Suggestions for improved digital camera video recording:

• For best results, shoot video when there is plenty of light, otherwise images will contain noise.
• The beginning and end of a hand-help video are often shaky due to switching the recorder on and off. Begin recording slightly before needed and stop recording a little longer than needed. The beginning and ending segments can be easily cut when editing.
• Some suggest shooting videos in segments of under one minute to keep the movie from becoming boring. There are exceptions such as if you want to record an entire speech.
• Shorter segments can be joined by using video editing software that often comes with the camera.
• Leave headroom at the top of the video when taking movies of people so it doesn’t look like they are hitting the upper part of the screen during playback.
• If your digital camera has Image Stabilization, set it to continuous IS mode when shooting video, (video mode may be set to continuous IS by default).
• If you take lots of video, you may wish to purchase a tripod with a fluid pan head that can be panned at 360 degrees and tilted up and down.
• If your digital camera is capable of zooming while video recording, don’t zoom in and out too much as it can be distracting when replaying the video. If and when you use the zoom, zoom slowly. You can also move back and forth with your feet instead of zooming.
• Move your camera slowly when switching from one area of a scene to another. This will let changes in exposure transition more naturally if one part of the scene is brighter than another.
• Some video modes do not focus continuously so don’t make dramatic changes in distance to your subject.

Bar of light on the LCD

A bar of red or purple light  may appear on the LCD monitor when photographing a subject that is ‘too bright.’ This is a normal occurrence in devices containing CCDs and does not constitute a malfunction and will not show in still photos.

However, the light will be recorded when shooting video. Change you angle when shooting video should this bar of light appear on the LCD.