Operational Features

Operational Features Now that you know how to frame a shot and move the camera about, you need to pay attention to: White Balancing Focusing, and Zooming

White Balancing White Balancing means adjusting the red, green, and blue chroma channels in the camera so that a white sheet of paper looks white on the television screen, regardless of whether the light that illuminates the sheet is reddish, as a candle, or bluish, as outdoor light.

Most small camcorders white balance automatically. Professional cameras have a semiautomatic white balance control that is more accurate than fully automatic ones. With these you need to white balance every time you move into a new lighting environment, such as from indoor light to outdoors.

To white balance your camera with the semiautomatic system, you focus on a white sheet, a white shirt, or even a clean tissue and then press the white balance button. Make sure that the white object fills the entire screen area and that it is located in the light that actually illuminates the scene you are shooting. In studio cameras the white balance occurs in the control room.

Focusing Normally we want to have all pictures on the screen appear in focus (sharp and clear). You can achieve focus by manual or automatic controls.

Manual Focus All ENG/EFP and studio cameras must be focused manually. The ENG/EFP focus control is a ring at the front of the lens that you can turn clockwise or counter clockwise. When operating a studio camera, you keep in focus by turning a twist grip mounted on the left panning handle.

Presetting the zoom lens Calibrating the zoom lens, or presetting, means that you need to adjust your zoom lens so that it will maintain focus during the entire zoom. To preset your lens, you must first zoom in to the desired close-up of the subject and set your focus. You can then zoom out to a medium or wide shot knowing that the subject is in focus.

Automatic focus Most small camcorders are equipped with an automatic focusing system, called the autofocus. The autofocus will not be able to read your artistic interest and will simply focus on the most prominent object closest to the camera.

Depth of field The shallower the depth of field, the more critical the focus becomes. The greater the depth of field the less you have to worry about keeping the camera in focus. Remember: The more you zoom in the shallower your depth of field becomes. The wider you zoom out the greater the depth of field becomes.

The subjects distance from the camera also effects the depth of field. If you move your camera extremely close to an object, your depth of field will shrink even if your lens is zoomed out to the wide-angle position. Remember, tight close-ups have a shallow depth of field.

Zooming All small and ENG/EFP camcorders have a rocker switch attached to the lens that activates the zoom mechanism. By pressing down on the front switch, usually labeled “T”for telephoto or tight, you zoom in; by pressing down on the back end of the switch, labeled “W” for wide, you zoom out.

The servo-zoom mechanism, which is activated by your zoom rocker switch, keeps your zooming at a constant speed. Studio cameras have a similar rocker switch mounted on the right panning handle. This thumb-operated switch is connected by cable to the servo-zoom mechanism of the studio lens. By pressing the right side of the switch, you zoom in; by pressing the left side, you zoom out.

Because the servo-zoom control makes zooming relatively easy, you may be tempted to zoom in and out rather than move the camera closer or farther away. Keep your zooming to a minimum. Frequent and unmotivated zooming reveals the inexperience of the camera operator as readily as excessive camera movement.