The Canon VIXIA HV30 – My Latest Favourite Thing

I finally got Magnum (my new computer) and Gianni (my HV30), both purchased back in early September 2008, up and running a couple of weeks ago. Sad, I know. It’s been a long time coming and now that things are set up, I’m on a roll. This is the very first test footage I shot, edited and uploaded; nothing fancy, just testing my new digs with images of a few of my favourite things.

Unfortunately, the tripod that has served me quite well for shooting still images with Maxwell (my beloved Nikon D50) sucks for shooting video, so the pans and tilts are awful. But hey, gotta start somewhere, right? After much research, I’ve decided which “fluid-head” tripod I want and I’m ordering it today, so I should be rollin’ a lot smoother by next weekend.

Note: The full-sized HD (high def) version can be viewed here.

I have more tape of my favourite things that I am using to practise editing in Sony Vegas. I will post it soon. The bad news is that some of the footage is equally, if not more, shaky than this. The good news is that I am learning from it. Once I get the new tripod, I plan to shoot new footage regularly and post at least one video a week. Remember, I’m a newbie and I’m having to learn everything at once; the editing software, the camera and equipment, focusing and zooming smoothly, what works and what doesn’t, etc. For now, this is all I have.