Optura 300 Mini-DV Digital Camera

Shutter speed, focus, backlight, and white balance are pretty standard automatic controls, and each control typically has a range of options so that you can set the camcorder to recognize and optimize every aspect of your setting. Shutter speeds, for example, may list settings such as "Portrait," "Landscape," "Soft light," or "Spot light" to name just a few.

Automatic controls are good for those "point and shoot" situations, but sometimes you may want to set the controls yourself. Many videographers choose to manually adjust focus, white balance, and color settings because they have a very specific idea in their mind as to what the final video should look like, and this may not necessarily be in keeping with the camcorder's automatic settings-particularly if the goal is to shoot with an artistic flair. Manual override settings are the answer; just click off the automatic feature, and you're on your own.

Beware that manual controls require much practice, and until you are confident in your abilities to judge the setting and set your camera accordingly, you might want to stick to "manual" in those "once-in-a-lifetime" moments.

Digital effects
Other controls that you might find useful-or at least fun-are the digital effects. Today's digital cameras allow you to switch on effects such as black and white, sepia, artistic, mosaic, or wide screen. Some cameras even have a "classical" mode that adds a flickering affect like an old movie. Be careful of these controls, though. Once you shoot the film with the special effect, you can't remove it; if the effect doesn't turn out to be as wonderful as you imagined, you've lost the shot altogether. A better option for such effects is to shoot the original footage without the effects, transfer a copy of the video to your computer, and then use a software program to add your effects. This way, if you really mess up the video, you just trash it, copy it from the original again, and give it another try.