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PD 150 shooting guide
16. AUDIO
Audio is dealt with in detail in the third section of this guide. The PD 150 comes with its own microphone which is normally
fitted on the camera, however it's not brilliant quality and is usually too far from the sound, so other solutions are described
later.
17. AUTOMATIC VERSUS MANUAL OPERATION OF THE PD 150
The PD 150 can be operated fully automatically, or you can override some or all of its auto functions and elect to control
them manually. The most important function to control manually is focus; the other automatic functions can be adequate in
many situations. Using the camera like this is great for quick and easy shooting.
To select this mode, look at the upper back left of the camera where you will see a silver three-position switch. Move it to
the 'autolock' position. This sets exposure, white balance, and shutter speed to auto. Focus is controlled on the lens, and
audio level is set separately. How to use the camera effectively in auto sound level is described in the 'audio' section later.
18. MENU SETTINGS
The PD 150 has a large selection of menu settings that control aspects of the camera's operation and picture
quality.
The menu options for the PD 150 are accessed via the menu button on the camera left side under where the screen
folds in. Press 'menu' and then use the wheel at the back to scroll through the menu. Press the wheel in if you
want to enter one of the menu options, then use the wheel to highlight your chosen menu option, and press it in to
select. Press menu again to leave.
Some menu functions are essential to correct operation, and must be checked before use of the camera. The most
important sections are timecode, camera set and tape set.
If you've set the camera in DV mode, the timecode functions are greyed out, and the timecode behaves as a normal
DV camera, i.e. it starts at 00 00 00 00, and counts up. If you're in DV Cam mode, you can play around with the
timecode.
The timecode should normally be set for rec run, and preset rather than regen, with the preset value at 01 00 00 00.
You can use the second digit for roll numbering, so roll two would start at 02 00 00 00. You have to set this for
each new tape. If you review a recording, switch the timecode make setting to regen. The other timecode features
can be useful if you want to sync two cameras together. In this case select 'free run', and enter the time of day,
finally setting both cameras' timecode running at the same time by pressing buttons simultaneously. You'll be
within a couple of frames, and will make your editors life much easier. The camera can't be accurately locked to an
external source as there's no socket for timecode. User bit is a part of the time code which can also display time of
day, or other information relevant to your production.
In 'camera set', the 'wind' setting should normally be 'off' for both channels unless you want bass cut on your
audio.
The tape set menu has audio functions that allow switching between auto and manual level, and whether the
soundtracks are ganged or separate. We'll look at these later.
The PD 150 also has a 'Custom Preset' facility, accessed through a button at the back of the handle. Press this in and you'll
see the settings on the screen. Normally the 'set' item should be off, making sure the picture parameters are at their default
settings. The PD 150 instruction manual gives full details of what the settings do, but normally the only ones worth changing
are the sharpness and the AE shift. If Custom Preset is on, 'CP' will appear on the screen.
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