Panasonic Camera Recorder AG-DVX100BP Operating Instructions
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31 Regular shooting Ensure that the unit is working properly before you attempt to shoot anything. Check the equipment you need for the shooting conditions. gBattery (Page 21) Use a fully charged battery. Keep a spare battery with you. gCassette tape (Pages 10 and 15) Check that the cassette tape can be used for recording. • Set the erasure prevention tab to SAVE. • Make sure the tape doesn’t have images you want to keep recorded on it. • Make sure the cassette holder is completely closed. gViewfinder (Page 23) See if the diopter adjustment is suitable. gZoom, focus, and iris • Check that motor-driven zooming is possible. (Page 32) • Check that the focusing can be performed both automatically and manually. (Page 38) • Check that the lens iris operations can be performed automatically and manually. (Page 43) gTime data (Page 26) • Check that the date and time have been set correctly. • Check that the time code and user information have been set correctly. gAudio input (Page 44) Check that CH1/CH2 SELECT switch is in the correct position. gOther equipment(Page 53) • Check that any equipment you have connected to the camera is working correctly. • Check that connections are complete and correct.1Set the POWER switch to ON. 2Press AUTO to switch to auto mode. • appears on the viewfinder and LCD screens. • In the setup menus, AUTO SW screen, you can choose which items you want to have automatically adjusted in auto mode. (Page 72) 3Look at your subject through the viewfinder. 4Press the START/STOP button on the POWER switch to start shooting. Press START/STOP again to return the camera to the shooting standby mode. Preparation and inspectionsShooting in auto mode The camera makes the following adjustments for you when in auto mode. • Focus • Gain • Iris • White balance AUTO button POWER ON OFF Viewfinder Shooting Preparations
32 Shooting techniques for different targets Press REC CHECK in the shooting standby mode and two seconds of the last thing you shot play, and then the camera returns to the shooting standby mode. • REC CHECK does not work if you have shot for less than a second. • Note that this REC CHECK portion will also be recorded to any equipment you have set up to make backup recordings. While in the shooting standby mode, you can search through any images you have shot. This is useful when you want to find a point from which to continue shooting so two scenes come one after the other. 1Press the OPERATION lever y or t. The tape plays forward or backward while you are holding the lever in position. 2Release the lever when you find the point you are looking for. The camera returns to shooting standby mode.This camera has a 10 x zoom. Zoom with the zoom button or the zoom ring. Zoom buttonSet the ZOOM switch to SERVO so that you can use the motor-driven zoom. T:Zoom in W:Zoom out Gently press the zoom button on the viewfinder to zoom slowly, firmly press to zoom faster. You can change the zoom speed on the handle zoom button by selecting one of three speeds with the HANDLE ZOOM switch. Set HANDLE ZOOM switch speeds by going to the setup menus, SW MODE screen HANDLE ZOOM. (Page 71) Zoom ringSet the ZOOM switch to MANU so that you can use the zoom ring. • You cannot use the zoom ring if the ZOOM switch is set to SERVO. Trying to use it could damage the camera. On the remote controlPress ZOOM/VOL to zoom with the motor drive. Zoom speed is fixed at medium. Check what you have shot (rec check) Finding specific scenes (image search) REC CHECK button STILL ADVPAUSESTILL ADVINDEXSELECTSTOP INDEX MULTI/ P-IN-PREC A.DUB PLAY VOL +- Camera or Remote control Zoom SERVOMANU ZOOM Zoom button (handle) HANDLE ZOOM switch Zoom ring Zoom button ZOOM switch
33 Use the START/STOP button on the handle to make it easier to shoot from low angles. Images in the LCD when it is turned 180 degrees for self-portrait shooting may appear unusual. You can make them appear better by reversing left and right. Go to the setup menus, DISPLAY SETUP screen, SELF SHOOT, and select MIRROR. Shooting in mirror mode has no effect on what you actually shoot and record. Items shown on the viewfinder and LCD screens are limited to the following. *: Shooting *h: Shooting standby mode : battery indicator : warning If this appears, turn the LCD back to its normal position and see what the warning is.Press the ZEBRA button in the camera mode to show the zebra pattern or marker on the screen so you can check the brightness of the subject. Parts that may be whited out through over exposure are shown as a zebra pattern. • Very bright • Reflecting par ts You can remove most overexposed parts by adjusting the iris and shutter speed in the manual mode to remove the areas with zebra patterns. The display changes as follows each time you press the ZEBRA button. In the setup menus, DISPLAY SETUP screen, ZEBRA DETECT 1 and ZEBRA DETECT 2, set the brightness for the zebra patterns. (Page 76) The zebra pattern you have set appears as a percentage on the display for about 2 seconds. If you press the ZEBRA button again while the zebra pattern is being displayed, a marker appears in the center of the display (if you have set the setup menu, DISPLAY SETUP, MARKER to ON). The image level at the center of the screen is shown as a percentage between 0 and 99 while the marker is displayed. “99%” appears if the percentage is over 99. • The normal display reappears if you press the ZEBRA button again. Low-angle shooting Self-portrait shooting START/STOP button Zebra pattern Marker ZEBRA 1 ZEBRA 2 OFF Marker 99% Image level detection area Image levelMarker Shooting
34 Shooting techniques for different targets (continued) 1In the setup menus, RECORDING SETUP screen, ONE-SHOT REC, select ON. • For menu operation (Page 66) OFF: ONE-SHOT is off. ON: The camera records for the number of seconds you have set in REC TIME, then returns to shooting standby mode. • While in progressive mode 24P or 24P (ADV) you cannot change ONE-SHOT settings. 2Set the recording time in REC TIME. (Page 75) 3Press the START/STOP button to start ONE- SHOT recording. • After you have set ONE-SHOT to ON, “I—” blinks to the left of the VCR mode indicator. “I—” lights when you start recording. 4If you move the OPERATION lever in the g direction, “I—” blinks again and ONE-SHOT recording stops and the camera goes to shooting standby mode. • During ONE-SHOT recording, no other operations are possible. • During ONE-SHOT recording, the remaining tape time is not shown. The ONE-SHOT recording setting switches to OFF when you turn the camera off. To end ONE-SHOT recording, do one of the following. 1) Switch the camera off. 2) Change the ONE-SHOT REC setting back to OFF. You can change the aspect ratio of the images you record with this camera. Select the aspect ratio in the setup menus, CAMERA SETUP screen, ASPECT CONV. • For menu operation (Page 66) NORMAL: Recorded in the regular 4:3 aspect ratio LETTER BOX: Recorded in the 16:9 aspect ratio. Black bands are recorded at the top and bottom of the image. SQUEEZE: The recorded images are squeezed horizontally so that they are shown as 16:9 images on a compatible wide-screen television. If you have selected SQUEEZE, “SQU” appears on the screen. • The viewfinder and LCD screens will be distorted for a moment when you switch to SQUEEZE, but this is normal. • Images may be poorer when you playback if you shot them in the SQUEEZE mode. To change the aspect ratio display of the viewfinder and LCD Select the aspect ratio in the setup menus, DISPLAY SETUP screen, DISPLAY ASPECT (Page 76). ONE-SHOT recordingChanging the image size
35 Use the Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) to reduce the effects of camera shake when shooting by hand. Press the OIS button to turn the function on and off. appears on the screen when this function is on. Turn the function off when using a tripod for more natural images. • This function will not be as effective when the vibration is severe or when tracking a moving subject. You can allocate one of eleven features to each of the three USER buttons. Use these buttons to change shooting settings quickly or add effects to the images you are shooting. The following features are allocated to the buttons at the time of shipping. USER1: COLOR BAR USER2: BACKLIGHT USER3: INDEX For details, see the setup menus, SW MODE screen, USER1 to 3 (Page 72). Press the USER button you have allocated to the BACKLIGHT feature when shooting subjects lit from the back. BACK appears on the screen. Backlight compensation adjusts the iris so the subject doesn’t come out dark. Press the same USER button to turn the feature off.Press the USER button you have allocated to the INDEX feature during shooting and an index signal is recorded to the tape. If you press the button while in shooting standby mode, you also activate index standby mode. When you start shooting or recording, an index signal is recorded to the tape. Adding indexes means that you can make index searches during play.(Page 50) Press the USER button you have allocated to the COLOR BAR feature to output a color bar screen to a television or monitor so you can adjust them. Press the same USER button to turn the feature off. Press the USER button you have allocated to the BLACKFADE or WHITEFADE feature to add fading effects to your images. BLACKFADE: Press and hold to fade out to black. Audio also fades out. WHITEFADE: Press and hold to fade out to white. Audio also fades out. Optical Image Stabilizer Using the USER buttons Backlight compensation Index recording Color bars Adding effects to imagesShooting
