Panasonic AG-AC130A Series User manual

Camcorder

Battle Creek Area Community Television

70 West Michigan Ave., Suite 112 • Battle Creek, MI 49017 • (269) 968-3633 • http://accessvision.tv

The camcorder is a Panasonic AG-AC130A. It can record in several different video formats to SD

(Secure Digital) cards. The camera offers both automatic and manual adjustment features, making it

both easy to use and capable of producing excellent, professional-quality results.

The camera can run on either AC power or battery power.

Attaching the battery

Insert the battery and slide down until it clicks into

place.

Removing the battery

1. Turn the camera’s POWER/MODE switch to OFF

2. Remove the battery while pressing the battery

release button. Support the battery with your hand to

ensure that it will not fall.

Battery life: A fully-charged battery will last about

2.5 - 3 hours. This will vary depending on usage, i.e.

how much zooming, recording/standby time, etc.

Attaching the AC power adapter

1. Connect the DC cord to the AC adapter.

2. Plug the AC cord into a power outlet.

3. Insert the DC cord’s battery connector until it clicks into

place

To remove the AC adapter, turn the camera’s POWER/

MODE switch to OFF and remove the DC cord’s battery

connector while pressing the battery release button.

Turning on power

First, open the lens cap by ipping the switch on the

left side of the lens hood. The turn the POWER/MODE

switch up to the <ON> position while pressing the

lock release button. The mode lamp <CAMERA>

lights up in red and the camera goes into standby

status (<CAMERA> mode).

If the POWER/MODE switch is turned up to the

<MODE> postion, the mode lamp <PB> will light

up in greenand the camera goes to playback mode (for

playing back footage already recorded). Every time the

switch is turned to the <MODE> postion, the mode

will change between <CAMERA> mode and <PB>

mode.

To turn the camera off, turn the POWER/MODE switch

up to the <OFF> position while pressing the lock

release button. The mode lamp <CAMERA>/<PB>

goes off.

Photograpy Basics

EXPOSURE: The amount of light entering the camera, controlled by the IRIS. The iris determines the

aperture, or the variable-sized hole allowing light to enter the lens. The size of the hole is measured in

f-stops. The smaller the f-stop number, the larger the size of the hole; the larger the f-stop number, the

more light it “stops” from coming through and the smaller the hole. The difference between f-stops is

equal to doubling or halving the amount of light entering the lens.

FOCUS: Point at which objects in front of the lens form a sharp image. Focus is determined by the

distance between the lens and the subject.

DEPTH OF FIELD: The distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear

acceptably sharp in an image. The lower the f-stop number, the shallower depth of eld becomes.

WHITE BALANCE: adjusts the color of the image. The video image is made up of red, green and blue;

adjusting the white balance changes the sensitivity of the camera to each of these colors to

compensate for the color temperature of ambient light. Tungsten light bulbs tend to have more red and

are “warmer”, while sunlight has more blue (“cooler”). The camera must be adjusted accordingly to

balance these differences out, and accurately reproduce color.

AUTO vs. MANUAL: In most situations, while you are still learning how to use the camera, AUTO

mode will get you decent-looking results most of the time. However, sometimes AUTO will produce

unexpected or unacceptible results, depending on your shooting conditions. As you become more

comfortable using the camera, you will nd that more professional-looking results can be obtained by

setting some or all of these controls manually. Iris, focus, white balance and audio levels can each be

adjusted automatically or manually.

Shooting in Auto mode

1. Turn the camera on.

2. Set the <AUTO/MANU> switch to <AUTO>

3. Press the <START/STOP> button to start recording.

Press the <START/STOP> button again to stop recording.

AccessVision’s cameras each come with a 64 GB SD card,

which holds about 4 hours 38 minutes of standard

denition (DV) footage, or 6 hours 32 minutes of high

denition (AVCHD) footage.

To display the amount of time recorded, press the

<COUNTER> button repeatedly until “CLIP” appears on

the upper left corner of the screen. Total recording time

remaining is shown under the clip counter.

Adjusting the iris

In AUTO, ashy subject matter may cause the iris to open and close erratically. Scenes which are

heavily backlit may also produce an unwanted exposure. Setting the exposure manually will eliminate

this.

1. Switch the <AUTO/MANU> switch to manual mode.

2. Press the <IRIS> button to switch to auto or manual

iris. AUTO IRIS: automatically adjusts the iris value.

MANUAL IRIS: manually adjusts lens aperture.

3. When manual iris is on, adjust the lens aperture by

turning the IRIS ring.

Gain and ND Filter

If you’re shooting in a dark area where there is not enough light for the camera, you can increase the

exposure level by raising the gain.

Gain settings:

• Low <L> 0 dB - this is the normal position when the gain is turned off

• Medium <M>- raises the gain of the camera by 6 dB, or one f-stop

• High <H> - raises the gain of the camera by 15 dB, or 2.5 f-stops

Note that shooting with the gain on will increase the amount of noise and result in a picture with more

grain. If possible, add more light to the scene and avoid using gain to get the cleanest image.

ND Filter:

If you’re shooting outside in sunlight, you may notice that it is difcult to turn the iris down enough get

good exposure. If this happens, use the ND FILTER switch on the side of the lens. This will lter out

some of the light entering the lens before it hits the iris,

without changing the color. Normally, the iris should

not be set higher than f8; if it is, use the ND lter.

• 1/4: Intensity of light is cut down 2 f-stops

• 1/16: Intensity of light is cut down 4 f-stops

• 1/64: Intensity of light is cut down 6 f-stops

NEVER USE THE ND FILTER INDOORS!

