Panasonic AG-HMC150 User manual

PANASONIC
AG-HMC150
|b a s i c |
HOW TO
shoot like
a PRO
Is this thing on?
Easy-to-follow chart for successful sound
4
steps for
avoiding
overexposure
RULES
what’s
allowed,
what’s not
CLASS CURRICULUM FREE
Northwest Community Television
763.533.8196 www.nwct.org
over
Your best shoot ever!
A pre-production checklist
HELP!
7 common
problems
solved

2 Policies
What’s allowed,
what’s not.
3 Checkout form
Lose it. Break it.
Buy it.
4 Power
DC or AC? You can’t
shoot without it!
6 Audio setup chart
Easy to follow.
Every conceivable
setup.
9 White balancing
No matter how you
do it, it has to be
done!
13 SDHC cards
Choosing the right
one.
14 Formatting
The card. The
recording setup.
HELP!
Need to troubleshoot? Walk
through seven typical prob-
lems and their solutions.
SOUND
Everything you need to
know about selecting sound
inputs and setting and
monitoring audio levels.
Consult the easy-to-follow
chart for successful setup—
you’ll never have to ask “Is
this thing on?” again!
VIDEO IMAGE
Know how to determine
your dominant light source
and set the iris level, neu-
tral density lter, and white
balance. Zoos aren’t the
only place to nd zebras!
BETTER SHOOTING
Wonder how the pros do it?
All the basics and more are
covered.
MICROPHONES
NWCT has a variety of
microphones available for
checkout—all of which are
shown here. You’ll know
exactly which mic to use for
your taping situation.
on the cover
How to shoot like a pro 10
Is this thing on? Easy-to-
follow chart for successful
sound 6
4 steps for avoiding overex-
posure 8
Rules: what’s allowed, what’s
not 2
Your best shoot ever! A pre-
production checklist 20
Help! 7 common problems
solved 18
contents
5
8
10 18
7
15 Clips
Recording, playing,
deleting.
16 Default settings
Resetting default
menu settings just
might solve your
technical problems.
17 Quick setup
checklist
We’ve got a list
you’ll want to use!
17 Scene le settings
Pick from six scene
le presets.
20 Pre-production
checklist
Be prepared for
anything on shoot
day!
21 Talent release
Just in case—no one
likes being sued.

Portable camera policies
The purpose of these policies is to manage NWCT equipment in
a fair and equitable manner. Follow these rules and you’ll never
have to worry about losing your membership privileges!
1. Only certied members are permitted to operate equipment .
2. Members must be on time for appointments. You must call if you
are going to be more than 30 minutes late—if you are more than
60 minutes late, we will consider you a “no show” and give away
your equipment.
3. Cameras may be checked out for up to 48 hours.
4. Members may schedule cameras only two weekends per month.
5. Members may reserve only one camera at a time per event. If a
second camera is available at the time of checkout for the length
of time desired, it can be checked out.
6. Equipment may be reserved up to two months in advance.
7. NWCT staff must conrm all equipment is in proper working order
at the time of return. This takes approximately ten minutes—
members must be present.
8. Members must be 18 years of age to sign out equipment. A
parent or guardian must sign for equipment checked out to those
under age 18.
9. Members are responsible for the equipment and will be liable for
any loss or damage, normal wear and tear excepted.
10. All members using equipment and facilities will be expected to
produce a program for cablecast within two months.
x
Producing programs for
hire, advertisements,
commercials, obscene or
indecent programming,
lotteries, or personal and
family programs will not
be tolerated.
If you need to cancel your
appointment, please notify
the studio manager at least
24 hours in advance; un-
foreseen emergencies and
illnesses will be taken into
consideration. Please do not
rely on leaving a voicemail
message. Talk to a studio
manager whenever possible.
If cancellations are not made
24 hours in advance of your
scheduled time, become ex-
cessive, or if you are more
than 30 minutes late for your
appointment, you may be
subject to disciplinary ac-
tion as follows: rst offense,
verbal warning; second of-
fense, written warning; third
offense, suspension.
763.533.8196
CALL
NOW!
2

763.533.8196
Portable camera checkout form
3

Battery life
The battery should
last approximately
200–300 minutes.
Remaining battery
life can be read on
the LCD monitor.
Power DC AND AC
DC POWER
1
2
3
ò
1
2
3
õ
Removing the battery
To remove the battery, FIRST TURN OFF THE CAMERA.
Then lift up the viewnder, push in the battery release but-
ton (closeup pictured above), and pull up on the battery.
AC POWER
To use AC power,  plug the AC cable into the AC adaptor.  Plug the DC cable
into the AC adaptor and  attach the at end of the DC adaptor to the back of
the camera in the same way the battery is attached.
Attaching the battery
To attach the battery,  lift up the viewnder,  place the battery in the bat-
tery compartment toward the top, and  push down—the battery will click into
place.
4
Recharging
batteries
The battery can be
recharged using
the AC power unit
provided with the
camera. The DC
cable must be dis-
connected in order
for the battery to
charge.
Fully recharging
the battery takes
approximately 300
minutes.

