I'm a beginner so be patient with me. So I got this camera to shot family videos and to learn the biz. This camera produces a weird looking picture. On automatic with stock camera settings the whites a blown out and sometimes produces a bluish reflection when things are by bright light. Does anybody have some good settings that work for you? I'm shooting out doors and in. Please shine the light on this picture problem. Thanks

I usually shoot on manual so I would not know if auto would blow out the whites but it could. Auto will focus on the face and may blow out the clouds, house siding. So on auto it blows out the whites inside the house also?

Try going to manual and lower the iris or increase the shutter. Learn about zebra stripes on the camera and make sure you adjust setting to take most of the zebra stripes off. This is usually set to 80% so some things still might be blown out but most should be exposed properly.

Another vote for manual settings. The last thing I want in a video clip is for the camera to change exposure because I panned towards a window. You might update to the Version 3 firmware if you haven't yet done so. The addition of a histogram makes setting proper manual exposure a lot easier. I have the HM 200 (which is pretty much the HM 170 plus a handle and XLR inputs) and am very pleased with the results I'm getting.

With any camcorder, you need to either choose an appropriate WB (White Balance) preset for the conditions, or set manual WB. This could help with the bluish tint you see and improve image overall.

Different light sources have different color temperatures (Kelvin). Compare incandescent, flourerscent, sun, overcast, and you get different kinds of light, Your eyeballs adjust automatically so you see the correct colors in any lighting, but the camera, not so much. If set to Auto WB, you may not get the best results.

So either choose a WB preset that is suitable, or manually set WB. This is usually done by pointing the camera at something white (paper, card stock, table cloth, white shirt, whatever is available) and then setting the WB. This provides a point of reference for the camera - you fill the screen with the white object, then push a button to tell the camera, "THIS IS WHITE". Once that it set for existing lighting, all colors should then look correct.

Thanks

Jeff