How to Shoot Outdoors with a Canon XH A1

To avoid your image looking blue and your sound being distorted, you should know how to make adjustments for outdoor shooting. These steps help you correct your white balance and sound on the Canon XH-A1 for outdoor situations.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• White board or clean opaque white paper

1. Set the AWB switch on the left side of the camera body to “On” to use automatic white balance. The camera will adjust white balance settings automatically.

2. Set the white balance manually by setting the AWB switch to “Off” and using the "White Balance Preset" switch located on the top of the main camera body to change to the outdoor setting. This setting looks like a symbol of the sun (a circle with lines going out in every direction).

3. Hold a piece of plain white foam core board or paper in front of the camera so that it covers the entire image.

4. Press the "White Balance" button.

5. Reduce the sounds of wind and other unwanted background noises by selecting "Menu," then "Audio Setup," then "Mic Mode." Select “WS.”

Tips & Warnings

• Using the automated settings is the easiest way to go, but manually setting white balance will always give you a better image.
• Sometimes using the windscreen setting will take out sounds you want. If this happens, you have to choose between getting rid of sounds you don't want and keeping sounds you do. Another option is to have a Foley artist add the sounds back in later.