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FEATURE
VIDEO ON VACATION
INTRO
A few well-chosen accessories can help improve the look of
your video movies. Rick Maybury checks out a few extra items for your holiday
luggage
COPY
Summer’s coming, time to hike the camcorder out from the
bottom of the wardrobe. In the past ten years camcorders have become as much a
part of the annual holiday ritual as remembering to pack the suncream and
swimming trunks. So too -- unfortunately -- is the scourge of the badly-made,
boring and over-long video movies, inflicted on family and friends afterwards;
but it needn’t be like that. A few simple accessories and gadgets -- used
before, during and after the event -- plus some basic movie-making techniques,
can transform a dull video movie into a watchable and enjoyable mini-epic.
ACCESSORY ROUNDUP
BAGS
Slinging several hundred pounds worth of camcorder over your
shoulder, trusting it to the cheap strap that came with the machine, is just
asking for trouble. It’s going to bash into things, and provide snatch-thieves
with a very tempting target. Basic padded camcorder bags are reasonably cheap --
you can pick one up for under £20 -- and most of them have pockets and pouches
for spare tapes, batteries and accessories. However until fairly recently they
have been somewhat bland, and apparently made out of the same material as
anoraks. These days there’s plenty of snazzy, colourful and dare we say, quite
stylish designs, to choose from. Check out the up-market designer ranges from
Hama and Vivanco, Hama also market some classy Samsonite bags if you’re happy
with the traditional look. The ultimate camcorder bags are made by Billingham.
They’re timeless, hewn from tough canvas and leather, that will almost
certainly outlast the equipment they’re designed to protect. Needless to say
they’re not cheap, the smallest ones start at around £60, rising to over £150
for the larger models, but it’s money well spent and they’re the sort of thing
you’ll be handing down to your children.
BATTERIES
Camcorder manufacturers are unbelievably optimistic when it
comes to battery life. The times printed in most instruction books relate to
continuous operation, not the sort of stop-start recording that occurs in the
real world. The simple rule of thumb is to halve the manufacturers quoted
figures; on most models that means you’ll get around 15 to 20 minutes recording
time from a standard battery. If you want more then carry a spare battery or
two with you. It’s a good idea to get a high-capacity pack, apart from giving
longer running times they usually work out cheaper. The dearest batteries are
the manufacturer’s own replacements, which can be two or three times as much as
equivalent quality packs from accessory manufacturers. Beware of suspiciously
cheap battery packs, there’s a lot of old rubbish around. You’re generally safe
with the better known brands such as Aico, Bandridge, Camlink, DSM, Hama,
IQ, Keene, Uniross Varta and Vivanco. A
lot of camcorder batteries look the same, especially the 6 volt packs used on
8mm machines, so make sure you get the right one. Most packs contain nickel-cadmium
cells, nickel metal-hydride batteries are a little smaller and lighter -- for a
given capacity -- and can have longer useful lives, but they are usually more
expensive.
BATTERY CARE
Nickel-cadmium batteries have a finite life; with care they
can generally withstand around 1000 charge/discharge cycles. Unfortunately the
treatment metered out to them by the fast-chargers -- supplied as standard with
most camcorders -- reduces their life-expectancy by 50%, moreover they
encourage the build-up of the so-called ‘memory effect’ or cell imbalance. This
can occur after just a few months frequent use and repeated top-up charges,
where one or more of the cells inside the battery reaches a full charge before
the others. This shuts the charger off prematurely, so the pack never achieves
a full charge. Fortunately the memory effect can be eliminated by carefully
discharging the whole pack, so that all of the cells are back on an equal
footing. A growing number of camcorder battery chargers have ‘refresh’ or
‘discharge’ facilities, if so use it, otherwise it’s a good idea to get hold of
an accessory charger/discharger. Most accessory manufacturers have one in their
range but the Hahnel Twin V101 at around £39 is good value, moreover by
changing the battery adaptor plate it can be used with other types of rechargeable
battery, including mobile phone packs, which also suffer from cell imbalance.
