Hello all. First post. Tried self filming a few times with a small HD cam. It took good footage, but didn't have lanc control. I recently purchased a used Canon G30 with Varizoom VZ Rock and Azden SMX-10 mic. I already had a Muddy Outfitter tree arm and Manfotto 701HDV fluid head. Played around with the camera a little. Think I'm gonna like this thing, but I have a few questions. Do you guys film in AVHD or MP4? When using manual focus, are all your other settings in auto (such as white balance, contrast, etc)? What do you set your custom dial and buttons to? Is there one that would be good for real late shots to help brighten the picture? I would appreciate any tips. Thanks
I just purchased a g20 and I'm still feeling my way around too. I'm interested in hearing the responses Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Film in the highest setting the camera will allow. I have the hfg20 which i believe is mxp. I use auto focus and touch an track its just 1 less thing to worry about when self filming. I recently hunted fl. boar and these cams are able to see before you can so no problem there. One of my cust. buttons is set to prerecord… 3second record before actually hitting the record button
I use manual focus and use auto settings for everything else. Seems to work great. I also record in MP4 format. If im filming someone else ill use all manual settings (shutter, aperture, ect) but for self filming the auto works just fine.
DD/MO on here can probably offer some great advice. He showed me some stuff today when I picked up the G20, but it doesn't involve using manual focus.
Maybe I can explain. When the camera is set on manual it can be set on either auto focus or manual focus. When the camera is set to manual, it just allows you to make choices on settings to have certain settings either manual or auto. The manual setting gives you control over how settings on the camera will be I have the G 30. Here is something interesting you might not know about auto focus. The camera will automatically focus on whatever is in the center of the viewing monitor. But if you touch the screen anywhere else, the camera will focus on that object. For example, sitting in a tree stand with the tip of your arrow in view. Touch the monitor where you see the broadhead and the camera will focus on it. Touch the screen on that tree trunk at the side of the viewfinder and the camera will focus there. It is pretty cool and can add some interesting clips to your videos.
I like touch an track cuz when you have that big ten pt. coming in its a nightmare to try to manual focus along with all the other things you need to be doing. Go on the campbell cameras in focus blog. They have awesome tutorials about the hfg30 and hfg20 http://campbellcameras.blogspot.com Also look up Tom Petry's video on white balance.
I record in AVCHD. I've read a lot about it and played with both of them. The AVCHD produces better image quality. Probably the biggest drawback is that your editing software may not read the file and you'll have to convert it to an MP4 file. I'm sure there are other pro and cons, but those are the two biggest as far as I'm concerned. The only time I use auto focus is when I'm hunting the edge of field and there's nothing that could interfere with the shot. Anywhere else, I use manual focus. When sitting idle, I set the focus on either 50 feet or 100 feet, depending where I think the shot is going to be. That way if something happens quick, the shot should be in focus. You can also turn on PEAK. With PEAK on, the edges of whatever is in focus will be highlighted (red, yellow or blue). It just helps you see what's in focus. I use auto settings on the white balance, shutter, etc. There are 3 presets that I use: Portrait, Low Light and Snow. If you push the Function button, the top left box is Rec. Programs. Hit that and touch the face or PORTRAIT depending on your camera. There you'll see the other presets. You can select the appropriate one for the conditions. I use PORTRAIT 95% of the time. LOW LIGHT in the last few minutes of your hunt. SNOW when it's a bright day with snow on the ground. Set your audio to manual for sure! Otherwise, your camera will adjust to you speaking softly or loudly and add gain where it thinks it needs it. Manual audio and set the level to 40. I have the custom dial set to manual exposure in case I'm just the videoing someone else, but even then, I rarely use it. I just stick to the presets...PORTRAIT or LOW LIGHT, and SNOW, again, when it's sunny and there's snow on the ground.
Ok, I got a question. When you film in AVCHD and then convert it to MP4 to edit, do you lose the image quality? I have read that AVCHD takes up more memory. I also read the audio is better in AVCHD.
Why convert I use adobe and it recognizes mts files. Also I'm not posting to vimeo or you tube but I'm burning to blue ray disc. There is video quality loss doing that way but I guess it's the price to pay for dvd's. The other day I placed a sd card into the card reader and watched it directly on my 55" samsung. Wow thats how HD is supposed to look. I'm using adobe premiere elements 11 to edit with.
My software recognizes AVCHD too, so I don't convert. You have to plug in a mic to set it manual audio. It won't let you select it otherwise. Hit FUNCTION then the AUDIO box. Once you set it to manual you should be able to set the level.
