Basic Techniques

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•When opening the LCD monitor, be careful that no water droplets adhere the monitor screen and that no water or dust enters the camcorder through the gap as it could cause a malfunction.

Basic Techniques

The batteries are in place and charged, the date and time are set, and you are familiar with the controls. Is time to make a recording. Basic recording is easy and simple. Hooking up the camcorder to your TV is not complicated but give yourself plenty of time to ensure connections are correct.

This section guides you through basic recording and playback. Practice the basic techniques of recording and playback on something unimportant such as traffic or a short tour of your backyard. Once familiar with how the machine works you can move to the more sophisticated features with less stress.

Let's get started!

Making a Basic Recording

The Hitachi VM-H725LA/H825LA uses PROGRAM AE auto exposure that automatically selects the optimum shutter speed (either 1/60, 1/120, 1/180, 1/250, 1/350, 1/500, 1/750, 1/1000, 1/1500, 1/2000, or 1/4000 of a second). The iris adjusts automatically in response to shutter speed.

1.Connect the camcorder to a power source ("Loading Batteries; Camcorder Batteries," p 15 ~ p17).

2.Open the LCD monitor and insert a cassette ("Inserting and Removing Cassettes," p18).

3.Press the red button on the CAM/OFF/VIDEO switch as you slide it to CAM. appears and the camcorder is now ready to record.

4.When you are ready to record press the Start/Stop button. REC appears in the viewfinder or LCD monitor and the camcorder records the picture you see in the viewfinder or LCD monitor.

5.To stop recording press the Start/Stop button and REC disappears from the viewfinder or LCD monitor replaced by . This places the camcorder in standby.

Note: If the LCD monitor is opened or closed (the monitor picture is switched between the viewfinder and LCD monitor) during recording, the on-screen display will disappear for about one second. It is recommended that you do not switch the picture during recording as the date or title superimposed in the picture being recorded will disappear for about one second.

Note: If the LCD monitor is opened or closed during recording, several white stripes may appear in the picture, but this does not indicate a fault. However, these stripes are recorded with the picture, so it is recommended that you do not close or open the LCD monitor during recording.

Note: TAPE flashes in the viewfinder or LCD monitor when the tab on the side of the cassette is completely visible.

Note: TAPE END flashes in the viewfinder or LCD monitor when about 3 minutes or less remain of the tape cassette.

Note: If the camcorder is left in record/pause mode for more than 5 minutes, the camcorder turns off automatically. To restart it press the Start/Stop button and the camera returns to record/pause mode.

Playback