fireworks

Just wanted to make a quicky post about filming fireworks.

The Samsung SC-MX20 is not really built to film fireworks. I tried last night using the cnite setting on 1/15, but that sets the exposure way too high.

If you try to manually set the exposure, you might have better luck, but the shutter speed is still going to be too high. Once you set the cnite, you can't change any other settings. Bummer.

Try it. Experiment. Let me know what you get. I hope to paste mine in sometime today.

Depth of Field Effect, can it be done?

You've seen the use of depth of field all over the place. It's kind of an artsy way of presenting something on film. More accurately, it mimics the way your eyes work when you focus on something. What you are focused on is clear, while everything else kind of blurs. This is especially noticeable if you look at something close, like the steering wheel of your car, then something far away, like a truck a half mile ahead. You get the idea.

Here's a definition and an example.

http://en.mimi.hu/photography/depth-of-field.html






Now the question is, can you get that effect with the Samsung SC-MX20? Since this is just a standard definition point and shoot camera, how much can you get away with?

Below is a sample I shot at the park. I played with the manual focus to see what could be done.



The problem with the manual focus is that is isn't really manual. It moves at the pace the camera lets it. But you can see, you can kind of, sort of get the depth of field effect if you play with it enough.

All I did was go into the menu, scroll over to the Focus option (kind of looks like this: [ ]) then chose manual. Now you can use the left and right controls to change the focus. If you push the center button, it lock in your focus and you have to go back into the menu to unlock the controls again. Then just set up your shot and push record. Use the controls to change the center of focus while you shoot.

It's not movie camera quality, but it is kind of a nice effect. There are limits with the Samsung SC-MX20, but with some experimentation and imagination, you might be able to get around them.

What I'm here for.

I get many messages from trolls and haters that say "just get a better camera" and "Windows Movie Maker sucks, get such-and-such" and "why bother, just go download such-and-such from piratedsoftware.com".

And you know what? If I had more money and didn't have a sense of morality that didn't allow me to pirate software, I might. But guess what? I'm broke, so getting a new camera right now is not feasible. And as a former software designer and developer, I know how much work goes into these programs and I firmly believe the developers deserve to get paid for their work.

Why do I continue to use the Samsung SC-MX20 when there are less buggy camera's out there? Why do I use Windows Movie Maker when I could just go download an Adobe program or something else?

Because once you overcome the bugs, the Samsung SC-MX20 is a really good standard resolution camera. It meets my needs of recording the events of our busy life and sharing them with family far away. And I use Movie Maker because it's free and it too meets my needs of putting together my clips into a good movie that I can burn to DVD and pass off to my mother to play on her TV.

Simple as that. I'm not a movie maker. I'm not a YouTube partner who is making money on his clips, I'm just a guy. A dad who takes short movies of his kids' programs and plays and shares them with family. I am currently disabled, so I can't afford another camera. I'm also a firm believer in getting your money's worth. I bought it, so I'm going to use it until it dies. Simple as that. Fortunately, I'm also technical enough that I was able to figure out how to fix the issues with the video produced by the camera and I'm happy with it.

So, would I suggest spending the money on a Samsung SC-MX20 to someone looking for a new camera? Probably not. You can get a Flip or something similar that doesn't have the issues his one does. Plus with everything going HD, you'll want an HD camera for your HD television.However, if you find one on Craigslist or eBay for cheap, get it.

And would I use Windows Movie Maker if I had access to a better program? Probably not. But I'm not going to steal it and you can't beat "free" as a price. Movie Maker does a great job for what I need it to do. Any more bells and whistles I probably wouldn't use anyway, so why bother with them? With patience and practice, you can get some great effects.

So, that's why I'm here. To help people like me who bought the Samsung SC-MX20, can't or don't want to spend more money on a different camera, and also can't spend the money on other video software and/or believe illegal downloading is wrong.

If that's you, then welcome, this site is for you. Please participate and ask questions and share your creations.

If you'd rather be a hater or a troll, that's your right, but I'm not going to respond to you, that's my right.

Have a happy!

Did you know?

You can follow me on Twittter @samsungscmx20! Be notified of new versions of The Fix as well as any exciting or interesting blog posts.

Unusual Reviews

I know this is translated from another language and I have no idea which one, but it just struck me as funny, so I thought I'd share.

Click Here

Wanted - reader submissions

I know there are a few readers out there. Maybe not many, but a few. I'm looking for your help in contributing to this blog. How do you use your camera? Have you found solutions to some of the problems? Have you taped anything really awesome? Do you have an example of the interval recording? Post a comment below if you have something you'd like to share.

Finally!

Thanks to a suggestion from blog reader and friend Trikster, I have built a new version of The Fix. Trikster suggested that I improve the way The Fix handles audio. I have done my best with the update to make sure the program does not touch the audio from the original to the converted version. You can download the update here:


https://sourceforge.net/projects/thefix/files/Converter.zip/download