Shooting outside

[Catherine]

I have a Sony DCR-DVD403 mini dvd handycam. Every time I shoot video outside in daylight, the video looks very jagged, as if I can see every horizontal line that creates the video. Sometimes, when I render the clip, the video smoothes out. Sometimes I have to go into Field Options and select Reverse Field Dominance to fix the problem. Either way, shots taken outside, in daylight never look as crisp and clear as indoor shots. (I went to a baseball game. The video I took while the sun was up was not clear. As soon as the sun went down and the lights came on, I got nice, clear video.)

Is there a setting I should use when shooting outside in daylight? Is this a common problem or only specific to this brand or mini dvd cameras?

Thanks!

[Chuck Engels]

Most camcorders and cameras have various Modes; 'Outdoor', 'Indoor', 'Sports', things like that. there are also settings like 'White Balance' which can make a huge difference similar to what you are experiencing. Normally an Auto White Balance will work fine but depending on the camcorder you may need to set the White Balance Manually. Check your manual to see what it says.

With your DVD camcorder you should always reverse field dominance, not just sometimes. Either the fields need reversing or they don't, always.

That's my 2 cents

I am sure there are others with ideas and other possibilities.

[ed]

That's really strange, most camcorders have a much better image for shots taken outside, because of the better light. I would set it to Auto everything, and avoid filming directly towards the sun, which can trick the cells and mess up auto focus.

On my minidv cams i will notice that vertical lines, like trees, can sometimes appear a little jagged, but nothing like you're describing.

[Catherine]

Thanks for the input on the white balance. Will break out the manual!