Production Skills- AVC Camera

Today we had an introduction to the AVC Camera which is a digital camera that films and records to an SD card, unlike the previous cameras we've been looking at which record to tapes and film. I have previously seen and been introduced to the AVC Camera before in college at CCAD on Green Lane, we had numerous tutorials on working on and with the AVC and had the opportunities to use it for filming our work. It's been a while since I've had any interaction with the AVC so I treat this session as refresher but I also learned new and interesting features to the camera. What was pointed out quite early was that we should not attach a microphone to the camera or use an internal mic because the sound will not have the same quality as using a boom pole and sound operator. Due to the camera been new and digital, it takes a class 10 SD Card to record all your footage and to remember that the camera won't work if the SD card door is open, so always check if you have this problem.

AVC has both digital and manual zoom which you can switch between and a neutral density filter which is described as sunglasses for the camera. It also features a manual and auto focus for when you need either or, and has the white balance feature located at the front of the camera. When fully charged the battery can last up to 400 minutes which is very impressive but if for any reason you feel like you'll need longer then always have a spare at hand. We took a look at the different modes and definitions the camera films in and looked at standard definition and high definition. Standard has two varieties with 680x480 = American and Internet standard and 720x576 = British standard so we noted to remember the British standard. The high definition is of course anything higher than standard. The specific camera we were looking at is the Panasonic AG-HMC151E and we will be using it quite often in future projects with it been digital and quicker than tape and film.