The New Camcorder!

~**Panasonic SDR-S7**~This camera records on an SD card! So make sure you have one wih
at least (in my opinion) 4 gigs! They are so cheap these days, might
as well get one with a lot of gigs. (f.y.i. this camcorder isn't HD).

So I'm happy to say that I got a new camcorder!! :) I always do a
looot of research before I spend a lot of money on something, and
with my budget and what I was looking for, I'm certain I found the
right product for me. :) The main things I were looking for in
particular were a flip around LCD screen, and a good auto focus. I
haaaated how with my other camera (Canon powershot SD750
digital ELPH) I would bring a product close to the lens and it would
be totally blurry! Don't get me wrong, the SD750 is awesome for
pictures- the colors are great and it's a small size (great for travel),
but I wanted something for recording. :)

I wanted to get something that was in my budget- I just sold my
ipod so I my limit was about $250. Luckily, this camcorder was on
sale for $200 at best buy!

This camcorder is suuuper small! Look at the size of it in my hand.
After reading reviews, I did see a lot of people say that this camera
gets very warm after holding it in your hand for around an hour of
recording. The battery life is also pretty bad- it only lasts around 40
minutes to an hour. It took me about 2 hours for the 1st time I
charged it, give or take some time.

NOTE: the pic underneath this text was taken with my laptop cam.

After MUUUCH experimenting, I have decided that for me
personally, I find that I get the best results for tutorials with these
settings: MNL (manual, not auto), Portrait mode, XP (highest res), Indoor lighting (unless you are outdoor of course), 4x3 (instead of 16x9- personal preferece). Sometimes
putting on backlight compensation mode helps too, but note that it
will make you appear "brighter".
There is also an editing system that comes with this camera. I don't
really like it, nor do I care to learn about a new system right
now..lol, I'm doing well with my windows (vista) movie maker.

Some cool effects~-Scene modes- (Off), portrait, sports, low light, spotlight, and surf &
snow

-Soft Skin mode- supposed to soften skin & reduce the appearance of
lines.

-Magicpix- Supposed to brighten up objects or people in dim
lighting.-

Backlight Compensation mode- Supposed to brighten up ojects that
appear dark against backlighting (like if the sun is behind you).

**Just know that this camcorder doesn't do the best in low lighting! It will kindof neutralize colors and make your skin look a little dull. Natural lighting is always best. :)**

NOTE--- This is not for those of you who are looking for a good
camera to take pictures AND a video camera...the pics this camera
takes suck! The highest resolution it goes to is like 640X480, so it's
pretty small. Here's an example of a picture I took in natural lighting.

Using Windows Movie Maker??

(Note that I have VISTA, not XP)

I was a little worried when I tried to import my videos into wmm & they didn't show up...so it's super simple & you'll probably figure it out anyways, but I might as well put it in here--just click "all files" INSTEAD of the default which is "picture & video files".

Hope that helped some!!!! :)

~Sarah

<3