General Info on the 2100 « Videomaker Community Forums

video novice
Member

Thanks to advice from this group, I now have a Sony DCR VX-2100, Sony LCH-FXA hardcase and Bogen 745B w 503 Head. I also got the Bogen 560B but when I tried to use it at a basketball game, it sucked big time. I hope to be able to use it in it future but I would not recommend it for anything other than sweeping a panorama. The tripod works well if you use the hardcase in a lower row of the bleachers to support the third leg.

I received the camera just before Christmas and it has been a long journey. Please remember that I have no one to fall back on but this group.

I am learning from my mistakes but is there a book with hints and/or guidelines on operating the camera. If so, this is a pub I could use.

For instance, I need to know if I should be using the filter inside or only outside to protect the lens? I close the doors on the hood when I am not filming but what else should I be doing.

I have found that if I control the tripod head with my left hand, I can better operate the camera with my right hand. But it took me several games before I figured this out.

Filiming the action, I have only been able to use the auto focus. Is anyone able to use manual focus for action and if so how?

When Compusolver finishes his Wedding instructional series, a good operational manual for the VX2100 would be nice. But reading this group, most have experience with videos, whereas I am a complete dunce.

I will soon be ordering the Azden WMS-PRO for some grade school auditorium events videoing. Is there anything else I need to be cautious of when using this. And what is the adapter that is referred to since the mic is mono.

I am using this only for personal use and I won't recover any funds so I do need to be cautious with my equipment. This camera and videoing (and future computer and editing equipment) is now the substitute for my motorcycle, poker nights and beer habits. And that new car is far, far in the future.

TIA for any help.

jerry

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

Jerry,

You'll be happy to know that your VX2100 is safer than your motorcycle and less fattening than beer. The bad news is that your videography hobby is likely to be more expensive than 24/7 poker.

I don't have a lot of experience with basketball (never got into watching a bunch of guys run around in their shorts!), but if you're getting good results with auto focus, I'd just hush up about it and let everyone think you're doing it manually! X-D Seriously, auto-focus is great but it comes with a price - those brief moments when it focuses on the far-side bleachers, or the other side's cheerleader (wait, maybe that isn't so bad after all!).

You might try a manual setting that is about halfway between the normal close action and normal far action. If that works, you're set! (I still would let other videographers think I was manually focusing - just put your hand there and act like you're turning furiously!)

There is nothing better than manual focus, but it takes time to get the hang of it and a lot of time to master. Play with it during practice games, when it doesn't really matter. Meanwhile, use a static setting or auto focus, if that will work for you.

If low-light isn't an issue, then why not leave that ultraviolet filter in there? (I assume that's the one you mean). Otherwise, take it out indoors. Assuming you don't live in the tropics or the artic, shutting the lens cap is often one more step than I take. I treat my cameras like good tools, but not like delicate instruments. VX2100s are tough.

You shouldn't need any adapter for your WMS-PRO other than the cable that comes with it. It will have a 1/8 mono plug at one end (for the receiver) and a stereo 1/8 plug at the other (goes into your camera.) If you want to use a second audio source, you'll either need a Beachtek 4a or Azden's on-cam mixer (cheaply made, but only costs about sixty bucks).

Thanks for the plug on our course. Wedding season has started early for us (we're nearly booked through May!) So that's slowing things down a little.

Posted 5 years ago #
Ken
Member

Always, always, always keep the UV filter on the lens. It protects the lens from scratches. A scratched filter can be replaced for $10 or $20. But the lens.... replacing the front element of the lens would be very expensive and time comsuming.

And if you need to clean dust off the filter, that's a lot better than cleaning the lens. Several lens cleanings over the life of the camcorder could wear away part of the anti-reflection coating.

BTW, I'm assuming the filter is completely clear, or is a UV filter (has a very faint yellow tint). Such a filter takes away only a very tiny amount of visible light. It shouldn't affect the exposure.

I wonder if a monopod would work better for a basketball game. Not sure, but might be worth a try.

My 3 cents worth :)
Ken Hull

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

I guess Ken's technically right, but if you've got your lens hood on, something would just about have to crawl up in there to scratch the lens.

As for cleaning and coatings, if you're using the proper materials and proper technique, you should be able to clean your lens every day for ten years without ill effects. That's nearly what I did with my Yashica-A that I used as photo editor in high school and in subsequent jobs until Uncle Sam sent me on a cruise to that wonderful Asian vacation country, what was it's name? Something 'nam). It worked flawlessly through married life with the occasional kids greasy finger prints needing to be cleaned off. I think it met its end as one of the items my ex wife was flinging at my head (thank goodness she was as inaccurate as that fast-ball pitcher the Rangers had in the eighties), but the point is that, at least in that case, the lens coating did not wear off after a million cleanings and years of rough use.

You can't go wrong doing it Kens way, but I wouldn't go overboard. Like I said, if you're in low light conditions and getting grain with the gain, then the filter comes off and maybe even the speed drops to 1/30

Posted 5 years ago #
video novice
Member

Well, I didn't make it to Nam. As a matter of fact, my free ticket on the big flat top was finished approximately 8 years and 2 months prior to the big fire (and near extinction of John McCain). Glad I was gone prior to the fire as my General Quarters station required me to exit to the flight deck and go back to another door to the deck where the hand held CCA radar operator stood. My job was to maintain the CCA radar so I spent many an hour there watching the birds fly out and back in. I also maintained one of the antennas at the very top of the mast and spent several hours at the very top.

As to the filter, it has not created a problem yet but I will now know to look at quality. With the new 'No Smoking' law in OH, I should not be bothered with cleaning the nicotene from the lens. So far, just to remember to restart the camera when I put it in standby, is a lot for me. I have stopped recording at a lengthy timeout and forgot to restart. Didn't know it until the camera timed out and turned it self off. My face was RED! I will use the filter on all outdoor activities.

And -- I read the book more and will try to capture a picture from tape and also see what I get by capturing from from one of the DVDs. But I don't expect good enough quality from the DVD.

I am slowly learning.

Please keep shooting the advice. Just don't expect me to take it all in at once.

jerry

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

I meant "cruise" euphemistically. They actually couldn't wait for me to get there, so they flew me. I was Army. Tech supply sgt. Didn't see much action except twice. Once they evacuated the base and forgot to let me know (sort of). I taught myself to use an M60 right quickly. The other time, I flew to Saigon to buy a model airplane engine, so I could fly combat U-Control against some Aussies (yeah, we were fighting that war really hard), and got caught up in a ground attack in Chou-lon. Had a few rounds come in pretty close, but my only weapon was a Leica 35mm, but I shot back furiously with it!

Posted 5 years ago #