remove the zebra patterns (assuming the Zebra is set
to 90%).
e display changes as follows each time you press
the ZEBRA button:
Zebra 1: zebra 1 displayed
Zebra 2: zebra 2 displayed
Marker: a spot meter reading is displayed
Off: no exposure assist display
In the DISPLAY SETUP menu, ZEBRA DETECT1
and ZEBRA DETECT2, can be set to indicate
different brightness values that will trigger the
appearance of the zebra patterns. If the ZEBRA
DETECT2 item is set to OFF, ZEBRA2 will not be
displayed even if the ZEBRA button is pressed. e
zebra pattern you have set appears as a percentage on
the display for about 2 seconds. Zebra pattern are not
displayed when the focus assist
function is in use.
Exposure adjustment using
the marker
If you press the ZEBRA button
while the zebra pattern is being
displayed, a marker appears in the
center of the display, assuming you
have set the DISPLAY SETUP
menu item MARKER to ON).
e brightness of the area in the
viewfinder indicated by the marker
will be displayed as a percentage
(0% to 99%) in the viewfinder. 0
corresponds to black, 50
corresponds to middle-gray, and 99 corresponds to
pure white without any textural retail. A reading of
“99%
↑
” appears if the luminance is over 99%. While
in marker mode, the normal viewfinder display will
appear if you press the ZEBRA button.
Gain adjustment
e camera has a video gain circuit that amplifies the
video signal in order to make it possible to shoot in
very low light situations. e side-effect of video gain
is that the image will exhibit considerable more noise,
therefore, you only want to shoot at high gain
settings when it’s absolutely necessary.
To manually set the gain, make sure the AUTO/
MANUAL switch to set to manual mode.
Switch the gain using the GAIN switch on the side of
the camera, with the default camera settings the three
positions are:
L
: For shooting under normal lighting conditions
(0 dB video gain)
M
: For shooting in low light conditions (6 dB
video gain)
H
: For shooting in very low light conditions (12
dB video gain)
You can change the amount of video gain that
corresponds to the M and H switch settings by
changing the MID GAIN and HIGH GAIN items in
the SW MODE settings menu. If the AGC item on
the AUTO SW settings menu is set to anything other
than OFF, the gain setting will be set to automatic
during automatic mode, regardless of the position of
the GAIN switch.
When a slow shutter speed (e.g. 1/15) is set, the gain
is fixed at 0 dB gain regardless of the position of the
GAIN switch.
ND filter adjustment
Sometimes you’ll find yourself shooting in conditions
with too much light. You want to avoid shooting
with lens apertures of f/11 or f/16 if you can avoid it,
because at these settings lens performance suffers due
to excessive refraction. e sweet spot in terms of
maximum sharpness for the lens on this camera is
around f/4 or so. In order to open up the lens in
bright shooting conditions, the camera is going to
need the equivalent of sunglasses and here’s where the
ND (neutral density) filter comes it. It’s a colorless
filter that reduces the intensity of the light entering
the camera. e ND FILTER switch can be set to
one of the following settings:
OFF
: e ND filter is not engaged
1/4
: Reduces light intensity by 1/4 (2 stops)
1/16
: Reduces light intensity by 1/16 (4 stops)
1/64
: Reduces light intensity by 1/64 (6 stops)
Introduction to the Panasonic AG-HMC150 AVCHD camcorder (rough draft)
http://kino-eye.com/dvb/
10 / 35
Gain, ND, and white balance
