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PD 150 shooting guide
you must do your white balance in the specific place you are filming in - this is particularly important in locations with mixed
light where the mix of light may be totally different in one corner of the room to another.
Make sure you're in auto exposure. Press the white balance button (if there's no white balance information on the screen)
and rotate the wheel until you get the square and two triangles symbol. Point the camera at a piece of white paper in front of
the subject you are going to film, and move or zoom in to fill the frame. Press the wheel in, and the symbol in the screen
will flash rapidly while the camera sets the white balance. Once it's stopped flashing, your white balance is set.
If you are handheld and moving between different lighting situations you may be better to stay in auto white balance mode
where the camera will at least make some adjustments as you move around.
32. EXPOSURE - INTRODUCTION
Exposure control is the process by which the camera is adjusted to produce as natural a picture as possible. If you are
filming people, the aim is to expose correctly for the face.
Exposure on the PD 150 is affected by the iris, gain, and shutter speed controls.
The size of the iris affects the amount of light entering the camera and is measured in F numbers. At F11 the iris is
closed right down in response to very bright light, at F2 the iris is almost fully open in response to lower light. If
the iris is fully open and there is still insufficient light for a correct exposure, gain, measured in dBs can be added
to electronically amplify the video signal. Gain will increase the graininess of your image slightly, so it's not a
good idea to use more than about 12 dBs of gain for quality pictures. Gain will go up to 18 dBs which may be
necessary in low light, but be aware that your image will be slightly more grainy. Shutter speed also affects
exposure, with a slow speed being very sensitive to light, and a fast speed being insensitive. There is a 'normal'
speed for video use, which is a fiftieth of a second, and should be selected unless there is a good reason not to.
Each of the three controls can either be set to auto or manual, giving a number of different combinations. We
recommend setting the shutter speed manually to 50, and the gain to OdB as a starting point for operating the PD
150 in manual exposure. If there's no indication of shutter speed on the screen, the shutter is in full auto, and will
fight against any iris or gain adjustments. Unlike previous cameras, the PD 150 will remember any settings made
indefinitely, even if a battery is off the camera for an extended period.
33. AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE
You know when you're in auto exposure if there are no F-numbers, dBs or shutter speeds displayed on the screen.
In this mode the camera looks at the average brightness of the whole scene and then adjusts itself accordingly.
While useful for shots with fairly balanced light throughout, auto exposure will not be effective in any situation
where there are areas of heavy darkness or strong light, such as the light from a window. Unless you change your
shot to eliminate the extreme light area, you will need to manually adjust the exposure for your key subject or
objects to ensure that they are exposed correctly.
34. MANUAL EXPOSURE
Pressing the iris button on the side of the camera activates manual iris. A vertical bar will appear in the top left side
of the screen along with your current F-number. Using the wheel beside the iris button, you can adjust the iris. It
can be difficult to be sure that you have set the exposure correctly by simply looking at the PD 150 screen. The
viewfinder is slightly better, but if you are in any doubt, it is far better to slightly underexpose than over.
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