Zooming Tips

• Get used to using your zoom to vary the focal length of the lens. You will then get your zooms between, not during, shots.
• Avoid 'yo-yo' shots that zoom in and then out again. They have an unsettling on the viewer.
• Vary Zoom lengths and speeds. Slow zooms tend to concentrate interest; fast manual once give shock effects.
• zoom shots can be used creatively or opening and closing sequences. Starting on a detail and zooming out to reveal the whole subject makes an effective introduction.
  To close a sequence, break the rules (sometime you have to break them, otherwise there wouldn't be any room for creativity) with a zoom that deliberately goes out of focus.

Improve your Skills

1. As an exercise in zooming manually, have someone walk towards the camera from some distance away. Ease back gently with the zoom lever as they approach, keeping them in full frame all the time. Done properly, this is a most effective shot.

2. Try taking manual zooms at different speeds. You will find the slower ones the most demanding. If the operation is not smooth and controlled, you will end up with a series of jerky movements.

The Video Cam Zoom Lens

(by Roland Lewis photos by Jorg Fedler)

Video Camcorder zoom lenses typically cover a range of focal length of around up to 30 to 1, ie. the angle of a wide end is 30 times that of the narrow end.

On most models, the maximum angle of view is not particularly wide (usually similar to that of a compact stills camera), though some lenses offer a wider angle that can be used in confined spaces.

By contrast, the minimum angle creates a strong telephoto effect that is ideal for distant subjects and some models also feature digital zooms which multiply the telephoto effect.

It is also possible to get supplementary lenses for most models that screw onto the front of the zoom lens. A tele-converter will increase the telephoto effect by magnifying it by about 40%. The wide-converter will increase the angle of view by a similar amount.

Visual distortion occurs on both ends of the range. With he wide angle, foreground and background appear fa4rther apart, and any movement toward or away from the video camera is exaggerated. At the telephoto end of the zoom, perspective is flattened, depth appears compressed, and movement toward or away from the lens seems to be slowed down.

These distortions can be used to great effect. For example, wide angle views can be exaggerate or dramatize the size and appearance of buildings. Or they can accelerate the speed of, say, runners as they pass close to the video camera. At the other end of the range, the compression of perspective produced in the telephoto position can make the runners appear to be very close together and moving only slowly.

Zooming is achieved by movements of the lens which vary its focal lens. Zooming in narrows the field of view (and reduces the depth of field); zooming out widens it. The effect is controlled by means of a motor which responds to finger pressure on the zoom's rocker switch. On more sophisticated camcorders, a range of motorized speeds is possible by varying the pressure, and a manual override is provided.

Although the fixed speeds of the zoom motor can limit creativity, they due produce smooth results. With practice, the different speeds and styles of zooms can be produced manually with the zoom lever.

Zoom shots have such a powerful effect that it is tempting to overdo them. Limit their use or your videos will become to 'busy', making them overstated and visually disconcerting.

The zoom shot works best when taken for a good reason - to establish relationships, to reveal, emphasize or dramatize.

For Example:

• Zoom out from a golfer taking a putt to establish the position of the hole
• zoom in slowly on child's face to emphasize concentration.
• Zoom in quickly on the face of the recipient of a surprise gift to dramatize the moment.

When operating manually, pre-set the focus in the telephoto position. Start and operate the zoom smoothly, speeding up at the beginning and slowing down at the end to create visual buffers. As with all camera movements, hold the shot at the end so that the viewer can take in the subject (as a general rule for about 3 seconds, or until any action is completed).

To disguise the 'mechanical' effect of the zoom, make other camera movements at the same time. A sweeping pan combined with a zoom out creates a smooth attractive effect. Shots that follow action, such as a horse galloping across a field, may demand such treatment. Here, the action itself also diverts attention from the zoom movement.

Combining a zoom with a pan or tilt

action invariably gives a better composition to a zooming shot. Pulling out from a tight close-up of the subject and tilting down at the the same time produces a final image that is well composed and that tells the whole story by revealing all of the action.

A good zoom shot

entails more than just squeezing the zoom trigger. The final image must be well-composed and have a purpose. Simply zooming out from a tight close-up to a full frame results in an awkward shot, with too much headroom and an incomplete subject that does not explain the purpose of the shot.