Master Ped whats its equal compared to DVX ?

[matt s.]

On my DVX I always keep the master Ped @ -7 or -8 so what would this setting be on the 150 since it now goes to -100?

[seven.b]

Hey, I just got my HMC today, since it is my first prosumer camera, I would also like to know how the old Master Ped scale compares to the HMC's?

Thanks.

[matt s.]

After some more reading I now set my MP to the point when the exposure marker reaches 0% with the lens cap on. which differs a little depending on your gamma setting. This should give you actual black but be able to retain some detail in the shadows etc. with out crushing the blacks too much. I have shot some with -36MP and got cool results but it really depends on what look you are after.

[Oliax]

interesting idea. which exposure marker are you referring to?

[matt s.]

Heres a good thread on this


The exposure practice I use with HD is the same as any other video camera, except the DVX, HVX and Varicam have one very special feature that most cameras do not which makes exact exposures easier: the spot meter. When you turn the marker feature on (you toggle through it using the Zebra button) the little square inside the big square in the middle of the viewfinder is the area that is being measured by the spot meter with the "exposure" values (actually video lumniance levels) indicated in the lower-left side of the viewfinder, from 0% to 99^%.

So you now have a way to determine exactly where in the tonal scale from black with no textural detail (0) to dark grey (15-25) to middle grey (45-55) to light grey (66-75) to complete white with no textural detail (99^) any particular part of the scene is. If you want to create an image with the minimal of noise, make sure you have gain set to 0 and at least some areas of the scene in pure black. In terms of scene file settings, I like to set the master pedestal down a bit (like -4 to -6 or so, it's a "salt to taste" kind of thing), to assure your blacks are really black, so I bring the master pedestal down until pure black (lens cap on) reads 0%. This avoids murky blacks in the image.

Now you can use the spot meter to place your shadows in the 10 to 30 IRE range, your mid tones (18% grey if you have a photo background) around 45 to 55 IRE, your highlights with textural detail in the 70-80 range, and you can determine easily than anything over 90 is pure white. This allows you to tweak your lighting to suite your needs.

In situations like the following where you don't have control of the lighting:

http://static.flickr.com/34/108620493_5ba018f013.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kino-eye/108620493/in/set-72057594076216873/)

The spot meter is especially handy, as you can accurately determine the exposure checking various points in the scene and see where they lie in the range. The spot meter is almost as good as having a waveform monitor with you, a critical component for getting perfect exposure in video. The above image was shot with an HVX200 with Cine Gamma and Cine color matrix and I placed the spot meter on the silver platter close to the window, than should show some textural detail, and I adjusted the iris so the brightest highlights on the platter were right at 100. Then I checked my shadow areas, and fine tuned a little, bring the exposure up a notch, allowing a small portion of the platter to be at the 99^ reading. Had I been doing lighting, I could have used the spot meter to accurately determine how much light I needed to bring something out of the shadow, but not be murky, by placing it around 15 to 25.

The marker is one of the most amazing features of the HVX and DVX, anyone who studied the Zone System in a photo class will really take to this. The problem with Zebras is that they are "high water markers" but don't tell you important information about your shadows. Having some solid black in the frame helps reduce the perception of noise in the shadows. But at the same time you want to make sure that elements that are critical to see are sufficiently lit to clearly see details, above 15 or so. The zebras in the HVX are better than most, allowing you to choose anything from 50 up to 100, so you can use them as an indicator of highlights without detail (100) and mid-tones of the scene (50), most other cameras don't let you bring a zebra so low. While I use the zebras a lot, if I have the option, it's nice to use a Sony PVM series field monitor (properly calibrated to bars and re-calibrated every time the ambient light situation around the monitor changes) and a waveform monitor for even more precise exposure determination. The LCD on the camera, as far as I'm concerned, is good for three things: (1) framing the shot, (2) focusing ith the focus assist, and (3) using the spot meeter. For accurate, perfect, exposure, in spot meter I trust.

Note: if you want to see the original DVCPRO HD frame that the above image was made from, here's a two frame QuickTime movie: http://www.kino-eye.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/02/HVX200-First-Look.mov (472 KB, DVCPRO HD codec) with the above frame and a related frame (a close up of the power supply voltage meter).

[Oliax]

thanks matt, very valuable and helpful information.