Quick Links

• How to reset the XF400 camera settings
• XF400 Camera Manual

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XF-400 Kit Contents

Canon XF-400

1. Canon XF-400 Camcorder
2. Canon XF-400 XLR Adapter Handle
3. Sony ECM-XMI Microphone

Canon XF-400 AC Adapter (2 cords)

Canon CG-800 Charger

Sony Headphones

White Card

USB Mini Cable

15ft XLR Cable

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Powering the camera

There are two ways power the camera:

1. Canon CG-800 Battery (does not come in kit, book separately via connect2)
2. Canon XF-400 AC Power Adapter (comes in kit)

Option 1 – Powering the camera with a battery

1. Place the CG-800 battery into the slot on the back of the camcorder so that the “Canon” logo is right-side-up

1. Slide the battery upward until it clicks into place
2. To remove the battery, hold the release switch on the bottom of the camera while you slide the battery out of the track

         

Option 2 – Powering the camera with AC

1. Connect the AC power adapter from an outlet to the port on the back of the camera
2. The port is located behind a rubber flap to the right of the battery pack

         

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Turning the camera on

         

1. Turn the camera on by sliding the power switch away from the center “Off” position
2. There are two “On” modes:
   • “Camera” mode – Used for recording video
   • “Media” mode – Used for playing back video

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Inserting an SD card

         

• The camera has two SD card slots (labeled “A” and “B”)
• If you decide to insert two SD cards, the camera will record to slot A and move to slot B when the card in slot A is filled (called “Relay Record”)
• Slide the SD slot switch to open the protective door
• Insert your SD cards with label facing out (toward you)

         

• It is best to insert SD cards before turning the camera on
  • However, if you do insert them while the camera is on, you will notice the red access light come on
  • This is a warning to not remove the power supply, change shooting modes, or otherwise disturb the camera – you risk losing data on the SD card if you do!

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Important On-Camera Controls

Lens gate

This is a protective cover for the lens

To open it, slide the button on the left side of the lens shade to the “Open” position

Every time the camera is idle or powered off, please close the lens gate!

Focus/Zoom Ring

Wide/Tight Zooming Buttons

• The A/M exposure button indicates whether you are manually controlling exposure or having the camera do it for you automatically
• We recommend leaving it on “Manual” to limit exposure fluctuations that the camera may introduce in “”Auto” mode

Auto/Manual Focus Button

• The AF/MF button indicates whether you are manually controlling focus or letting the camera do it for you automatically
• We recommend having this in the “Manual” position to limit focus fluctuations that the camera may introduce in “Auto” mode
• However, this is more of a user preference, as some shooting conditions may lend themselves better to auto focusing

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LCD Screen

• The XF-400 has a touchscreen LCD monitor that flips out from the left side of the camera.
• Below is an explanation of all of the icon indicators:

LCD screen indicators that should not change

There are a couple of video settings that should never change, and you will immediately know if they are wrong by looking at the LCD screen:

1. 23.98P MP4
   
   This indicates the frame rate (23.98) and video codec (MP4)
   These are set on contemporary film standards and what the Hamel labs are capable of handling
   
   
2. 1920x1080 35Mbps
   
   This indicates the resolution (1920x1080) and data rate (35 Mbps)
   These are set on what the Hamel labs are capable of handling
   DO NOT CHANGE YOUR RESOLUTION TO 4K! You will not be able to play back your footage on a Hamel suite if you shoot in 4K.
   
   
3. 1/48
   
   This indicates the shutter speed (1/48 of a second per frame)
   The shutter speed should always be double the frame rate (24 x 2 = 48), as this best replicates how our eyes/brain process light passing through our irises
   Raising or lowering shutter speed will introduce flicker or blur artifacts (respectively)
   
   

Controlling exposure/color temperature

All iris/color temperature controls are located within the "FUNC" button on the LCD monitor.

After touching this button, you will see a menu at the left with a number of icons.

You will only have to concern yourself with three of these:

Iris

• Touching this tab will give you a slider to change the aperture
• Units on this slider are F-Stop (lower F-Stops allow more light into the sensor [brighter], higher F-Stops allow less light [darker])
• The exposure meter at the right is helpful when selecting aperture 

Gain

• Touching this tab will give you a slider to change the gain
• Units on this slider are dB (ideally, this would be set to the lowest value possible while still achieving exposure - higher values will brighten the image but introduce grain)

AWB

• Touching this tab will give you a series of white balance options:
  • AWB - Auto white balance, the camera will select the color temperature for you (the XF-400 actually does this well)
  • Sun Icon - Daylight balanced, light from the sun will appear as white
  • Bulb Icon - Tungsten balanced, light from incandescent bulbs will appear as white
  • Custom WB Settings 1, 2, and 3 - These are available for you to set your white balance with your white card (as explained below)
    
    

White balancing with a card

  1. Select the custom white balance number you wish to set

  2. Touch the 3-slider button near left of LCD monitor

  3. Hold the white card so that it fills the white box

  4. Touch the “Set WB” button

  5. Wait until the flashing icon stops within the white box

  6. Custom WB is now set (you should see the Kelvin value on the screen change)

Dual Pixel Focus Guide

• The XF-400 has a very handy focus guide
• Touch the LCD monitor where you would like to achieve proper focus
• The focus guide will move to this portion of the frame

• It will give you an indicator telling you how close to proper focus you are on the subject

• Rotate the focal ring until the two triangles overlap and the box turns green

• To turn this feature on/off, press button 3 on the camera body

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Audio Hardware

• The kits come outfitted with a mounted microphone plugged into input 1
• The camera also has an internal microphone (which will likely be of lesser quality than the mounted mic)
• You can set these inputs and their record levels on the handle of the camera (behind the clear plastic door, covered below)

Mapping Audio Hardware

• The left side of this button panel indicates the audio hardware being sent to CH1 (left audio channel)
• The right side indicates the audio hardware being sent to CH2 (right audio channel)
• You'll always send the mounted microphone through CH1
• For CH2, you have options:
  • If you are using a wireless lavalier, you can plug it in next to the mounted mic and send this through to CH2
  • If not using a wireless lavalier, you may want to send the internal camera mic to CH2

Setting Microphone Signal/Power Level

• LINE
  • Line level is the strongest audio signal level (0.3V - 2.0V)
  • You should select LINE when your audio input source is not a microphone (i.e. an external recorder, an amplifier, an iPod, etc.)
  • Can be used with wireless kits if the receiver AF is set to +12dB
• MIC
  • Mic level is a weaker audio signal level than line (0.005V - 0.05V)
  • This is a standard audio level for all microphones, however some mics ("condenser microphones") require additional power in order to operate (see below)
  • Can be used with wireless kits if the receiver AF is set to -30dB
• MIC +48V
  • MIC +48V indicates a mic level signal as well, but this selection also sends 48V of power to the microphone
  • This should be selected when using "condenser microphones," like the kind that comes mounted on the camera (almost all film/boom mics are condensers)

Setting Auto/Manual Audio Level Trimming

• This is indicated by the A/M switch above each channels input selectors
• It should almost always be set to manual to reduce the amount of audio level pulsing that the auto setting can introduce

Audio Monitoring (headphones)

Audio can be monitored by plugging headphones into the port near the battery pack

To adjust the headphone volume:

1. Navigate to the sound menu, then over to the 3rd tab of options. On this menu, you should be able to see the Headphone Volume option on your screen. Your screen should look like the picture above.

2. Once on the Headphone Volume page, you can use the touch screen to increase or decrease the volume of your Headphones.