Setting the Electronic Shutter

This section describes the shutter modes that can be used with the electronic shutter of the camcorder, and describes the procedure for selecting the shutter speed and shutter mode.

About the shutter modes

The shutter modes that can be used with the electronic shutter and the shutter speeds that can be selected are listed below.

Shutter

Frame

Shutter speed

Application

mode

frequency

 

 

Standard

60i

1/100, 1/125,

For shooting

 

 

1/250, 1/500,

fast-moving

 

 

1/1000, 1/2000

subjects with

 

 

(sec.)

little blurring.

 

 

 

 

 

30P

1/40, 1/60, 1/120,

 

 

 

1/125, 1/250,

 

 

 

1/500, 1/1000,

 

 

 

1/2000 (sec.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

23.98P

1/32, 1/48, 1/96,

 

 

 

1/125, 1/250,

 

 

 

1/500, 1/1000,

 

 

 

1/2000 (sec.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

50i

1/60, 1/125, 1/250,

 

 

 

1/500, 1/1000,

 

 

 

1/2000 (sec.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

25P

1/33, 1/50, 1/100,

 

 

 

1/125, 1/250,

 

 

 

1/500, 1/1000,

 

 

 

1/2000 (sec.)

 

 

 

 

 

ECS

60i

60.0Hz to

For obtaining

(Extended

 

19000Hz

images with

Clear

 

 

no horizontal

30P

30.0Hz to

Scan)

bands of

 

26000Hz

 

 

noise when

 

 

 

 

23.98P

24.0Hz to

shooting

 

 

21000Hz

subjects such

 

 

 

as monitor

 

50i

50.0Hz to

 

screens.

 

 

29000Hz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25P

25.0Hz to

 

 

 

25000Hz

 

 

 

 

 

SLS

(except

2 to 8, 16 , 32, 64

For shooting

(Slow

23.98P)

frames

subjects in

Speed

 

(1/15 to 1/3.8,

low level

Shutter)

 

1/1.9, 1.1, 2.1

lighting

 

 

(sec.))

conditions.

 

 

 

 

Notes

•Whatever the operating mode of the electronic shutter, the sensitivity of the CCD decreases with increasing shutter speed.

•When the automatic iris is used, the iris opens wider as the shutter speed increases, thus reducing the depth of field.

•Under artificial light, particularly fluorescent or mercury lamps, the light intensity may appear to be constant, but the red, green, and blue intensities are actually changing in synchronization with the frequency of the power supply causing flicker. Using an electronic shutter under such lighting could make the flicker even worse. Color flicker is particularly likely to happen when the power supply frequency is 60 Hz. However, if the power frequency is 50 Hz, setting the shutter speed to 1/100 can reduce this flicker.

•When a bright object is shot in ECS mode in such a manner that it fills the screen, the upper edge of the picture may have poor quality because of an inherent characteristic of CCDs. Before using ECS mode, check the shooting conditions.

•In SLS mode, CCD white dot noise becomes more prominent as the number of frames increases.

For details, see “Phenomena Specific to CCD Image Sensors” on page 161.

To select the shutter mode and shutter speed

Use the SHUTTER switch to select a shutter mode or a standard-mode shutter speed. To set the shutter speed in ECS or SLS mode, with the SHUTTER switch set to ON and the ECS or SLS mode selected, use the MENU knob for adjustment.

To set the shutter mode and the standard-mode shutter speed

Once the shutter speed is selected, it is retained even when the camcorder is turned off.

1 Make sure that neither menu nor status display is shown.

2 Push the SHUTTER switch from ON to SEL.

Playback and Recording 3 Chapter

Recording – Basic Operations

57