Buttons and Menus and Dials, Oh My!

Camcorders sure do have a lot of buttons, dials and menu functions. New shooters can be overwhelmed by all the features and functions on the latest camcorders. Some videographers have shot for years without pressing certain buttons because they just don't know what they are for. Whether your camcorder allows you to activate a function by pressing a button, turning a dial or opening a menu, this simple guide will explain the features built into today's camcorders.

Iris
Also called the aperture, the iris controls the size of the lens opening to govern the amount of light admitted. The iris is one of the principle components in the camcorder's exposure control system. An open iris lets in more light than a closed iris. In all consumer camcorders, the iris is controlled automatically and in better cameras it can be adjusted manually as well.

Digital Zoom
Digital zoom electronically enlarges the central portion of the image beyond the limits of the zoom lens' glass elements. As the zoom ratio increases (20:1, 50:1, etc.) the image recorded full-frame on tape represents a smaller part of the image formed at the chip. Since the original image consists of individual dots ("pixels"), enlarging part of it progressively coarsens the picture, lowering resolution and losing deta…