Training younglings the fine art of videography. The elder one firmly gripping the Sony HDR-SR8 100Gb Handycam Camcorder and supporting one arm on the railing for a steady shot. The little one plans the perfect composition while waiting for her turn.
This is our little England vacation where the Sony HDR-SR8 100Gb Handycam Camcorder came in handy.
EASY TO USE
It is so easy to use that I don't have to shoot all of the time. My kids do it on my behalf. It takes less than 5 minutes to teach them how to operate the camcorder. The rest of the time is teaching them framing, composition and secret tricks that professional videographers do.
STEP 1 : TURN ON FOR VIDEO OR PHOTO
The default is video when the power is switched on. Flicking the power switch again changes the the mode to photo. I discovered that the Sony HDR-SR8 100Gb Handycam Camcorder can also shoot photos while in video mode, except that the flash does not activate.
STEP 2 : FLIP OPEN THE LCD SCREEN
The touch-screen LCD is crisp and vivid. It is very visible under bright daylight. Most of the controls and settings are actually done on the screen. The camcorder comes with a viewfinder. I think that this is totally useless. Or should I say obsolete. I never use viewfinders on my professional camcorders.
STEP 3 : HIT THE RECORD BUTTON
There is one button in front for video recording and another one on top for photo taking. Here's a special feature I like. While the camcorder is recording video, it can take photos at the same time (up to 3 shots though). This came in real handy while recording the London Bridge falling down (catch this in my next blog... hint hint... subscribe to my blog).
30 OVER HOURS OF HIGH DEFINITION RECORDING
In the days of tape recording, I will restrict my kids from shooting many things. Just in case the tape runs out. Now with 100GB of HDD or Hard Disk Drive recording, I have no worries. Even if they forget to turn off the record button, just simply delete on the spot. Anyway how much can they record in 30 hours.
ONE BIG TIP FOR GREAT VIDEO SHOTS
So, the next time you travel with your kids, RELAX, get a HDD camcorder and let them do the shoot. Here is one tip you can use though. Instead of lugging a tripod, look for some solid objects like a table or a railing to lean on, so that you can hold your camcorder steady. Try this in your next shoot and let me know the results.
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Hi Adrian,
ReplyDeleteI have the Sony SR7 handycam and having some problem opening .MTS/.M2TS in Vegas Movie Studio Platinum. Did you have any problem opening the AVCHD file in Vegas?
I use Sony Vegas Pro 7 to open the AVCHD files. It is a bit slow though when editing on my laptop.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the camcorder is easy for kids to use. I let my kids use it all the time and they come back with some very fun and memorable videos. I have had trouble with the video editing too, but the product as a whole is great, especially being able to take photos while recording.
ReplyDelete