (100)

During intermission at movie theater (15–35) Cigarette lighter at 1 ft (30 cm) (15–20)

Candles on birthday cake at 8 inches (20 cm) (10–15)

Note: The figures in the chart are approximations.

Tips on Good Lighting

In most outdoor, daytime scenes, natural lighting is adequate for home videos. Indoors, however, artificial lighting is usually required. Video lights with halogen lamps provide the most natural artificial light over a long operating life.

References