Camcorder symbols

[Hounsome]

Hello,

Thank you for allowing me the chance to talk with people who have more experience than I do.

I have a Panasonic HDC-HS700 camcorder and I am failing to get the best from it because I don't understand the the "Scene Modes" and their symbols.
There are symbols for "Snow" or "Skiing" "Face Recognition" "Spotlight" and other stuff but nothing which seems to be relevant to my needs.

Would someone be kind enough to explain to me which scene modes I need for the kind of video work I want to do.

I need to know the best setting for filming small birds in the middle-distance ( and close) against a background of branches in the trees or leaves on the ground. Also, small to medium-sized birds against a background of water or mudflats, middle distance to far distance.

If you work on the premise that I don't know anything about camcorders you will not be far wrong, so simple language please.

Any other tips on what symbols or modes to select for day-to-day filming in and around the New Forest would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

[Steve Grisetti]

Hi, Hounsome. Welcome to Muvipix!

Those are different modes. They adjust your camcorder for various situations.

Snow, for instance, reduces contrast when you tape so that the white of the snow doesn't wash out everything else in the picture. Spotlight adjusts for the fact that your light will be concentrated in one area, rather than setting your light levels based on an overall light reading.

You may also see mode settings for close-ups and for scenery. Again, it's just to tell your camcorder how to adjust its automatic light and focus settings.

If you don't want to mess with them, you don't have to, of course. Just leave the camcorder on fully automatic and the cam will make its best guess -- which, except in extreme situations, will usually get you very good video.

BTW, that camcorder has the option to shoot 60p video in 1920x1080 AVCHD mode. Unless you're editing on professional video editing software (Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro), I advise against shooting in that mode.

If you plan to edit in Premiere Elements or Vegas MovieStudio, stick to shooting in 60i mode. It's the only AVCHD mode that's compatible with this software, and you'll save yourself a lot of headaches by using it.

[Hounsome]

Thank you Steve...I think I have an issue somewhere along the line. Not being anything like an expert my tendancy is to leave the camera on auto and allow it to figure it's own settings. Trouble is, when I do that, I get terrible results...inability to focus on individual items (such as a bird on a branch...the branch is usually in better focus than the bird) white-outs, lack of definition, poor contrast etc so, in desperation, I tried making my own decisions which has improved things no end, but I'm struggling to find the correct mode for my needs

I guess I will just have to persevere with trial and error. The trouble is most of my shooting opportunities are of short duration and by the time I have made all the decisions about what mode is appropriate and pressed all the right buttons....the subject has literally flown away - which is why I like to shoot on auto...except for the severe focus problems I mentioned.

It must be user error because Panasonic have tested the camera and say it is "within accepted tolerances".

Back to the drawing board I guess.

[Bobby]

Hi Hounsome and welcome.

I agree with what Steve said, but just wanted to add my two cents worth.

In the various hobbies I have had over the years, I have often found that they converge in some way. For example, when I was fooling around with MIDI music years ago I realized that I just couldn't get away with just playing, and that I had to ramp up my skills in PC related software, new hardware technology, etc. But I came to realize that that was the fun aspect to me - joining two different hobbies together.

It sounds like you have a bird watching hobby, but perhaps now you need to add a new aspect to that hobby and get in touch with the technical aspects of recording and presenting what you view for the enjoyment of others. Embrace the new, and we will be here to help.

[Hounsome]

I'm with you on that Bobby...I have family across the world and we have started exchanging 25 minute films as a way of keeping in contact...that also introduces a little element of competition of course and - with none of us being in the first flush of youth - all these steep learning curves tend to make you a bit dizzy.

I find the Panasonic is a superb tool until I ask it to do something a bit tricky, then it becomes a nightmare. If I could only figure out why it is reluctant to function properly on "Auto" I would be very happy.

I was trying to film some ducks and waders on a mudflat at a distance of about 40 yards and it just flatly refused to focus on them...my wife has a Canon Powershot SX30is camera which also does video and it picked them up and focussed on them perfectly. My Panasonic cost four times as much, is a specialist camcorder and yet refused to focus on them.

I was trying to film some small birds feeding on a wooden post about 20 feet away...again my wife got clear, sharp footage...I got out-of-focus blurry images (The idea of having two cameras is that I am supposed to do the videos and my wife the still shots)

There have been many other instances where the Canon has out-performed the Panasonic so I must be doing something basic wrong.
Canon are happy with the camcorder so I must have incorrect settings selected somewhere but there are so many options that the old brain cells start to boil.

It is nice to be able to chat things over though...thanks guys.

[Steve Grisetti]

Hounsome, have you confirmed that the auto-focus is turned on on that camcorder? You shouldn't be having this much trouble with basic focus!

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

....or is there a menu setting that allows you to set the focus point. Maybe it isn't set on centre screen(?).

I had this problem once with a wedding. All was fine until I zoomed in on the bride and groom then everything went 'soft focus'.

Turns out that my autofocus was set on the left hand edge of the frame. Lesson learned. Always check the settings or, as I do now, use manual focus!

[Dave McElderry]

Welcome!

Are you certain that your Panny is entirely in auto mode? Mine can be set to different combinations of auto and manual functions. Is it possible that you're in manual focus mode, but auto exposure?

EDIT: John and I are on the same track here. I think it would do to go back over all your settings and switches.

[Hounsome]

Yes...auto-focus mode is engaged. I have tried just about every combination of modes and scenes that I can think of.

Is there a facility on this camera to return it factory default settings?

[Dave McElderry]

According to your manual, page 50, there's a setting in the menus called "Initial Set." The manual can be downloaded from the Panasonic website:

http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/HDC-HS700K?support

[Hounsome]

I missed that one...thank you!

Can you believe I have asked Panasonic twice if there is a "Reset to default" facility and I have been told there is not. Wouldn't it be a really good idea if "Initial set" was actually called "Reset Defaults", then old fogies like me might work out where it was.

I have done that procedure and reset to factory defaults...tomorrow I will sally forth and test the results.

Thank you very much.

[momoffduty]

Welcome Hounsome to Muvipix!

[Hounsome]

Thanks Cheryl...I think I'm going to like it here...seem like a nice bunch of folks...and helpful too