Shutterbugs will be thrilled by Canon’s new six-megapixel digital camera. The D60 is based around the same design principles as its predecessor, the D30, but includes a raft of improvements. Its resolution has been increased by 100 per cent, and it has an upgraded 1.8-inch LCD monitor on the back. It can shoot three frames a second for a burst of eight frames, and has features to give better image quality in difficult shooting conditions. You store images on the 128MB CompactFlash card that’s supplied. All this in a lightweight yet strong cover and stainless steel chassis. You get the picture. Well, you will.

3-CCD Pro AVCHD Camcorder
The AG-HSC1U has no tape I mechanism, and captures highly-accurate 10801 images onto an SDHC memory card in 6:9 in the new AVCHD format, The Kit includes a 4GB SDHC memory card, and a portable, digital cameras,
media storage unit for off-loading content. 12X Leica Dicomar Lens  3×1/4′CCDs w/3.8k Megapixels Optical Image Stabilization

Call an organization that has an event already scheduled, video cameras, like an environmental group that will be planting trees. Ask them if you can videotape the digging and say that they can use the video in the future to promote Mother Earth. Don’t forget to tell them you’re giving the video away for good!

Before diving into the world of raising money, figuring out tax-exempt status and getting an executive board, why not learn to swim with others? Starting out by helping charities with video is exponentially easier than beginning your own nonprofit. Take your camera, microphone and editing chops to an already established organization and get some experience.
So where do you find these charities? If you are already involved in the community, it’s a no -brainer. Just find a way to work your video wonders with the groups you already know.

Sit the nervous nelly down while you park yourself next to the camera, and strike up a conversation. Ignore the camera and be informal, digital cameras. If this still doesn’t work, I always use my “Tape is Cheap and We Edit” speech: “Don’t worry about saying the wrong thing. I’ll cut out anything that doesn’t sound good; that’s what editing is for. In fact, you can say the same thing three times and I’ll just take the best one. Tape is cheap. There is no rush.”

Setups – The Sun
Let’s start with the easiest setups and take advantage of the beautiful spring or summer sun. First of all, think of the sun as a very small, very intense light. The sun is best used during the morning and late afternoon hours to take advantage of its color, as well as the angle of the light. But, believe it or not, you can also use the sun at high noon!
If you do have to shoot at noon, place your talent in the shade of a tree with a shaded background. Place a smooth surface reflector in the sun at the 3 o’clock position and reflect the sun towards another smooth surface reflector or mirror positioned above and at the 11 o’clock position behind your talent. Focus this reflector onto the back of the talent’s head and shoulders. Use another soft gold reflector slightly above and at the 5 o’clock position and bounce the light from the back reflector into your talent’s face for a very nice soft warm light.

Sun in your eyes?—will you be shooting into the sun from where you’re sitting? If so, you might want to consider moving, even if it puts you in the visitors’ bleachers – just try not to cheer too loudly.
Hey, down in front!—is there a space specifically for press? If not, get a seat where people won’t be standing between you and the action. When Junior makes his touchdown, you don’t want the back of some guy’s head to be the only record you have of it.
Randy Hansen, chief photographer for WINK-TV, has been videotaping sports for years and recommends that at a minimum you should have a camera with a good quick zoom and extra batteries. That, however, isn’t nearly as important as understanding the game. “That requires,” says Hansen, “you know where to be when it’s 3rd and 9 (down field about 10-12 yards). If you don’t know, I wouldn’t shoot the sport until you could learn more about it.” Randy also says it’s vital to grab a copy of the program with all the players’ names and jersey numbers to reference later.

SONY HDR-hc7 HDV Camcorder
• 1/2.9″ ClearVid, 3.2 Megapixels CMOS Image Sensor
• Carl Zeiss Vario-SonnarT 1 Ox Optical,
20x Digital Zoom Lens
• Super Steadyshot Optical Stabilization
• Microphone and Headphone Inputs
• HDMI Output

JVC  Everio GZ-HD7 3-CCD HD Hard Drive 1080i Camcorder
• Built-in 60GB Hard Drive
• 3x l/5″lmage Sensors with 570k Pixels each
• Fujinon 10x Optical Zoom Lens
• Full HD (1980×1080) Resolution with Pixel-Shift Technology
• Optical Image Stabilization
• Archive Capability to Blu-ray Discs
• HDMI Output
• HD Software Bundle Included

SONY-DCR-HC96 MiniDV Camcorder
• Carl Zeiss Vario-SonnarT Optics
• Progressive Shutter System
• Primary Color Filter
• 1/3″ Advanced HAD CCD with 3 Megapixels
• 10x Optical, 120x Digital Zoom
• Super Electronic SteadyShot
• 5 Lux (0 Lux in Super NightShot Mode)
• Built-in Flash

Camcorder Conclusion
When deciding which HD camcorder to buy, consider whether you truly are a hobbyist or a prosumer. Many of the smaller HD camcorders are ideal for both, but prosumers may need the extra features found in the higher-end HD cams. Always keep your end needs in mind when choosing a camcorder. Happy shooting.

What do all the editing applications that support high definition video have in common? They all contain ways to capture HDV footage using an intermediate codec, changing the HDV footage to a more standard and universal high definition (HD) format, which is easier to edit with.
The reason is that HDV’s compression, which is very similar to how video is compressed for DVDs (MPEG-2 TS, or transport stream), is hard to cut natively on an edit system. This is why the manufacturers of most of the major editing software provide an intermediate codec or offer one as a plug-in. The footage encoded with the intermediate codec can be converted back to HDV upon playback to camera or VTR, though with uncompressed HD, the file sizes can easily quadruple.

The first thing that the program asks when you start it is whether you want to create an NTSC or PAL project. If you’re just going to Blu-ray Disc, this question will seem quite strange on the surface, but the reason the program asks has to do with one of the line items on the box. The program includes the ability to write the same project to both Blu-ray Disc and DVD—a very useful feature that has the potential to save you a lot of time (depending on the scope of your disc authoring project, of course).
We found the process to bring assets into program a bit confusing at first. The File > Import > Media option seems a logical choice on the surface, but fails to bring in anything but still images. However, there’s also File > Add Movie. This is the one you want to use for bringing in your video clips. The program is also finicky about file extensions—we had some .m2t (MPEG-2 transport stream) files captured from a Sony HDR-FX7 HDV camcorder via Sony DVGate Plus that had to have their extensions changed to .mpg before we could import them.
The arrangement of the program in its default workspace (there are a few others to choose from) made immediate sense to us. The menu bar is arranged left-to-right in order of how you will be accessing the functions beneath (e.g., Timeline, DVD Menus, Simulate, Burn)