Panasonic AG-AC130A Series User manual

Camcorder
Battle Creek Area Community Television
70 West Michigan Ave., Suite 112 • Battle Creek, MI 49017 • [phone] • http://accessvision.tv

The camcorder is a Panasonic AG-AC130A. It can record in several different video formats to SD
(Secure Digital) cards. The camera offers both automatic and manual adjustment features, making it
both easy to use and capable of producing excellent, professional-quality results.
The camera can run on either AC power or battery power.
Attaching the battery
Insert the battery and slide down until it clicks into
place.
Removing the battery
1. Turn the camera’s POWER/MODE switch to OFF
2. Remove the battery while pressing the battery
release button. Support the battery with your hand to
ensure that it will not fall.
Battery life: A fully-charged battery will last about
2.5 - 3 hours. This will vary depending on usage, i.e.
how much zooming, recording/standby time, etc.
Attaching the AC power adapter
1. Connect the DC cord to the AC adapter.
2. Plug the AC cord into a power outlet.
3. Insert the DC cord’s battery connector until it clicks into
place
To remove the AC adapter, turn the camera’s POWER/
MODE switch to OFF and remove the DC cord’s battery
connector while pressing the battery release button.
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Turning on power
First, open the lens cap by ipping the switch on the
left side of the lens hood. The turn the POWER/MODE
switch up to the <ON> position while pressing the
lock release button. The mode lamp <CAMERA>
lights up in red and the camera goes into standby
status (<CAMERA> mode).
If the POWER/MODE switch is turned up to the
<MODE> postion, the mode lamp <PB> will light
up in greenand the camera goes to playback mode (for
playing back footage already recorded). Every time the
switch is turned to the <MODE> postion, the mode
will change between <CAMERA> mode and <PB>
mode.
To turn the camera off, turn the POWER/MODE switch
up to the <OFF> position while pressing the lock
release button. The mode lamp <CAMERA>/<PB>
goes off.
Photograpy Basics
EXPOSURE: The amount of light entering the camera, controlled by the IRIS. The iris determines the
aperture, or the variable-sized hole allowing light to enter the lens. The size of the hole is measured in
f-stops. The smaller the f-stop number, the larger the size of the hole; the larger the f-stop number, the
more light it “stops” from coming through and the smaller the hole. The difference between f-stops is
equal to doubling or halving the amount of light entering the lens.
FOCUS: Point at which objects in front of the lens form a sharp image. Focus is determined by the
distance between the lens and the subject.
DEPTH OF FIELD: The distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear
acceptably sharp in an image. The lower the f-stop number, the shallower depth of eld becomes.
WHITE BALANCE: adjusts the color of the image. The video image is made up of red, green and blue;
adjusting the white balance changes the sensitivity of the camera to each of these colors to
compensate for the color temperature of ambient light. Tungsten light bulbs tend to have more red and
are “warmer”, while sunlight has more blue (“cooler”). The camera must be adjusted accordingly to
balance these differences out, and accurately reproduce color.
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AUTO vs. MANUAL: In most situations, while you are still learning how to use the camera, AUTO
mode will get you decent-looking results most of the time. However, sometimes AUTO will produce
unexpected or unacceptible results, depending on your shooting conditions. As you become more
comfortable using the camera, you will nd that more professional-looking results can be obtained by
setting some or all of these controls manually. Iris, focus, white balance and audio levels can each be
adjusted automatically or manually.
Shooting in Auto mode
1. Turn the camera on.
2. Set the <AUTO/MANU> switch to <AUTO>
3. Press the <START/STOP> button to start recording.
Press the <START/STOP> button again to stop recording.
AccessVision’s cameras each come with a 64 GB SD card,
which holds about 4 hours 38 minutes of standard
denition (DV) footage, or 6 hours 32 minutes of high
denition (AVCHD) footage.
To display the amount of time recorded, press the
<COUNTER> button repeatedly until “CLIP” appears on
the upper left corner of the screen. Total recording time
remaining is shown under the clip counter.
Adjusting the iris
In AUTO, ashy subject matter may cause the iris to open and close erratically. Scenes which are
heavily backlit may also produce an unwanted exposure. Setting the exposure manually will eliminate
this.
1. Switch the <AUTO/MANU> switch to manual mode.
2. Press the <IRIS> button to switch to auto or manual
iris. AUTO IRIS: automatically adjusts the iris value.
MANUAL IRIS: manually adjusts lens aperture.
3. When manual iris is on, adjust the lens aperture by
turning the IRIS ring.
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Gain and ND Filter
If you’re shooting in a dark area where there is not enough light for the camera, you can increase the
exposure level by raising the gain.
Gain settings:
• Low <L> 0 dB - this is the normal position when the gain is turned off
• Medium <M>- raises the gain of the camera by 6 dB, or one f-stop
• High <H> - raises the gain of the camera by 15 dB, or 2.5 f-stops
Note that shooting with the gain on will increase the amount of noise and result in a picture with more
grain. If possible, add more light to the scene and avoid using gain to get the cleanest image.
ND Filter:
If you’re shooting outside in sunlight, you may notice that it is difcult to turn the iris down enough get
good exposure. If this happens, use the ND FILTER switch on the side of the lens. This will lter out
some of the light entering the lens before it hits the iris,
without changing the color. Normally, the iris should
not be set higher than f8; if it is, use the ND lter.
• 1/4: Intensity of light is cut down 2 f-stops
• 1/16: Intensity of light is cut down 4 f-stops
• 1/64: Intensity of light is cut down 6 f-stops
NEVER USE THE ND FILTER INDOORS!
Manually setting focus
1. Switch the <AUTO/MANU> switch to manual mode.
2. With the <FOCUS> switch, switch the focus control method:
<A> AUTO: Automatically sets the focus
<M> MANUAL: Manually move the focus ring to set the focus.
To temporarily go into auto focus mode:
Even if the <FOCUS> switch is in the <M> manual
position, while pressing the <PUSH AUTO> button, the
camera goes into auto focus mode and the focus can be set
automatically.

