Setup a Tripod for a Camcorder

Edited by Grimm, Eng

2 Parts:

Hi, you're watching VisiHow. Today, we're going to show you how to set up the tripod for your Canon Legria HFR 500-series handheld camcorder, or the Canon Vixia HFR 500-series handheld camcorder. The only difference between the two devices is that the Legria is PAL-standard and the Vixia is NTSC-standard. NTSC is for North America, and PAL is for Europe.

Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas38 442839.jpg

Steps

  1. 1
    Here we have a nice little Velbon tripod, so let's get this unzipped and opened up
    .
    Okay, it's unzipped. Let's prop it open.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas75 581102.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  2. 2
    We'll start with the bottom
    .
    Pop this up. The foot slides up and slides down. If your feet are on a flat surface, you'll generally slide them out equally. However, sometimes you may have a whole, in which case you slide one piece out and the rest of them don't come out.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas117 392855.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  3. 3
    So, we'll put them back because we don't need them
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas120 285173.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  4. 4
    Next thing we have is the tripod head
    .
    There's a little lock button here. You can see it says "Free" and "Lock."
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas136 480752.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  5. 5
    You push it out to open, which let's me take this off
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas137 698642.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  6. 6
    Then you push it in and lock it to close it
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas142 538407.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  7. 7
    Now, we're going to open it
    .
    Now when it's just opened, it won't come off. That's a safety feature in case you forget to close and lock it, so you don't drop your camera on the floor.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas153 429668.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  8. 8
    So we're going to push that open, and take a finger to lift this out
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas157 574346.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  9. 9
    Now as you can see here, there's actually some notches
    .
    Those notches line up with these parts.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas177 357329.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  10. 10
    So what we're going to do now is take the camera, set it on its top
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas189 234089.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  11. 11
    You see that hole we talked about earlier - that's where we're going to put this
    .
    You see the screw here. On the bottom side, we have a little notch. We also have a little pushable piece. The push piece is going to go there and the screw is going to go there.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas199 372349.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  12. 12
    So let's put this down here
    .
    There's the hole. Line these pieces up. Get that push piece lined up in there properly.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas211 561071.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  13. 13
    So now we're just going to hand tighten this
    .
    This will tighten the base plate.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas243 849227.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  14. 14
    When our base plate is tightened, I'm going to give it another twist
    .
    You can use something other than your hands to tighten the base plate, but I don't normally do that. It's a good idea if you're moving around a lot and bumping it. I'm not planning on moving around and bumping it though.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas272 09571.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  15. 15
    Now we just take our camera, and it slides right in here
    .
    To do that, we have to push on the little button here. The lever we talked about. You push that lever.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas281 254307.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  16. 16
    Take this lever, push it open and you stick your camcorder in there
    .
    I'm going to start by sliding my camcorder in here. Then I'm going to take my finger and push this lever up, and lock it. Now the camcorder's attached.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas299 539645.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  17. 17
    The next thing we have is this little arm here
    .
    When you turn and open it, it allows you to move the camcorder up and down. Generally speaking, you use this to control your shot.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas324 966466.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  18. 18
    I'm going to close the lens cover while we're talking, like this
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas343 668244.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  19. 19
    We're going to pick it up
    .
    Normally, you want to make sure your camera's not attached when you're sitting it up. But because this is a small camera, that is fine.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas362 616828.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  20. 20
    Just open it, hold it and apply a little pressure
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas363 385053.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  21. 21
    Push down and click
    .
    Now we're ready to go!
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas367 719055.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  22. 22
    We've got the handheld piece I showed you earlier, which lets you slide up and down
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas373 616472.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  23. 23
    Here we have a level bubble
    .
    This is a little bubble down here that lets us know that it's leveled. If you're on an un-leveled surface and you're shooting, it can be quite irritating when you find out it's not leveled.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas382 360092.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  24. 24
    Here we have a knob on the side
    .
    You turn this knob and it allows you to rotate the camera.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas408 595819.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  25. 25
    We can close that
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas409 431721.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  26. 26
    We have a little lever here
    .
    You turn this lever and it allows you to actually lift the camera to get some rather strange angles. Depending on what you're doing, you may need to do that. However, the golden rule of video recording is that everything is in landscape mode. Landscape mode is longways. You don't want to have portrait mode, which is kind of up and down.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas412 636009.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  27. 27
    Last but not least, we have this little guy here
    .
    You turn this to open it. This gives you access to this handy little lever here.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas439 141049.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  28. 28
    You take this lever and pull it out
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas450 842171.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  29. 29
    And just like an old fashioned pump-house, you can turn it to raise the camera
    .
    Just fantastic. If you let go of it, it's going to fall.
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas456 451171.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  30. 30
    So once you turn it, you tighten it up
    .
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas461 765783.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  31. 31
    And there you are
    !
    That is how you get your tripod set up for your video camera or your regular camera. Thanks for using VisiHow. Have a great day, and we look forward to seeing you in a future video!
    Setup tripod for camcorder.mp4-canvas474 406893.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help

Video: Setup a Tripod for a Camcorder

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

Comments

Article Info

Categories : Cameras & Photography

Recent edits by: Grimm

Share this Article:

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 373 times.

x

Thank Our Volunteer Authors.

Would you like to give back to the community by fixing a spelling mistake? Yes | No