Canon HV20 shooting modes, and other technicalities...HELP!?

Question

i know what the 1080 means but...why would someone wanna shoot in that or lets say 24p?? what does 1/48th mean?? and 1.8f? and that second bullet, please explain that. im getting into filming and want to get a nice camera, and im basically sold on this one lol...also, what are all the modes, such as cinema mode, er 24p. and why would you want to choose between them...pros and cons perhaps??

PLEASE HELP!

Canon hv20 cam video

- Shot in HDV, 1080p24, 1/48th, 1.8f

- JES Deinterlacer to AIC

Answer 1

For starters, the HV20 ONLY shoots in 1080. 1080 is a particular mode of HD. There are two: 1080 and 720, which represents the number of horizontal lines of resolution, so 1080 is the higher res of HD (so it takes up more hard drive space).  

1/48 is the shutter speed. It is a measurement of how fast the iris opens and closes, so in this case 1/48 of a second. You can change this though, depending on the camera. 1/60 is standard, and blurs less than 1/48, but 1/48 is nice because it blurs in a similar fashion as film. The higher the shutter speed, the less it will blur.

24p is the frame rate. Meaning 24 fields progressive. Digital video is normally shot in 30fps, but 24fps is the film standard. So 24p simulates 24fps. It gives the video that extra "film" look....keep in mind that it is a bit more difficult to edit.

1.8f is the F-Number, which is a measurement of how open the lens iris is. Again you can alter this during the shoot. The smaller the F-Number, like F1.8, the more OPEN the iris is, meaning picture is brighter, and at the same time, the more narrow the Depth of field.

  The larger the F-number, the more closed the iris is=darker, and the wider the DOF.

So your basic settings would be:

-Definately 1080i, or standard definition perhaps

-I suggest starting out with 30i, then once you get the hang of the camera, experiment with 24p

-the iris and shutter you can vary during the shoot. For example, when shooting indoors, you may want to keep the shutter lower, and open up the iris. Outdoors, you'll want to bring up the shutter and close the iris.

I'm not exactly sure what Cine Mode does, but from my experience on the HV20, I like it. The colors are a bit richer. I recommend experimenting