Adjusting white balance
Adjusting the white balance changes the sensitivity of
the camera to different amounts of red, green and blue
light to compensate for the color of ambient light. In most
cases, the camera does a good job of white balance in
AUTO mode, but if you need to manually adjust the white
balance:
1. Set the <AUTO/MANU> switch to manual mode.
2. Set the <WHITE BAL> switch to <A>.
3. Shoot something white and zoom in so that it lls the screen.
4. Press the <AWB> button. Adjustment is completed in a few seconds, and will display the
message on screen: [AWB Ach OK].
Manually adjusting sound levels
The same concepts for AUTO vs. MANUAL settings apply to sound:
AUTO will get you acceptable results in most cases, but MANUAL is
better once you are comfortable with the camera and want the most
professional results. To change the recording level to manual:
1. Set the AUDIO AUTO/MANU CH1 or CH2 switch to <MANU> position.
2. Adjust the audio signal recording level using the <AUDIO LEVEL>
knob. Before recording, check the audio level meter display on the
bottom left of the screen. The highest level should peak at around -12
dB.
Always use headphones to monitor the audio.
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External Microphones
While the camcorder has a built-in microphone, using an external microphone allows you to place
the mic much closer to the sound source and get better sound. The closer the microphone is to the
sound source, the better the sound will be recorded.
We have several types of external microphones: clip-on (lavaliere) and handheld.
Usually, the clip-on mic is used for interviews. It should be clipped onto a lapel or
shirt placket no more than 10” below the chin, and made to look as inconspicuous
as possible by running the wire underneath clothing.
Since it runs on a battery, the power must be switched
on at the belt pack.
The handheld mic is a good all-purpose mic to use for news conferences,
standups, meetings, musical events, etc. With no battery inside, the
handheld mic is ready to use as soon as it’s plugged in. Both microphones
have windscreens that can be used to lter unwanted wind noise or strong
breaths.
Connecting microphones to the camera
1. Use an XLR cable to connect the microphone to the AUDIO
INPUT1/2 XLR 3-pin terminals.
2. Switch the connected audio input signal with the INPUT1
LINE/MIC switch or INPUT2 LINE/MIC switch.
Use <MIC> when connecting either kind of wired microphone
or wireless handheld;
Use <LINE> when connecting to a wireless clip-on or any
mixing board/PA sound system.
3. Use the AUDIO CH1 SELECT switch to select the input signal
to be recorded to audio channel 1.
<INT (L)>: audio from the built-in microphone Lch is recorded.
<INPUT1>: Audio from the device connected to AUDIO
INPUT1 terminal is recorded.
<INPUT2>: Audio from the device connected to AUDIO
INPUT2 terminal is recorded.
4. Use the AUDIO CH2 SELECT switch to select the input signal
to be recorded to audio channel 2.
<INT (R)>: Audio from the built-in microphone Rch is recorded.
<INPUT2>: Audio from the device connected to AUDIO
INPUT2 terminal is recorded.

Sennheiser AVX Wireless Mics
AccessVision has several digital wireless lavalier and handheld
microphones. The microphones act as a transmitter, while the receiver is
connected to the camera instead of an XLR cable. Any wireless lavalier or
wireless handheld mic can be used with any receiver, but the receivers only pair with
one transmitter at a time.
To power on:
Receiver: press red power button
Lavaliere transmitter: press red power button (on side)
Handheld transmitter: press clear light button (just above
Pair button)
To power off:
Receiver: press and hold red power button for 3 seconds
Lavaliere transmitter: press and hold red power button for 3
seconds.
Handheld transmitter: press and hold red light button (just
above Pair button) for 3 seconds.
To pair transmitter/receiver: Red light = no link; green light = linked.
1. Turn on power for both
2. Wait; do not press anything while yellow/red lights ash
3. Units will automatically pair up after about 10 seconds. If yellow lights ash, pairing may take
longer. Just wait for them to nish ashing. When the receiver and transmitter both show a solid green
light, they are paired together.
To change pair to a different transmitter:
1. Turn on power for new transmitter
2. Press and hold Pair button on transmitter for 3 seconds
3. Press Pair button on receiver
4. Wait for lights to stop ashing yellow. This may take 30-60 seconds or more. Do not press any
buttons during this time. When the lights stop ashing, they should stay a solid green, which means
“paired”.
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Battery life:
• Receivers last about 3-4 hours
• Lavalier and handheld transmitters last about 15 hours
To check remaining battery life on receiver:
• Quickly press (without holding down) red power button. Battery life will be
displayed in 1-4 green bars.
To adjust output gain:
1. Turn receiver on
2. Gain will be displayed in 1-4 red bars, with more bars =
higher levels. Press AF Out button multiple times to cycle
through the 4 levels.
• The lavalier puts out a very high signal; 1 bar is sufcient when the camera’s input
is set to LINE level.
• Sennheiser recommends against using AUTO levels on the camera.
Wirelessly recording a sound system feed:
The lavalier transmitter pack can also be used to connect to a mixing board for recording a sound
system feed:
1. Unscrew the lavalier mic cable and unplug it from the transmitter pack.
2. Plug in the XLR > 1/8” stereo mini adapter cable into the transmitter
pack.
3. Connect the XLR end into the mixing board’s output.
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