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Research Guides@Tufts

Video Recording Kit

Getting Started

1. Attach microphone

  • Place the microphone into the red mic mount. 
  • Slide the black rectangle (shoe) of the microphone into the slot on the side of the camera and tighten the black knob. 
  • Just under this mount is an AV area. 
  • Open the cover and plug in the microphone into the red jack. 
  • Connect headphones into the other jack.

2. Power on/off

  • Turn on the camera. 
  • A charged battery and reformatted SD card should already be in the camera.
3. Video Mode
  • Select a mode. 
    • We have created basic settings to get you started in Mode 1. 
    • The settings on this device are set to auto exposure settings and adjusted to record XAVC S HD files at a 24p.  These are standard quality settings. You can adjust these settings in the menu.
    • If you switch modes, you will need to reset these settings manually.  
  • You may want to use S&Q (labelled S&Q) for additional settings.
    • More information on using these modes are included in the Filmmaking Techniques guide linked in the "Additional Resources" tab. 

 

Adjusting Settings

There are lots of settings you may interested in changing.  Some settings to consider adjusting are:

  • White balance: Click Fn >  AWB and use the scroll wheel near the display to adjust
  • Exposure Mode:  Click Fn > Exposure Mode.  Adjusting this mode will allow you to change settings such as your aperture or f-stop, shutter speed and ISO. 

More information on these settings is included in the guide for Understanding Exposure for Photography and Film which is linked here* as well as in the Sony a6600 User Manual.

Recording Quality

This camera is set to record XAVC S HD files which is relatively high quality. However, it does have the capacity to shoot in 4K. Below is a chart for comparison (1080 is HD).

Source

If you would like to change your camera's file format to 4K go to Menu > Under the Camera 2 Icon > File Format > XAVC s 4K. Keep in mind 4K files are larger and will take up more storage on your SD card. Be prepared that you might run out of space. There is an additional 64gb SD card provided in the accessory pouch for these purposes. 

Recording Times on 64GB SD card

The table below shows the approximate total recording times using a memory card formatted with this camera. For more details see page 615 of the manual. 

We recommend shooting XAVC S HD 24p which would give you 2hrs and 35mins of recording time on our 64gb SD cards.