36 Shooting techniques for different targets (continued) If you have connected equipment to the DV terminal (Page 54). You can make automatic backup recordings of whatever you are shooting. • In the setup menus, OTHER FUNCTIONS screen, DV CONTROL and DV CMD SEL, select how to control the equipment you have connected. ( Page 77) Press the AUTO button to switch between AUTO ( lights) and manual mode ( goes out). You can change the following settings in the manual mode. • Focus (Page 38)• Gain (Page 43)•Iris (Page 43)• White balance (Page 41) If you are monitoring the sound through headphones while shooting, you can adjust the volume with the AUDIO MON/VAR button. • To adjust the recording level (Page 44). Backup recording Note the following when backup recording.• Menu settings are retained even if you turn the power off. So if you use the camera-recorder with the settings for backup recording still in effect, images on tapes in any unit that connected may be overwritten. After backup recording, check the menu item settings before you operate the camera-recorder. • If you use another AG-DVX100B as the external unit for backup recording, select “OFF” for DV CONTROL on the external unit and set it to VCR mode. • Backup recording may not work properly if you connect two or more external units. • Use a DV (IEEE1394) cable of 4.5 m or less for connection. • Set the external unit up to receive DV signals before backup recording. • You can have a tape in the external unit start recording automatically when the tape in this unit is almost finished. Set DV CONTROL (Page 77) to “CHAIN”. • Note that images are recorded even when you perform a rec check. Switching to manual mode Adjusting the volume while shooting AU TO bu t to n
37 Shooting in progressive mode You can change the progressive mode in the setup menu, SCENE FILE screen, PROGRESSIVE (Page 70). 30P mode: Shoot 30 frames a second in the progressive mode. For output and recording, the 30-frame-per- second signal is converted to 60-field-per- second interlace. This mode gives you high quality images. 24P mode: Shoot 24 frames a second in the progressive mode. For output and recording, the 24-frame-per- second signal is converted to 60-field-per- second interlace using the widely used “2:3” ratio. This gives you images similar to a movie shot with film. 24P advanced mode: Shoot 24 frames a second in the progressive mode. For output and recording, the 24-frame-per- second signal is converted to 60-field-per- second interlace using “advanced” conversion.With the “2:3” method, frames [BoCe], [CoDe], [FoGe], and [GoHe] shown in the illustration would be extended over different frames which can cause a drop in picture quality. With the 24P advanced method, however, frames [BoCe] and [FoGe] are cut out, leading to a reduction in image quality loss. If you also use a system compatible with the advanced method, editing will also yield better quality images than those shot in the normal 24P mode. • If you are not going to do your editing on such a system, use the normal 24P method for shooting. Ao Ae Bo Be Co Ce Do De Eo Ee Fo Fe GoGe Ho He Io Ie Jo Je ABCDEFGH I J30 P 60 i ABCDEFGH Ao Ae Bo Be Bo Ce Co De Do De Eo Ee Fo Fe FoGeGoHeHoHe 24 P 60 i ABCDEFGH Ao Ae Bo Be Bo Ce Co Ce Do De Eo Ee Fo Fe FoGeGoGeHoHe 24 PA 60 i Note the following when shooting in progressive mode. • You cannot have a gain of 18dB. • The synchronization signal will be disrupted for a moment when you switch to progressive mode. • Set the shutter speed to 1/50 (OFF) or 1/60 for best results. • There may be a slight delay to the start of recording when you use the 24P or 24P advanced modes because 5 frames are recorded at a time. The shortest possible recording time is three seconds. Shooting
38 Focus This camera allows you to choose between automatic and manual focusing. 1If the camera is in auto mode, press the AUTO button to switch to manual focusing ( goes out). 2Use the FOCUS switch to choose how to control focusing. A (AUTO): Auto focus mode M (MANUAL): Manual focus mode Turn the focus ring by hand. ∞: The camera first focuses on infinity, then it switches to manual focus. The FOCUS switch automatically moves back to M (MANUAL) after you move it to ∞. Temporarily switching to auto focusEven if you have switched FOCUS to M (MANUAL) the camera will focus automatically while you press down PUSH AUTO. • Auto focus may not work properly if there is flickering. Select a shutter speed suited to the ambient light. (Page 39) • When you use auto focus in the progressive or slow shutter modes, the focus assist mode becomes active which gives a more accurate focus than manual focusing. The extra focus control will make focusing take longer than normal. Focus ring FOCUS switch PUSH AUTO button AUTO button
