ZOOM button ... ARGHHHHH!

[johneo]

Having a great time with my HV20. Tomorrow I really put it to work as the Blue Angels are here for an Air Show and I will be at the end of the runway capturing some video of them as they practice then again on Saturday with VIP seating during the show as well as all the other performers.

Anyway ... my gripe! :hv20-smilie15: This zoom button is driving me NUTS! No, not the way it works or where it's located but the SOUND of it. Unless there's a lot of sound from what you are shooting all you can hear is the click, click, click of the zoom button as you let it go while zooming.

Is it me or does anyone else notice it? ARGHHHHHHHHHH! :hv20-smilie36:

[veg]

I think everyone here would generally agree that the camera mic is poo.
Lots of threads in the 'sounds' section about which external mic is best for your price.

[PWHerman]

Can you really hear it while filming the Blue Angels? I've seen them a few times when they flew over some sports games and they were unbelievably loud. Go with vegasarian and get an external mic, by the way.

[Worley]

Yes, external is the (partial) solution. The Rode Video Mic is excellent for the price, but doesn't totally eliminate off-axis noise.

[Terfyn]

Why does everyone buy an external mic and then fix it to the camera? Most external mics come with a long lead of 2-3 mtrs which allows the mic to be kept remote from the camera, operator, hangers-on etc. I fix mine to my cheap tripod (the camera being mounted on the expensive one). I get very clean sound and a limited area of movement for camera shots. For greater mobility I hand hold the mic (still away from the camera) or use a short boom.

[BarnOwl]

Anyway ... my gripe! :hv20-smilie15: This zoom button is driving me NUTS! No, not the way it works or where it's located but the SOUND of it. Unless there's a lot of sound from what you are shooting all you can hear is the click, click, click of the zoom button as you let it go while zooming.

Is it me or does anyone else notice it? ARGHHHHHHHHHH!

No, actually not like you experience it: Either there is something wrong with your zoom button or you let it go too quickly.......

[bluegrass]

Having a great time with my HV20. Tomorrow I really put it to work as the Blue Angels are here for an Air Show and I will be at the end of the runway capturing some video of them as they practice then again on Saturday with VIP seating during the show as well as all the other performers.

Anyway ... my gripe! :hv20-smilie15: This zoom button is driving me NUTS! No, not the way it works or where it's located but the SOUND of it. Unless there's a lot of sound from what you are shooting all you can hear is the click, click, click of the zoom button as you let it go while zooming.

Is it me or does anyone else notice it? ARGHHHHHHHHHH! :hv20-smilie36:

Most all I shoot is music but if I was shooting a silent movie and I didn't want to hear the audience clapping than I would flatten the sound in RLE. Just a thought. Maybe it won't ruin your day if you know you can easily spot the noise in your RLE at the zoom points and remove the audio. Of course the other option is to move to an external mic and say goodbye to the internal cameral noises.

Incidentally while we're on the zoom topic, my gripe is that I can't find a fixed setting that is slow enough to look professional. The auto setting takes a very nimble finger to not push too hard. I've screwed up more than one zoom by over pushing the switch and get a fast zoom. Unlike the experts here that recommend not to ever zoom, I think a slow zoom in or out once in awhile to move the viewer from the whole band to someone taking a super guitar break looks fine. I just watch that I don't over do the quantity of zooms. For that matter, I think you want to keep camera view changes to a minimum of at lest a minute or so in between.

[24Peter]

I love how slow the HV20 zooms in automode. Agreed it's sometimes difficult to repeat exactly and the little rocker button is, well, a challenge at best. But I can get some super slow zooms which I love.

[bluegrass]

I love how slow the HV20 zooms in automode. Agreed it's sometimes difficult to repeat exactly and the little rocker button is, well, a challenge at best. But I can get some super slow zooms which I love.

You're right of course which you will be able to see when I get some more of my videos posted. It's just the agility riquired for the slow zoom in automode that sometimes can ruin an otherwize nice slow zoom. There were more than a couple times in my 44 hours of shooting last week that I said to myself "awe crap" as the zoom went like a rocket compared to the first notch of autozoom.

[Murrelet]

I get nice slow zooms, then want to speed up just a hair, sometimes it works, other times...well, I know I'll be editing that out. I figure a one foot long joy stick stuck to the little switch ought to do it...:hv20-smilie03:

[PWHerman]

bluegrass: You ever try using the Zoom Controls located under the LCD Screen? They're fixed and pretty slow.

[bluegrass]

bluegrass: You ever try using the Zoom Controls located under the LCD Screen? They're fixed and pretty slow.

Yeah. That surprize the heck out of me the first time I accidentally pressed them for some reason. I'll test that method again to see if they operate any slower than the slowest fixed zoom speed does.