When you first get a digital camcorder, it can be a little overwhelming trying to figure out how to use it. Sure, the basics come naturally, but it’s all too easy to make mistakes – and if you’ve just bought the camcorder to record something important to you, you don’t want that to happen. Before you let yourself loose in the big wide world with your camera, here are a few tips to help you get started.
The most vital tip – and this will make a huge difference to the quality of your videos – is to steady the camera somehow. Shaky-cam effects might be fashionable with indie filmmakers, but they just make home movies look amateur. The best thing, of course, is to get a tripod, but if you don’t want to do that then just improvise with whatever’s available – tables, walls, anything.
While you’re filming, make sure you flip out the LCD screen and take some time to compose the screen you want to see. A few seconds spent doing this can take away a lot of the fear that comes when you decide to watch the movie back.
By the same token, edit as you go – don’t leave it all to the end. It’s far better to arrive home with a finished film than to arrive with tens of hours of unpolished footage to wade through.
One tip that I’ve seen improve people’s movies a lot is this: be visual. Instead of narrating the film, talking to the camera or using captions, film things that represent what you want to stay. Do brief exterior shots of transport and buildings, so that people know where you are as the film goes on, instead of you constantly having to tell them.
Finally, there’s one beginner mistake that I really need to point out to you right now. Whatever you do, don’t forget to take enough tapes, and a power adaptor! These things are always hard to get, and no matter how expensive or luxurious your camera is, it’s useless without them!
For the absolute novice in video recording the question, of point and shoot usability or manual control, maybe the most important one to consider when deciding on a digital camcorder to purchase. Many come equipt with automatic adjustments and controls which allows the camcorder to adjust for environmental factors, focus, exposure and shutter speed.
Purchasing a digital camcorder with this type of point and shoot capability allows the camera's internal computer to set the optimal settings, providing lots of freedom for the novice film makers who will not need to concern themselves with very technical issues and can just shoot film. On most machines equipt with automatic control this function is easily turned on with the push of a button.
Also, there are times when these automatic functions will not produce the quality of video that is desired and for those instances there is another feature that can compensate. Look to see if the camcorder provides presets, or selections based on specific environmental conditions, such as lighting, weather or even shooting occasions, such as concert or sports.
For the Advanced Filmmaker
If you are not a novice, and have some expertise in recording film, or you just want to have complete control over you video recordings, you will want to make your own manual adjustments for optimal exposure, focus and shutter speed.
If you do want to manually control the settings then it is crucial to make sure that you do not sacrifice usability in the process. You want to be able to reach and use the manual controls and buttons with ease while recording and not have to lose focus and move the camcorder at a crucial recording time in order to change a setting.
Some digital camcorders are not very user friendly when it comes to button placement and especially those control buttons that need to be reached while recording.
Imagine that you are filming your daughters first school play, and you need to zoom in on her solo performance, but in order to manually adjust the zoom button, you have to access an internal menu or move the camera off your child in order to reach the right button? By the time you do all that, the solo will be over and a once in a lifetime recording moment is lost forever.
So, when purchasing a digital camcorder with manual control always consider this, if you cannot easily access the control buttons and change settings mid-recording, such as shutter speed or to zoom in on a particular scene and if not changing those settings will not yield the best video you can make, then that camcorder is probably not the one to purchase.
Both John Gibb & Jr Lang are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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