On (Fri 13 Ja) Manuel Coats wrote to All...
 MC> I have noticed that what truly sets some of the higher end
 MC> brodacast shows apart from what I or many other videographers
 MC> shoot is the depth of field in the picture. During an interview
 MC> for example, the subject can be sharp and clear, while the
 MC> background which is only a few feet behind the subject is blurry.
 MC> This focuses the viewers attention on the subject itself. The
 MC> only way I can achieve this affect on my camera is to be far away
 MC> from the subject and to zoom in. You can see how unpracticle this
 MC> can be. My question is : Are there any SVHS cameras that have
 MC> this depth of field function (does it have something to do with
 MC> the shutter?) or is this function limited to higher format
 MC> recorders?
What you're looking for is a Manual Iris adjustment.  The iris for the
video camera, just like the iris inside your eyeball, is a ring that
can open and close to adjust the amount of light passed through the
lens.  (Actually, a video camera iris is often behind the lens, but
still in front of the pick-up chips.)  When the iris is "stopped down"
so that there is a small hole that light passes through, you'll have a
wide depth of field: both nearby and distant objects will be in focus.
You'll need a lot of light to get a bright enough image when the iris
is stopped down.  When the iris is opened up, less light is needed,
and also the depth of field will be very narrow: objects closer, or
farther away, than your main subject will be out of focus.  By the
way, the iris opening is measured in f/stops.  A *larger* F-stop
number means a *smaller* iris, more light needed, and greater depth of
field.
Auto-iris is a handy feature because it means you don't need to adjust
the iris yourself when the amount of light changes, but it also means
you can't set the depth of field to suit your own artistic preference
for each shot.  I'd suggest that you look for a video camera that will
let you manually set the iris when you're doing studio work, or set it
automatically when you're on location just trying to get a news-style
shot without worrying about its artistic value.
 MC> My next question is : What would you reccomend for lighting that
 MC> could be attached to a full size camera (AG-455) and provide
 MC> enough illumination to light up rooms in a house if you were to
 MC> video tape them? I would like to get something that is going to
 MC> function forprofessional work, yet won't break the bank either.
Are you just trying to get a picture of what's in the rooms, for
insurance purposes?  You could go to a home-repair supply store and
get some halogen lamps and stands - these are like car headlights, but
they run off regular electric current and come on stands.  Be sure you
have a balance of lighting on your main subject, with some light to
fill in on the side of your subject, and some to light up the
background as well.
 MC> What about mixing Hi-8 and SVHS in a two camera production?
The video director for Dodger Stadium gave me a great tip about
multi-camera setup: it doesn't matter if the colors are correct, but
it does matter that they match!  For the kind of cameras they use, the
color balance (proportion of red, green and blue colors) can be
adjusted manually using special test equipment.  If you saw a person's
face right next to their image on TV, you might say that the colors
aren't perfect; but the cameras are adjusted so that the color matches
on each of them.  If you don't do this, your audience may be
distracted when your star performer is blue on one side and green on
the other!
...  "Beware the low profit."  Giwer 1:1
--- PPoint 1.88
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