Fundamentals CMCI 2001
The Canon VIXIA HF G40
Shooting Modes
The Canon VIXIA HF G40 uses several shooting modes to help you recreate life-like images for special scenes. The shooting modes include Baby, Auto, Cinema, Scene and the Programmed AE mode (P), which will give you the most control over other settings like focus whilst the camera adjusts the exposure and shutter speed automatically.
To select the shooting mode, touch the shooting mode button located in the upper left of the screen. When the camera is powered up it will operate from the last shooting mode that was selected. To change the shooting mode, press the current one that is displayed. Then drag your finger across the selections, seen below, to choose the desired mode.
AUTO
For beginners especially, you might want to select simply AUTO. In this mode, the camera will automatically adjust everything, including exposure and focus. But you can choose among the other modes if you're trying to go for a different look. However, you can also choose to have more control over the camera functions as well. See below for the options.
Baby Mode
This mode is ideal for parents and great for beginners. It lets you concentrate on precious moments whilst the camera takes care of all the other settings.
Cinema Mode
Choose this mode for cinema-look filters. Once pressed, the filters choices will be displayed. Drag your finger across them to find out their function and then press OK to select.
There are 7 filters:
- Cinema Standard
- Vivid
- Cool
- Nostalgic
- Sepia
- Old Movies
- Dramatic B&W
Special Scene Mode (SCN)
Use this mode to select from a number of special scene options. Drag your finger across the options to learn their function.
- Portrait - emphasises the subject by blurring the background.
- Sports - use for fast moving subject
- Night Scene - capture the beauty of nightscapes
- Snow - ideal when surrounded by sunlight reflected off of snow
- Beach - ideal when surrounding by sunlight reflecting off water
- Sunset - reproduce the vibrant colours of sunset
- Low Light - make subjects in dark places appear brighter
- Spotlight - use for subjects illuminated by a spotlight
- Fireworks - show the splendour of fireworks
Programmed AE (P)
The camcorder adjusts exposure and shutter speed whilst you can concentrate on other functions like focus, brightness and other settings.
The Main Functions Menu
When you want more control!
In this menu you can select the functions that control the camera focus, zoom, slow and fast motion, the audio scene, the mic levels, exposure, white balance and others. In certain shooting modes, some of these functions are not available. For example, Focus is not available when using the AUTO mode.
Click on the Main Functions button located in the lower right portion of the LCD panel (the icon looks like a movie camera).
Drag your finger to select any of the functions that are available with the shooting mode that you're using. Again, some functions, like focus, are not available if the shooting mode you're in automatically adjusts the focus. If you want more control over the image, use the Programmed AE (P) mode.