5
Sound IS THIS THING ON?
Selecting sound inputs
Two sources of audio can be recorded to the camera simultaneously.
Sound can be gathered from the camera’s internal microphone, an
external microphone, a line level source such as an audio mixing
board or CD player, or any combi-
nation of two of those sources.
Routing audio signals is controlled
by two switches behind the LCD
monitor and two switches on the
front of the camera.
Setting the audio level
To set an appropriate audio level, use the AUDIO dials on the side of
the camera. The CH1 dial controls the level for the source selected
with the CH1 SELECT switch and the CH2 dial controls the level for
the source selected with the CH2 SELECT switch.
Two switches behind LCD panel Two switches on front of camera
Monitoring the audio level
Use the audio meter on the bottom of the LCD monitor to view the
audio levels. Adjust the AUDIO dials so that the loudest sounds reg-
ister just below the white hash marks. If the audio is bouncing above
the white hash marks or you see the red slash on the meters, adjust
the AUDIO dials to lower the input level.
Easy-to-follow audio setup chart on next page
To monitor audio quality, plug headphones into the headphone jack
on the back of the camera. You can control the headphone volume by
pushing the - AUDIO MON/ADV + buttons. NOTE: Changing your
headphone volume will not change the audio levels being recorded.
Always use the audio meter to judge appropriate levels.

6
Audio setup chart
INPUT jacks and CH 1 SELECT and CH 2
Audio source INPUT settings SELECT settings Audio records on
Internal microphone N/A CH 1 SELECT: INT(L)
CH 2 SELECT: INT(R)
CH 1: Built in mic
CH 2: Built in mic
External microphone
External line level source
Two external sources
One external source and
built in microphone on
camera
INPUT 2 jack
INPUT 2: MIC
INPUT 2 jack
INPUT 2: LINE
INPUT 1 and INPUT 2 jacks
INPUT 1: LINE or MIC
INPUT 2: LINE or MIC
INPUT 2 jack
INPUT 2: LINE or MIC
CH 1 SELECT: INPUT 2
CH 2 SELECT: INPUT 2
CH 1 SELECT: INPUT 2
CH 2 SELECT: INPUT 2
CH 1 SELECT: INPUT 1
CH 2 SELECT: INPUT 2
CH 1 SELECT: INPUT 2
CH 2 SELECT: INT(R)
CH 1: External mic
CH 2: External mic
CH 1: Line level source
CH 2: Line level source
CH 1: Input 1
CH 2: Input 2
CH 1: Input 2
CH 2: Built in mic

7
Microphone selection
Northwest Community Television has several different types of mics available.
Desktop and oor mic stands are available for checkout.
OTHER MICS
Electro-Voice 635A
handheld
Omnidirectional, good
for inexperienced inter-
viewers, ne for music
and ambient sound
gathering
Shure SM58 handheld
Unidirectional vocal mi-
crophone
Sennheiser wireless
lavalier and handheld
Variable frequency UHF
receiver works with ei-
ther lavalier or handheld
transmitter, range of
50+ feet, good for pro-
ductions requiring free-
dom of movement
Realistic PZM
(Pressure Zone Mic)
Surface mount mic,
omnidirectional, very
low prole, excellent for
pianos, drums, large
vocal or instrumental
groups, or stage perfor-
mances
Shotgun
Directional, great for
capturing sound at a
distance, also available
with boom pole and
Zeppelin
STANDARD ISSUE
These three microphones come standard with every
portable camera.
Electro-Voice RE10 handheld
Unidirectional, excellent for music or interviews,
slightly better bass response than 635A
Sony ECM 44 or Sony ECM 30 lavalier or lapel
Directional, excellent for interviews, clips directly to
clothing, small enough to easily hide on location
Panasonic AG-MC200 shotgun (see below)
P
I
C
K
U
P
P
A
T
T
E
R
N
S
OMNI-
UNI-

