Hi all,

This is my first post here. I'm an IT professional so have very limited knowledge on video & photography. My father recently bought a HD100U for his newly started studio and i've been give the task of learning the functions so i tell the cameraman (who has 20+ years of experience) if he needs to know anything.

I have read the manual and able to operate it have done some shooting myself so i know some info about the camera.

My question is, what are the most important things to keep in mind when using this camera? What are the things that i should look for and know about. Basically a guide to a noob.

Thanks All.

don't pull out or insert the firewire while camera is on. just be careful generally about power/batteries, etc. otherwise if the camera you bought is in good condition it will perform like a workhorse.

Assuming you have the stock lens, that's an area to concentrate on. Be aware that the lens is subject to chromatic aberration at tele, needs to be backfocused , it breathes, and doesn't go very wide. On the other hand, it's easy to focus and is quite long so it can get some interesting shots and is good for sports photography. For sports, you might want to stay away from 24p, since it doesn't pan particularly well. Unfortunately the 100 doesn't do 60p in HD, you're limited to SD in 60p.

Some units are drop out prone, in my case that inspired me to invest in Firestore. That's a nice accessory to get, you can record simultaneously to tape and hard drive which give you the security of redundancy, an archive medium, and the ability to ingest footage quickly.

It's a durable workhorse of a camera and still produces a great picture, especially relative to the crazy low prices they're selling for on the used market.

'chromatic aberration' Can you explain?