39 Adjusting the shutter speed Shutter speeds you can select 1Each time you press the SHUTTER button, the shutter speed switches between normal (OFF) and the speed you selected with the SPEED SEL button. 2After you have pressed the SHUTTER button, press SPEED SEL to select the shutter speed. The shutter speed changes as follows each time you press SPEED SEL. When progressive mode is OFF (60i) When progressive mode is on (30P/24P/24PA) • Remember that the faster the shutter speed, the lower the sensitivity. • If iris is set to auto, then it will open wider with higher shutter speeds and thereby reduce focal depth. • If you have set slow shutter mode (Page 40), you cannot change shutter speeds (“INVALID” appears on the screen). First press the USER button you have allocated to SLOWSHUT to cancel the slow shutter mode, then change the shutter speed as shown above.With artificial lighting and especially fluorescent lights and mercury-vapor lamps, the luminance changes in synchronization with the power line frequency. When this frequency is 50 Hz, mutual interference will occur between the camera- recorder’s vertical sync frequency (approx. 60 Hz) and the lighting frequency (50 Hz). This means that the white balance may change periodically. Before shooting in areas with artificial lighting or adjusting the white balance, set the shutter speed as follows. Progressive modeNormal shutter speeds (OFF)Shutter speeds you can select with SPEED SEL SYNCHRO SCAN Shutter speed selected OFF (60i) 1/60 1/60.3 - 1/250 1/100, 1/120, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000 30P 1/50 1/30.1 - 1/250.01/30, 1/60, 1/120, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 24P/24PA 1/50 1/24.1 - 1/250.01/24, 1/60, 1/120, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 SPEED SEL button SHUTTER button SYNCHRO SCAN1/1001/120 1/250 1/500 1/1000 1/2000 SYNCHRO SCAN1/30 1/60 1/120 1/250 1/500 1/1000(1/24) Progressive modeShutter speed 50 Hz 60 Hz OFF (60i) 1/100 OFF (1/60) 30P OFF (1/50) 1/60 24P/24PA OFF (1/50) 1/60 1/100PUSH STILL The current shutter speed appears on the viewfinder and LCD screens unless you have selected OFF in OTHER DISPLAY in the DISPLAY SETUP screen of the setup menus. It is not displayed if you have set the shutter speed to normal (OFF). Shooting
40 Shooting techniques for different targets (continued) 1In the setup menus, SW MODE screen, allocate one of the USER buttons to SLOWSHUT. (Page 72) 2Press the USER button you have allocated to SLOWSHUT to enter the slow shutter mode. Each time you press SPEED SEL, the shutter speed changes as shown below. • “PROCESSING…” appears on the display for a few moments after you enter the slow shutter mode while the camera makes the necessary settings. • Press the USER button you have allocated to SLOWSHUT again to exit the slow shutter mode and return to the previous mode. • The slow shutter mode is also canceled if you turn the camera off then on again. • You cannot control the gain while in slow shutter mode. The gain will be fixed at 0 dB. • While shooting you cannot change the slow shutter mode settings or exit the mode. • If you are using a shutter speed selected with the SPEED SEL button (Page 39) you cannot switch to slow shutter mode (“INVALID” appears on the screen). First press the SHUTTER button to return to normal (OFF), then switch to slow shutter mode.Set the shutter speed of the synchro scan (used when shooting a television or computer monitor) in the setup menus, CAMERA SETUP screen, SYNCRO SCAN. (Page 71) • Adjust the shutter speed to match the frequency of the television or computer monitor to minimize the horizontal noise that appears when shooting such subjects. • By switching to progressive mode you can also shoot PAL system television screens. Slow shutter mode 1/4 1/81/151/30 1/4 1/81/15 1/6 1/12 When progressive mode is off (60i) When progressive mode is on (30P) When progressive mode is on (24P/24PA) Synchro scan You can change the progressive mode in the setup menu with PROGRESSIVE in the SCENE FILE screen (Page 70). SLOW 1/4PUSH STILL The current slow shutter speed appears on the viewfinder and LCD screens unless you have selected OFF in OTHER DISPLAY in the DISPLAY SETUP screen of the setup menus.