EDITING
It’s impossible not to make mistakes, there’s always going
to be a few scenes that are too long, in the wrong place, or so bad they should
be chopped out, but unlike cine film, you can’t cut out the iffy bit with a
pair of scissors and some sticky tape. The only way to edit video tape is to
copy selected scenes from the camcorder to a VCR. It’s easy, just connect the
two machines together using a set of AV leads, and record each sequence in
turn, using the VCR’s pause control to set the edit in and out points. Some
camcorders have edit control terminals, which allows them to be used with an
edit controller. They’re microprocessor controlled gadgets, that memorise the
cut-in and out points of selected scenes, and control the VCR. Most controllers
allow the ‘edit decision list’ or EDL to be fine-tuned, prior to committing the
finished production to tape. Models worth considering include the IQ Studio
Edit controller at £170, and the Videonics ‘Thumb’s Up for around £150. If
you’ve got a PC, and a suitable camcorder fitted with a Control L or LANC edit
terminal then Gold Disc Video Director Home edit control software and
connecting cables is good value for money at just £50.
LENSES & FILTERS
If you buy no other accessory for your camcorder at the very
least you should get a neutral-density filter. There’s no excuse, they only
cost a few pounds, but could save your
machine from an early grave. An ND filter will protect the lens from scratches,
and help the camcorder’s exposure system to cope more easily with bright
sunlight, reflections from water, sand or snow.
The zoom lenses fitted to most camcorders are remarkably
versatile but they do usually have one shortcoming, and that’s poor wide-angle
performance. Most of the time it doesn’t matter too much, but it can become
painfully apparent with group-shots, especially indoors, when you may have
difficulty squeezing everyone in. At the other end of the scale video movies
rarely manage to capture the grandeur of a spectacular landscape. The solution
in both cases is a wide-angle converter lens.
IQ have the ‘Insta Wide’ clip-fit converter, that fits most compact
machines with 34 and 37mm filter threads; it costs around £20. Better still is
the Aico 3-In-One, a combined telephoto, wide-angle and fish-eye converter for
£66. This has a 37mm fitting but adaptor rings are available for most other
common sizes.
LIGHTS
Nowadays most camcorders do a pretty good job recording
indoors, under normal room lighting conditions but picture quality is not
usually that great; the more light you have the better. A handful of machines
have built-in video lights, but they’re not very powerful, and only useful for
close-ups. It’s well worth buying a video light if you intend to do a lot of
recording inside, they’re not that expensive. A few models can be powered from
the camcorder’s own battery; whilst this is very convenient, it has a drastic effect on recording times.
A battery that would normally last for 15 to 20 minutes could expire after just
five minutes when used to power a light as well. It’s far better to use a light
that has its own battery -- usually the same type of re-chargeable battery pack
that camcorders use -- or, if you’re going to be recording for any length of
time, a heavy-duty shoulder pack or battery belt. Ease of fitting and light
outputs vary; 30 watts is least you can
get away with for most applications. The Vivanco VL48 and Hama 6937 both cost
less than £30 (excluding a 6-volt battery pack); the Hama light clips onto the camcorder’s
battery but you might need to buy a accessory bracket to use the Vivanco model.
MICROPHONES
Camcorder microphones, like lenses, are a compromise. They’re
fine most of the time but there’s plenty of situations when their limitations
become apparent. The subject might be too far away to be heard, or their voice
is swamped by ambient noise. A separate microphone is useful for recording
interviews or round-table discussions, or simply giving the subject something
to do with their hands. Incidentally, not all camcorders have microphone
sockets, if that applies to your machine you might as well skip the rest,
sorry. There’s an accessory microphone for every possible occasion. Zoom, directional
and parabolic mikes are useful for capturing distant sounds, they’re popular
with wildlife videographers. Wireless microphones are particularly versatile. A
small receiver module clips on to the camcorder, the subject carries the
transmitter in their pocket, or on a belt. Camlink’s MG49S2 has a range of
around 100 metres, it comes with a tie-clip mike and costs just under £50. A
combined mike headset, like the Vivanco VSR67 allows the camera operator to
monitor sound, and give a running commentary, it costs around £25. Basic
hand-held or stick microphones are widely available for under £10. If you do a
lot of shooting outdoors a hairy mike ‘muff’ or wind gag is useful for cutting
down wind roar; prices start at around £8.00.
POST PRODUCTION
In addition to editing your holiday epic it might be a good
idea to tidy up the soundtrack, add some background music or a commentary,
correct colour errors, maybe mix in some special effects, or how about some
opening titles and end credits? Everything is possible, in fact less than ten
years ago the kind of post production facilities now available to home video
movie-maker would not been out of place in a well-equipped TV or video studio.
