Zoom
The main problem with zoom shots is that they are used too much. They may look great through the camera viewfinder, but edited together and on a larger screen they often distract from the subject – too much zooming and your viewer will find themselves losing interest. For the same reason you will generally want to keep your zooms slow and simple – let the viewer gain information from what you choose to show them rather than stringing together extreme camera movements which will only break up the scene and disorient your audience.

The main benefit of the zoom is that it allows you to adjust your framing without having to move the camera. You can shoot the whole scene and then zoom in for close ups from the same camera position. It is usually best to keep the framings as separate shots – shoot a Wide, stop recording, zoom in to a Close Up and start recording the second shot. Cutting the shot like this conveys the same information as a single zoom shot, but it is more efficient and more versatile in the edit. If you are zooming within a shot keep it slow, keep it steady and keep it simple. It is better to let the subject move out of frame briefly than to jerk the shot. If your subject is moving around a lot it may be a good idea to widen your view.

Often you will be using the zoom to get a sharp focus whilst setting up your shots. Whenever possible it is something you should do as part of the procedure for setting up every shot. Once you have chosen your camera position and rough framing, zoom in fully and focus on a detail (often an eye). When the image is sharp, zoom back out to your framing, the focus remains the same and you have sharp detail in your scene.

The further your camera is zoomed in, the more unsteady your shot. Handheld camera is very effective at wide angle, but if you are using the zoom you will need a tripod. If your framing is unsteady move the camera closer to the subject rather than zooming in.

The manual zoom ring is rotated clockwise to zoom closer. It does not drain your battery and can be much faster than using the motorised zoom. Usually the results are not usable at the editing stage because of the unsteadiness of the shot, it is mostly used to set up shots quickly.

The servo (motorised) zoom gives nice smooth shots and precise control over your framing. There is a zoom speed control located in the panel behind the closed LCD screen. There are three settings; slow, medium and fast. Better cameras have variable speed zooms – you press down harder, the zoom goes faster.

As with other changes of framing you should always leave several seconds of stillness before and after the camera movement.

Do not use the digital zoom. It reduces image quality too much. Also, bear in mind that zooming shots can look terrible when compressed for the web.

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Intro - Camera - Controls - Zoom - Tripod - Shot Categories - Movements - Sequences - Composition - Audio - Better Sound - The Procedure

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