Instruction manual

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at parties or at air shows. However, since CAP is limited to at least 1000' AGL
(and often higher if the airspace is restricted or crowded), knowing how to zoom
correctly may be the only way to capture the desired level of detail.
It’s a good idea to treat the video camcorder very much like a still camera;
look at the scene, select the shot, frame it and then hit the record button. If you
need to zoom, adjust the zoom until the image is “shaky” and then back off until
the image becomes stable. Once you’re happy that you’ve captured all you need,
count to three and pause the camcorder; always give a breather at the beginning
and end of the shot, as it helps in finding scenes and during editing.
4.5.4 Focusing
If conditions allow you to set the camcorder’s optical system to manual focus,
you’ll notice a marked improvement in the overall quality of your video. This could
be the case when you are circling a damaged power plant. But if you’re shooting
in a situation where there are rapid changes beyond your control (such as
shooting along a flooding river), it’s best to rely upon the camcorder’s auto-focus
capabilities. Just remember that the auto-focus is constantly evaluating the
nature of the image arriving through the lens, and will generally use the center of
the image as the reference point.
When attempting to zoom in to a target using auto-focus, you may notice the
target tends to go in and out of focus as you’re zooming. And once into your
close-up, you have to wait for the image to sharpen into focus. This is due to the
action of the auto-focus system working constantly to analyze the image even as
you are zooming. To prevent this, place the camcorder in Standby mode (before
recording) and:
a. Switch off the auto-focus
b. Zoom in on the target (full zoom)
c. Adjust the focus manually
d. Zoom out and frame your starting shot
e. Start to record and commence your zoom
You’ll find that not only will the shot be sharp all the way down the zoom
(depending upon your camcorder’s optical system), but the shot will also be sharp
at the end of the zoom.
Most camcorder lenses have zoom controls that are extremely sensitive,
allowing the operator to start a zoom slowly and then speed up according to need.
Low-cost camcorders don’t have this feature and very smooth zooming comes
only after a lot of practice.