Journal 1- Intro to Cameras

This week in class we were split into groups and each group was given a video camera. One group was using Sony DSR-PDX10 video camera, another group Sony PD170, and lastly my group was using a Sony HD HDR HC7 camera. These were different video cameras then what we were used to using last year. We were taught all the basic functions of the camera, how to turn it on, where the battery went, how to charge the batteries, how to zoom, how to set the camera to manual settings etc. I was really jealous when I saw some of the other groups using the Sony PDX10’s because this camera looked very professional to me and I really wanted to learn how to use it, but it made realize that it is there to use on future assignments.

Sony HD HDR HC7

Sony DSR-PDX10

After we were done learning how to use our cameras we were given a function and we were sent out to take footage using our assigned function. My group was assigned to use digital effects while filming. This puzzled my group a lot at first because we thought that digital effects were only done during the editing phases. We got out the manual and looked up digital effects and surely enough we found that there were a bunch of different functions we could use. One digital effect we used was “old movie”; while we shot video the camera added the effect as if we were filming using an old video camera. Other effects that we fooled around with were sepia, still images, trail, mosaic and other cool effects. This experiment was interesting because it forced us to learn something new on the cameras and we also gave us a refresher on how to use the cameras. I really like hands on tasks, so this in class assignment was great for me because being able to hold the cameras helped me learn it a lot better than if the professor has just given a lecture on it.