Less fatigue, and a camera you can take pretty much anywhere in a small bag! That's what really makes the 7 my personal fave. Just learn to hold 'er steady and shoot thoughtfully!

Can someone tell me about zoom control?
on the hc3, you zoom and just juts up fast. is better control meaning that is would go slower and smoother?

YEs Dave! I was mislead by the computer (at 1/2 resolution -- full wont even fit on the screen) jumply, but fine on the TV. and I have dual 1.8 G5 Mac.

On sound, unless I have an overhead boom with shotgun, which is too much hassle for what i"m doing, it seems best best is just to get real tight to the talent. As soon as I even shoot a person full body, I hear all sort of stuff outside the apartment. unless someone has more ideas on that.

George: so practice, meaning you just have to concentrate on a steady hold. not intuitive as you would like to get lost in the moment.

Kevin,

I've found zooming on the HC3 pretty difficult to do smoothly, especially if you are trying to start slow and gradually pick the pace up, then ramp back down to your final zoom. Zoom rate seems to occur in very noticeable, discrete steps.

I was looking today for a more precise rocker-arm type LANC zoom control, but all I found were button units and really expensive tripod mounted systems.

Roger -
Unless you spend a lot, all the LANCs are probably going to be "2 stage", IOW fast or slow... only better control is the on cam control. You might look at the Varizoom brand, I think some of those allow variable speed for a somewhat reasonable price...

Kevin - be one with the camera <wink>! You'll find that as you practice stable holds, you start to feel how the camera fits into the scene you're shooting and with practice you'll "get lost in the moment" fairly easily - any new cam is going to take some setting used to - these micro size monsters are probably the easiest to adapt to - they won't be so apt to get the talent freaked, and they are very easy to control and get different angles and camera techniques handheld or with lightweight gear!

Glad to read your footage was fine on TV. Most of my experience with seeing small jittering was during the editing preview process. I'm looking forward to finishing my current project and seeing how the final product looks.

Roger/Dave
is this zoom control any better in hc7 or HV 20 or gotta go to high end models?

thanks wisdom Dave B!

Kevin,

I'll have to leave that zoom input to Dave, I don't have experience with the 7 or 20.

Kevin -

The zoom lever on the HC3 and the HC7 is pretty similar - the one on the HV20 is fine too, although the physical lever itself is not as comfortable to work with IMO. The main thing I think is tricky is when you use a LANC control (Sony only) for zoom - they seem to be 2 speeds, instead of a dynamic range as you will get with the on cam lever.

The wheelythingy can be used for focus too, but I don't know why you'd bother...

Obviously a focus/zoom ring is preferable like on the HC1, or even better dedicated rings for each function like on the FX1 and 7 or the Z1& V1.

Bigger cams have more room for manual controls, but then again do you want to lug them around for casual video? There are LOTS of places that the HC3 and it's sucessors have opened up the opportunity for really amazing high quality video just cause those little cams can go just about anywhere!

I put together a small backpack camera kit with all the needed accessories for an HC3, and that kit went everywhere cause it was easy to grab and go - the HC7 replaced the 3 in that same kit, and guess which cam goes with me most of the time... it's not the FX7 <wink>

On this one, I can say I agree 100%. I have the Spot Focus on the first page of my Pmenu. Just touch pmenu, spot focus, and click the item. Faster than the dial and it little more reliable than trying to make sure it was in focus with the screen or viewfinder.

Hey Sony, et al... Next time you implement this, it sure would be comforting if you the distance on the screen during a spot focus or even normal ops.

What is spot focus? as opposed to regular auto focus?

You touch the screen on the object to focus on. Spot meter works the same way.

sorry, did not understand that.

Kevin -
it's a specific mode in the camera, where the AF function can be "directed" to a specific spot on the touchscreen - as with George's setup - I hit p-menu, spot focus, and in two touches, I'm in a sort of "assisted manual focus" mode - your 3 has it too I think - search your menus.

All the critics seem to hate the touchscreen, but for spot focus, what could be better than telling the cam to "focus HERE!" And now over HERE! And now back HERE.... bwahahahha, complete control at my fingertips!

Rack focus, easy, focus off center, easy, and one touch and you're back to auto focus.

Try it, you'll like it.

Spot focus is great. If only there was a way to detach the LCD or add another and use it like a remote...

actually I like touch screen more that traditonal navigation

I'm really far sighted. I can get good focus with the touch screen without wearing glasses! :-)