One of the simplest and most effective tools is an audio mixer. They enable the
original soundtrack to be mixed or replaced with other sounds, including music,
speech or both, at the editing stage, or afterwards, on VCRs equipped with
audio-dub facilities. Simple stereo audio mixers sell for less than £20 but a
better option is to get a combined mixer and video processor, like the Camlink
VMX-2000 (£80) or IQ Studio AV (£120) which both have video faders and basic
picture controls. Sophisticated video mixers, which combine moving pictures
from two video sources, is now within reach of home video movie-makers. The new
Videotech VMX410 costs just £800, it also features multiple wipe patterns,
numerous digital special effects plus a 3-channel audio mixer.
STABILITY AIDS
Quite a few camcorders have electronic image stabilisers,
which do a fair job of neutralising small amounts of camera shake, but none of
them can match a good tripod. Hand-held camera shots are the number-one
give-away, that a recording has been made by an amateur. Take a look at any
professionally made film or video recording. Most of the time the camera stays
still whilst the actors or subject provide all the movement, unless there’s a
need to follow the action or create a particular effect, and even then the pan
or tilt is smooth and controlled. True, not everyone wants to lug a tripod
around with them on their holidays, but there’s plenty of small compact models
on the market, that are useful for steadying the machine, on a wall or similar
flat, stable surface. The Techno Mini Flexipod costs only £5.00 and it’s small
enough to slip into a jacket pocket. Monopods are almost as steady as tripods
and very convenient. The Manfrotto
479-4 cost less than £35, but for a useful lightweight, go-anywhere tripod the
Slik U9000 at £70 is hard to beat.
KEEP IT DRY
Normally it’s a very bad idea to take your camcorder
anywhere near water, but most machines can be protected from rain and sea spray
by placing them inside a plastic bag, which will keep it safe on the beach or
during a sudden downpour. Better still,
get a proper rain hood. They’re not much more sophisticated than a plastic bag,
but they’re shaped to fit the camcorder, with a transparent window at the front
for filming. Most accessory shops have a selection of sizes, prices start at
under £10. Quite a few camcorder manufacturers market purpose-designed
splashproof, water-resistant and even underwater housings for their machines.
Sony have always been very good in this respect and have cases for most of the
machines they’ve made in the past 10 years. Sharp and Canon are catching up,
but there’s quite a few gaps in their ranges. You can expect to pay £70 to £100
for a simple weatherproof or ‘sports’ housing, which isn’t too bad considering
the complexity of the construction. Waterproof housings from the camcorder
manufacturers, capable of protecting a camcorder to a depth of several metres,
cost whole lot more, typically £300 to £1500. Several companies specialise in
waterproof cases for a variety of popular machines; Camcorders Underwater have a
wide range of submersible housings for Sony, Panasonic and other makes, that
are safe to a depth of 10 metres, for around £200.
Contacts:
Aico International (Hahnel, Slik), telephone (01635) 49797
Apex (Camlink), telephone (01707) 266222
Bandridge Ltd., telephone 0181-543 3633
Billingham Bags, telephone (01384) 482828
DSM Video, telephone (01942) 272730
Cameras Underwater, telephone (01404) 812277
Hama UK (Videonics), telephone (01256) 708110
Jessops (IQ), telephone (0116) 2320033
Keene Electronics, telephone (01332) 830550
Uniross, telephone (01275) 858101
Varta Batteries, telephone (01460) 77470
Videotech, telephone (01622) 729872
Vivanco, telephone (01442) 231616
TEN TOP CAMCORDERING TIPS
* Plan your movie, create a story. Don’t wait until you get
there to start shooting. Show the preliminaries, a stack of holiday brochures
makes a good opening shot.
* Set the scene, show local landmarks, famous building, even
road-signs, so the audience know where they are
* Keep it short. Each shot should last for no more than 10
seconds, unless something really interesting is happening.
* Sun, sea and sand. Essential ingredients for a good
holiday but instant death to a camcorder. Don’t allow them to mix...
* Keep it logical. When shooting sequences of movement of
people or objects try to make sure they’re always travelling in the same
direction, otherwise it gets confusing
* Use the fader if there’s going to be a jump in time or
distance between the last shot and the next one
* Remember you’re recording sound as well. When things get
quiet fill in with a running commentary, or get someone to do a Judith Charmers
impression
* Keep it steady. Avoid lots of panning if you can. Keep the
camcorder still and let the scene and the subjects provide the movement
* Leave that bloody zoom control alone! By all means use it
to frame shots, but wild zooming looks amateurish, and it’ll make your audience
queasy
* Give your movie an ending. Sunsets are cliché, but
effective.
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R. Maybury 1996 0904
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