Using the Zoom Feature on a Mini DV Camcorder

"Hi! My name is Paige. You can see my website at www.porchproductions.net. Today we’re talking about different ways to use your mini DV camcorder. Right now, I want to talk about zoom. What you want to do is power on your camcorder. You can either use your IPs to look through, which uses less battery charge, or you can use your LCD screen, which moves around. It kind of shows you everything that your are seeing in your frame a little bit easier. To zoom, this is called your zoom ring here. This is focus here; this is zoom. Usually mini DV camcorders will have either an auto set or a manual set. I always use manual because it gives me more control over my iris, my white balance, my zoom, and my focus. If you turn it to auto, then it will automatically do it for you. But generally, you’ll get blurry to clear, or clear to blurry a lot more if you are filming an event than if you were to just do it yourself. When you zoom, your zoom ring moves accordingly. You probably have 2 ways to zoom on the camera here and on here. Now, if I’m shooting something and I want a slow zoom, I have a preset handle zoom one, two, or three. Three is going to be a lot faster than one. So, if I want a slow zoom in, I’ll put it on 1. If I want a faster zoom in, I’ll put it on three. My fastest zoom is going to be here with this control. Also, a great thing to know about zoom is in general is a little bit more dynamic if you’re able to zoom yourself; a little bit more cinematic than if you were to zoom manually. But sometimes you can’t get into the game if you’re filming little Billy’s soccer game, so you want to use your zoom but may be go slower, use your handle zoom, presets to go faster or slower. That’s generally how you zoom in. Once you zoom, you’re going to have to adjust your focus. So now, we’ll talk about that."