Sony PD 150 Shooting Manual page 7

PD 150 shooting guide
25. ACTUALITY AND ZOOMING
To hold focus while filming actuality and you or your subject is moving, hold your finger on push auto for the duration of the
movement and then let go when things settle down again. You could also try this while zooming.
26. MANUAL FOCUS
Manual focussing using the focus wheel is of course perfectly possible, but it is not easy to get good results on the PD 150
because of the poor resolution of the viewfinder or screen, and the sensitivity of the focus ring. Only use this method if you
have plenty of time to fiddle. The wheel has a 'linear' action, so it is possible to repeat a pull focus if you're careful. If you
are using the viewfinder, remember to make sure that it is sharply in focus to maximise your chances of success.
27. AUTO FOCUS & INFINITY
Being in autofocus all the time is not recommended because as soon as there is any movement in frame, such as a
contributor leaning slightly, the camera might try to adjust its focus, producing a soft image as it does so. Use the camera in
manual with the 'push auto' button as described earlier.
You can focus on infinity when in manual focus by sliding the focus switch down to infinity. This really only applies to
distances of over 30 metres.
28. WHITE BALANCE - INTRODUCTION & OPERATION
White balance is something that you should think about whenever the light changes. Differences between daylight and
artificial light sources are magnified by cameras, and can produce a strong colour caste on your pictures if you don't white
balance when you should.
The PD 150 will auto white balance your pictures, or you can use the three manual options. They are all controlled from the
back of the camera. Make sure the three position 'auto lock' switch is in the middle - the unmarked position.
On the rear of the camera, is a column of black buttons. The white balance button is the second one up. Pressing this will
take you out of auto white balance, and give a symbol display on the screen. You can use the wheel below the buttons to go
through the camera's white balance options - manual, daylight, and artificial. The symbols that appear on the screen are: a
square and two triangles for manual; a sun for sunlight; and a light bulb for artificial.
29. AUTO WHITE BALANCE
Auto white balance is selected in 'auto lock', or by pressing the white balance button to remove any white balance
information from the screen. The camera's auto white balance mode will give adequate results in many situations, but it may
not fully colour correct. It is also slow to adjust to changes in lighting conditions, so you need to wait 15 seconds for the
camera to stabilise before you resume filming. Sometimes it doesn't work at all, in which case switch the camera off and on
again to reset.
30. DAYLIGHT AND ARTIFICIAL PRE-SETS
The PD 150 has white balance pre-sets for daylight & artificial light, but these are often unreliable and are best avoided,
except perhaps as an effect to enhance the quality of a light source. For example you could select the daylight setting to
enhance a sunset and the artificial setting to enhance candlelight. Press the white balance button and rotate the wheel until
you see the sun symbol for daylight and the light bulb symbol for artificial light.
31. MANUAL WHITE BALANCE
Manual white balance will always give the most accurate results, as it sets true white in a given situation. It can be
particularly important in mixed lighting conditions of daylight and artificial light combined, and even more so if there are
fluorescent lights. Their colours vary wildly and may be too much for the auto white balance to cope with. To be of any use