1
8
Video image 4 STEPS FOR AVOIDING OVEREXPOSURE
Determining the
dominant light
source
Before shooting,
determine whether
most of the light in
the scene is com-
ing from the sun or
from articial lights.
For best color re-
sults, try to reduce
the light com-
ing from the less
dominant source.
You can do this by
covering windows (if
your primary light
source is articial)
or by turning off
incandescent and
uorescent lights
and placing your
subject close to
a window (if your
primary light source
is sunlight).
It’s also possible
to match articial
lights to sunlight by
covering the lights
with blue color con-
version gels which
can be found in the
light kits.
Matching the light
using one of these
methods will pro-
vide better color for
your scene.
FIRST THINGS
FIRST
2
Now
you see
me . . .
now
you
don’t!
Setting an appropriate iris
The iris controls the amount of light entering the camera which deter-
mines how bright the image will be (exposure of the image).
To set the iris appropriately, you must monitor the zebra stripes in
the LCD monitor of the camera. Zebra stripes appear on areas of the
image that are overexposed. In those areas, no detail is recorded
because the light is too intense. A picture is properly exposed when
there are no, or very few, zebra striped areas in the image.
There may be times when you want to overexpose an image, if you
are shooting into a strong backlight, for instance, but generally the
rule applies: minimize the zebra stripes.
IMPORTANT: Do not rely on how the image “looks” in the LCD moni-
tor to determine correct exposure because the LCD monitor shows
brightness inaccurately. Always use zebra stripes.
To set the iris:
Push the ZEBRA button until ZE-
BRA2 100% appears in the LCD
monitor.
To use the AUTO IRIS mode:
Set the AUTO MANUAL
switch to AUTO. AUTO IRIS
appears in the LCD monitor.
The camera will adjust the
exposure automatically.
To use the MANUAL IRIS mode:
Set the AUTO MANUAL switch to MANUAL. MANUAL IRIS appears in the LCD
monitor. Rotate the iris dial until the image is properly exposed. Adjust the dial
and set a new exposure every time the shot changes.

3
4
GAIN
If you
followed
the setup
procedure and your
video looks dark, we
recommend adding
lights rst. If after
doing this the video
still looks dark, you
can move the GAIN
switch from L(low)
to M(medium) or H
(high). Only do this
as a last measure
because as gain is
increased, so is the
graininess of the
video.
SCENE FILES
F1: Normal
F2: FLUO.
Indoors under cool
uorescent lights
F3: SPARK
Fuller variations of
resolution, coloring
and contrast
F4: B-STR
Contrast of dark
parts broadened
(exp. sunsets)
F5: CINE V
Contrast empha-
sized in movielike
scenes
F6: CINE D
Dynamic range em-
phasized in movie-
like scenes
9
ND FILTER SETTINGS
1/64 cuts light intensity by 1/64
1/16 cuts light intensity by 1/16
1/4 cuts light intensity by 1/4
OFF ND lter is not used
Selecting the right neutral density lter
Neutral density lters allow the camera
to operate correctly outdoors in sunlight.
A neutral density lter does for the cam-
era what sunglasses do for your eyes—it
reduces the amount of light that can pass
through without changing the color of that
light.
Once the iris is set to auto or manual, the
camera will tell you if a neutral density lter
is needed with an indicator in the middle of
the LCD monitor. The indicator will also tell
you which neutral density lter you should
use.
If indoors and the scene is too dark
even with the iris setting on OPEN,
turn OFF the ND lter.
NOTE: If the iris is set to MANUAL
and the ND lter is changed, a
readjustment of the iris may be
necessary.
White balancing the camera
1. If the AUTO MANUAL switch is set to AUTO, the camera uses
ATW (Auto Tracking White) to white balance.
2. If the AUTO MANUAL switch is set to MANUAL, set the WHITE
BAL switch to Bor A.
3. Point the camera at a white object set in your lighting and zoom in
so that it lls as much of the frame as possible.
4. Press the AWB button on the front of the camera. Release when
AWB Bch (or Ach) ACTIVE appears in the LCD monitor. AWB Bch
(or Ach) OK appears when the white balance is complete.
5. Hold the AWB button to black balance the camera. ABB ACTIVE
ashes while black balancing; ABB OK appears when complete.
The LCD monitor will go black during this process.
If the WHITE BAL switch is set to PRST, press the AWB button to
switch between P3.2K (halogen light) and P5.6K (outdoors).
Setting a white balance
White balancing the camera guarantees that white and all other col-
ors record correctly. Though the human eye cannot perceive it, white
light coming from the sun is different than white light coming from a
light bulb.
You should white balance your camera before recording, but especially
when lighting conditions change (moving from sunlight to articial light
or vice versa).