Using Hardware 2:

Digital Cameras, Camcorders, VCR Players

Digital Camera

The Sony Mavica is a camera that records pictures and short movies in a floppy or memory stick. To turn it on, you need to press the green button while sliding the power button. This camera has three basic modes: STILL, PLAY and MOVIE.

Still mode: Take pictures. Make sure that a floppy is in the unit and is not full. To take a picture, you will need to press the shutter button half way down. Once you confirm that the frozen image is correct and the green indicator is not flashing, fully press the shutter down.

Movie mode: Record short movies. If you press the shutter button fully down and release it, a movie will be captured with the time length showing on the top right corner of the LCD. If you press the shutter button down and hold it, a movie will be captured for the time you hold the button and will stop upon release.

Play Mode: Use the Control button to browse through the images/movies. If you want to play a movie, press the Menu/Control button.

Using the zoom feature: Use the zoom lever located at the top front of the camera.

Recording images with flash: The flash button is located at the back bottom of the camera with a ‘ray’ symbol. By default, this setting is in AUTO, but pressing it will change it as follows: AUTO - Red-eye reduction – Forced Flash – No flash – AUTO

Menu Settings: To access menu settings press the up arrow in the Control button

+ Effect > Date and Time: Displays the date and time on each picture. Default is OFF.

+ File > Image Size: Set the image size. Default is 640x480.

Camcorders

The Sony Handycam is a Digital Video Camera Recorder that has four modes:

VCR, OFF, CAMERA and MEMORY. Each one is set by pushing the green button on the Power slide while moving the slider to make a selection.

Camera Mode

First insert a tape in the unit. To insert a tape, slide the open/eject button at the bottom of the camera, wait for the unit to come out, slide in a tape and close the compartment. Do not push the compartment inside. Change the setting to CAMERA. When ready to film, press the RECORD button (red, next to the power slider). Pressing the Record button while taping will stop capturing and the unit will go on Stand-By until you press the Record button again to continue taping.

Backlight: When the shooting occurs with the light source behind the subject, the BACKLIGHT button should be used.

Nightshot: Allows to record in the night. The Super NS adds extra brightness.

Recording a Picture. You can record a still image on tape. To do this, press the Record button and then the PHOTO button. If the Photo button is pressed once, a still image with 1 sec of duration will be capture, while if you press and hold the Photo button, the length will be until you release the button.

VCR Mode

This mode allows you to preview the film on tape. It works similarly as a VCR, with the regular play, rewind, fast-forward, stop and pause operations.

Memory Mode

If you have a memory stick, you can use it to record movies. To do so, set the camera to memory mode and press record. You may see the contents of the stick by pressing PLAY. If you wish to play a movie, press the MPEG button. To move to other selections use the +/- buttons.

VCR player

Transferring from the Camcorder to VHS

+ To transfer the film from the camcorder to a VHS tape, you first need to connect the camera to the VCR. Using the AV connection cable plug the single-end to the Audio/Video port on the Camera. Insert the AV ends (Yellow-Red-White) of the cable to the Input port on the VCR.

+ Set the Camera to VCR mode and press PLAY

+ Ensure that there is some output to the TV.

+ When ready, press RECORD on the VCR.