I nominate the ant for "Best Actor"! [grin]

Nice footage, what settings did you use? And refresh our memory (I know you posted this elsewhere) - what model Vixia?

...Jerry

I know I'm probably stating the obvious, but even the smallest sensor cameras have wonderful shallow depth of field on macro shots.

Jerry,

The ant took directions well.

This was shot right after the sun went down, so it was dusk. To be honest, I had it on manual focus, but I believe it was in PROGRAM AE. I shot a lot of shots at different settings, but I thought the colors and detail were shown best in this shot. The camera has a lot of manual control, but I am still getting used to what it can do and what I can make it do.

It is the Vixia HF M40. I got it refurbed from Canon for about 1/2 list cost.

Dave T2

Dave,

Which model Vixia do you have?

Byron, this was shot at dusk, so low light. That helped with the dof look. I was as close as it would let me focus.

Dave T2

Gary,

The HF M40. Lots of manual control as well as full auto.

Dave T2

I know I'm probably stating the obvious, but even the smallest sensor cameras have wonderful shallow depth of field on macro shots.

Laurence,

The Vixia HF M4xx line has a larger than usual sensor (Canon HD CMOS Pro) which helps even more.

Lou

Right, it has a 1/3" as opposed to the 1/4" of most.

Dave T2

Right, it has a 1/3" as opposed to the 1/4" of most.

Not only that. Most camcorders nowadays have far more pixels than is necessary for full HD video because people also like to take large format pictures with them. However, the large number of sensor cells necessitates to make them smaller. For full HD you only need 1920 x 1080 pixels and not more. Canon purposely reduced the number of pixels in the HD CMOS Pro sensor to that, whereby the sensor cells could be made larger and more sensitive, resulting in better low light performance and an increased dynamic range.

I have the same camcorder as Dave and I'm very content with it.

Lou

Dave,

Doesn't the lack of an external microphone input on the camera limit you?

John

By "decent DoF" do you mean "nicely shallow"? I am amazed how often people seem to love shallow depth of field. I agree that it is good if the background is irrelevant and you want to focus attention on the subject, but generally I prefer the whole picture to be in focus if possible.

My last SLR still camera was a 35 mm film type. In 2002 I switched to compact and then not so compact digital cameras and enjoyed the "good" (meaning "deep") depth of field. Recently I graduated to an APS-C DSLR and although smaller than the full frame SLR that I had been used to, I found myself battling to get the foreground and background in focus at the same time.

I guess it is a reflection on what I am trying to achieve compared to others. My video camera, being a consumer type, with a smallish sensor, has "good" ("deep") depth of field.

John,

It has a mini plug for external microphone or line input. With full manual or auto control for levels.
It requires a powered microphone.

Dave T2

Sorry Dave. took a quick glance at it and didn't notice. Nice find and a great price.

John