Tips for settings on your miniDV video camera
03/26/06 12:55 PM
Here are a few tips for important settings for your
miniDV video camera:
Set the date and time
It's usually good to know exactly when your video was recorded, so set the time and date before you start using the camera. With miniDV tapes you can always decide later if you want the date and time to show or not. Time and date are stored separately from the image data, not burned into the image like earlier video formats.
Use SP recording mode, not LP
SP is the standard recording mode for miniDV tapes and gives about 62 minutes on a standard tape (80 minute tapes are also available, but they are more expensive and the tape is thiner so may be more likely to break). The LP mode will record 90 minutes to a standard tape, but is less reliable and you may have problems capturing your footage in your computer editing program. If what you are videotaping is important, it's probably not worth the risk.
Change the audio from 12-bit to 16-bit
To get the full audio quality of your video camera you must be in 16-bit mode. Many cameras come set in 12-bit mode by default. This mode sacrifices audio quality for an extra stereo audio track to add in-camera voiceovers or narrations to your videos, but adding additional audio tracks is better done later with video editing software.
Turn off the digital zoom
Video cameras typically offer optical zooms from 10x to 30x and digital zooms of up to 1000x, but using a digital zoom degrades the quality of the image, and probably does not do anything you couldn't do later with image processing software. Set your camera to just use the optical zoom range.
Learn how to do a manual white balance
Manual white balance (MWB) is important for making sure the colors in the images you record are accurate. Often with the automatic white balance the image will appear reddish or blueish due to misadjusting for the color temperature of different light sources (sunlight, fluorescent, incandescent, halogen, etc.). To avoid this, most video cameras have a manual white balance feature. Once you have located the manual white balance feature of your camera, setting it usually involves pointing the camera at something you know to be true white (a sheet of white paper is often used), zooming or moving in so it fills the whole screen and holding down a button or joystick until the color is readjusted. It is good to get into the habit of doing this before you start shooting and whenever the light changes.
If using a tripod, turn the image stabilization off
Image stabilization (often abbreviated EIS for electronic image stabilization or OIS for optical image stabilization) can help steady the image when the camera is handheld, but the EIS type, usually found on lower end cameras, also slightly degrades the resolution of the image, and if you leave it engaged while you are using a tripod it can actually make the image much less stable. It can mistake the movement of the subject as unwanted camera movement and try to steady the subject by moving the stationary background. Remember to turn image stabilization off when using a tripod.
Turn audio level display on
If you use an external microphone with your video camera to get better sound quality (a good idea), you put yourself at greater risk of not capturing any sound at all. Some cameras allow you to see the audio levels on the fold out screen or viewfinder. It is important to set this feature on to make sure you are getting audio, especially if you are not using headphones to monitor the audio.
Set the date and time
It's usually good to know exactly when your video was recorded, so set the time and date before you start using the camera. With miniDV tapes you can always decide later if you want the date and time to show or not. Time and date are stored separately from the image data, not burned into the image like earlier video formats.
Use SP recording mode, not LP
SP is the standard recording mode for miniDV tapes and gives about 62 minutes on a standard tape (80 minute tapes are also available, but they are more expensive and the tape is thiner so may be more likely to break). The LP mode will record 90 minutes to a standard tape, but is less reliable and you may have problems capturing your footage in your computer editing program. If what you are videotaping is important, it's probably not worth the risk.
Change the audio from 12-bit to 16-bit
To get the full audio quality of your video camera you must be in 16-bit mode. Many cameras come set in 12-bit mode by default. This mode sacrifices audio quality for an extra stereo audio track to add in-camera voiceovers or narrations to your videos, but adding additional audio tracks is better done later with video editing software.
Turn off the digital zoom
Video cameras typically offer optical zooms from 10x to 30x and digital zooms of up to 1000x, but using a digital zoom degrades the quality of the image, and probably does not do anything you couldn't do later with image processing software. Set your camera to just use the optical zoom range.
Learn how to do a manual white balance
Manual white balance (MWB) is important for making sure the colors in the images you record are accurate. Often with the automatic white balance the image will appear reddish or blueish due to misadjusting for the color temperature of different light sources (sunlight, fluorescent, incandescent, halogen, etc.). To avoid this, most video cameras have a manual white balance feature. Once you have located the manual white balance feature of your camera, setting it usually involves pointing the camera at something you know to be true white (a sheet of white paper is often used), zooming or moving in so it fills the whole screen and holding down a button or joystick until the color is readjusted. It is good to get into the habit of doing this before you start shooting and whenever the light changes.
If using a tripod, turn the image stabilization off
Image stabilization (often abbreviated EIS for electronic image stabilization or OIS for optical image stabilization) can help steady the image when the camera is handheld, but the EIS type, usually found on lower end cameras, also slightly degrades the resolution of the image, and if you leave it engaged while you are using a tripod it can actually make the image much less stable. It can mistake the movement of the subject as unwanted camera movement and try to steady the subject by moving the stationary background. Remember to turn image stabilization off when using a tripod.
Turn audio level display on
If you use an external microphone with your video camera to get better sound quality (a good idea), you put yourself at greater risk of not capturing any sound at all. Some cameras allow you to see the audio levels on the fold out screen or viewfinder. It is important to set this feature on to make sure you are getting audio, especially if you are not using headphones to monitor the audio.