Manually setting focus

1. Switch the <AUTO/MANU> switch to manual mode.

2. With the <FOCUS> switch, switch the focus control method:

<A> AUTO: Automatically sets the focus

<M> MANUAL: Manually move the focus ring to set the focus.

To temporarily go into auto focus mode:

Even if the <FOCUS> switch is in the <M> manual

position, while pressing the <PUSH AUTO> button, the

camera goes into auto focus mode and the focus can be set

automatically.

Adjusting white balance

Adjusting the white balance changes the sensitivity of

the camera to different amounts of red, green and blue

light to compensate for the color of ambient light. In most

cases, the camera does a good job of white balance in

AUTO mode, but if you need to manually adjust the white

balance:

1. Set the <AUTO/MANU> switch to manual mode.

2. Set the <WHITE BAL> switch to <A>.

3. Shoot something white and zoom in so that it lls the screen.

4. Press the <AWB> button. Adjustment is completed in a few seconds, and will display the

message on screen: [AWB Ach OK].

Manually adjusting sound levels

The same concepts for AUTO vs. MANUAL settings apply to sound:

AUTO will get you acceptable results in most cases, but MANUAL is

better once you are comfortable with the camera and want the most

professional results. To change the recording level to manual:

1. Set the AUDIO AUTO/MANU CH1 or CH2 switch to <MANU> position.

2. Adjust the audio signal recording level using the <AUDIO LEVEL>

knob. Before recording, check the audio level meter display on the

bottom left of the screen. The highest level should peak at around -12

dB.

Always use headphones to monitor the audio.

External Microphones

While the camcorder has a built-in microphone, using an external microphone allows you to place

the mic much closer to the sound source and get better sound. The closer the microphone is to the

sound source, the better the sound will be recorded.

We have several types of external microphones: clip-on (lavaliere) and handheld.

Usually, the clip-on mic is used for interviews. It should be clipped onto a lapel or

shirt placket no more than 10” below the chin, and made to look as inconspicuous

as possible by running the wire underneath clothing.

Since it runs on a battery, the power must be switched

on at the belt pack.

The handheld mic is a good all-purpose mic to use for news conferences,

standups, meetings, musical events, etc. With no battery inside, the

handheld mic is ready to use as soon as it’s plugged in. Both microphones

have windscreens that can be used to lter unwanted wind noise or strong

breaths.

Connecting microphones to the camera

1. Use an XLR cable to connect the microphone to the AUDIO

INPUT1/2 XLR 3-pin terminals.

2. Switch the connected audio input signal with the INPUT1

LINE/MIC switch or INPUT2 LINE/MIC switch.

Use <MIC> when connecting either kind of wired microphone

or wireless handheld;

Use <LINE> when connecting to a wireless clip-on or any

mixing board/PA sound system.

3. Use the AUDIO CH1 SELECT switch to select the input signal

to be recorded to audio channel 1.

<INT (L)>: audio from the built-in microphone Lch is recorded.

<INPUT1>: Audio from the device connected to AUDIO

INPUT1 terminal is recorded.

<INPUT2>: Audio from the device connected to AUDIO

INPUT2 terminal is recorded.

4. Use the AUDIO CH2 SELECT switch to select the input signal

to be recorded to audio channel 2.

<INT (R)>: Audio from the built-in microphone Rch is recorded.

<INPUT2>: Audio from the device connected to AUDIO

INPUT2 terminal is recorded.

Sennheiser AVX Wireless Mics

AccessVision has several digital wireless lavalier and handheld

microphones. The microphones act as a transmitter, while the receiver is

connected to the camera instead of an XLR cable. Any wireless lavalier or

wireless handheld mic can be used with any receiver, but the receivers only pair with

one transmitter at a time.

To power on:

Receiver: press red power button

Lavaliere transmitter: press red power button (on side)

Handheld transmitter: press clear light button (just above

Pair button)

To power off:

Receiver: press and hold red power button for 3 seconds

Lavaliere transmitter: press and hold red power button for 3

seconds.

Handheld transmitter: press and hold red light button (just

above Pair button) for 3 seconds.

To pair transmitter/receiver: Red light = no link; green light = linked.

1. Turn on power for both

2. Wait; do not press anything while yellow/red lights ash

3. Units will automatically pair up after about 10 seconds. If yellow lights ash, pairing may take

longer. Just wait for them to nish ashing. When the receiver and transmitter both show a solid green

light, they are paired together.

To change pair to a different transmitter:

1. Turn on power for new transmitter

2. Press and hold Pair button on transmitter for 3 seconds

3. Press Pair button on receiver

4. Wait for lights to stop ashing yellow. This may take 30-60 seconds or more. Do not press any

buttons during this time. When the lights stop ashing, they should stay a solid green, which means

“paired”.

Battery life:

• Receivers last about 3-4 hours

• Lavalier and handheld transmitters last about 15 hours

To check remaining battery life on receiver:

• Quickly press (without holding down) red power button. Battery life will be

displayed in 1-4 green bars.

To adjust output gain:

1. Turn receiver on

2. Gain will be displayed in 1-4 red bars, with more bars =

higher levels. Press AF Out button multiple times to cycle

through the 4 levels.

• The lavalier puts out a very high signal; 1 bar is sufcient when the camera’s input

is set to LINE level.

• Sennheiser recommends against using AUTO levels on the camera.

Wirelessly recording a sound system feed:

The lavalier transmitter pack can also be used to connect to a mixing board for recording a sound

system feed:

1. Unscrew the lavalier mic cable and unplug it from the transmitter pack.

2. Plug in the XLR > 1/8” stereo mini adapter cable into the transmitter

pack.

3. Connect the XLR end into the mixing board’s output.

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