HMC150 for wedding video

R

ronin99

Active member
Hello,

I will be shooting a wedding with the Panasonic HMC150 in the near future. This will be my first time shooting a wedding in HD. I love the look of 24p, however, I am concerned because I use a lot of slow motion. Should I shoot 30p or 60p instead? I would love to hear how others dealt with this issue. Furthermore, any other ideas or advice in regards to using this cam at a wedding would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
First you need to make sure your editing system can handle all the different formats, some don't handle 50/60p AVCHD.

If this isn't a problem, then I think 60p would be a good choice because it would be useful for slo mo
 
I'm in a similar situation (less than 2 weeks from now). I'm going with 60p for the shoot because of slow motion. I transcode with Neo Scene, so the editing system shouldn't be an issue.

I am also going with scene file 4 for the indoor stuff.
 
So if shooting the wedding at 60p in order to able to slow whatever part of the wedding I want in post, what is the work flow (if I want most of the wedding at regular speed, and the rest in slow mo)? Would I drop it in a 60p timeline and slow it there, or drop everything in 24p timeline and conform the desired slow motion areas tp 23.987?

My computer is quad core WinXP with CS4
 
One pet peeve of mine is people that slow down clips that are already slow to begin with. Like on Stuart's wedding clip, there is really no good reason to slow down the bride coming down the aisle with her father. It's already slow-paced. Adding slo-mo justs make it drag.

Any FX should be used sparingly and appropriately.
 
D.R. Gates said:
One pet peeve of mine is people that slow down clips that are already slow to begin with. Like on Stuart's wedding clip, there is really no good reason to slow down the bride coming down the aisle with her father. It's already slow-paced. Adding slo-mo justs make it drag.

Any FX should be used sparingly and appropriately.
Click to expand...

Hi,

I must admit it does look a bit too slow. It usually works quite well for the aisle shot, but in this case she was walking slower than most. You live and learn I guess.

The Bride was delighted with it anyway, so that's the main thing.

Thx for the feedback

Stu
 
I also thought this camera would be great for weddings and events- but the low light performance of the HMC I just bought has me worried.
There is a lot of noise- even with a main room light on.
What settings are you guys using for weddings and events?

I am testing everything. Low chroma, low ped, (if I put the ped too low the scene is dark- too high and I get noise)
I've seen some clean stuff here- so there must a trick I'm missing.
I'm on the verge of returning it if I can't figure it out.
 
Bokes said:
I also thought this camera would be great for weddings and events- but the low light performance of the HMC I just bought has me worried.
There is a lot of noise- even with a main room light on.
What settings are you guys using for weddings and events?
Click to expand...


Hi Bokes,

I have not adjusted any of the Scene Files. I have shot 3 weddings with the HMC150 and I have used Scene File 4 and limited the gain to 9 dB. When that is not enough, I have used 1/30 shutter when there is not a lot of motion.

What camera are you coming from? I have been using the Z1s for the last few years and the HMC150 is a big improvement for me at weddings.
 
Mark Von Lanken said:
Hi Bokes,

I have not adjusted any of the Scene Files. I have shot 3 weddings with the HMC150 and I have used Scene File 4 and limited the gain to 9 dB. When that is not enough, I have used 1/30 shutter when there is not a lot of motion.

What camera are you coming from? I have been using the Z1s for the last few years and the HMC150 is a big improvement for me at weddings.
Click to expand...


wow. Straight out of the box settings?
I have been shooting at 24p 1/48 shutter.
I am coming from a DVX100b and HVX200.
I also shoot with an EX1.
With the HMC- I'm getting similar low light results that compare to the HVX200- but I read the HMC should perform better.
My detail is -3, but like I said I'm trying every setting combination to find the best "low light/low noise" combo. I can't understand how Mark is getting decent results with out of the box settings.
I am also reading that some others have found the HMC to have excessive noise as well.
 
Bokes said:
wow. Straight out of the box settings?
I have been shooting at 24p 1/48 shutter.
I am coming from a DVX100b and HVX200.
I also shoot with an EX1.
With the HMC- I'm getting similar low light results that compare to the HVX200- but I read the HMC should perform better.
My detail is -3, but like I said I'm trying every setting combination to find the best "low light/low noise" combo. I can't understand how Mark is getting decent results with out of the box settings.
I am also reading that some others have found the HMC to have excessive noise as well.
Click to expand...

Hi Bokes,

I do not have experience with the DVX or HVX200. I have done some testing with the EX1 and the EX1 is more sensitive in low light than the HMC150. It better be at almost twice the price.

It's all relative to what camera you are comparing the HMC150 against. I think this may be why some people are saying the noise on the HMC150 is very low and others say it is excessive.

Have you tried Scene File 4 and limiting the gain to 9 dB?
 
I used to have DVXs & I have to say the HMC handles low light far better than those, including the Canon XH-A1.

Last week we shot a wedding reception at +12db and the images were akin to +9db on the Canon - pretty awesome if you ask me!
 
Evro said:
I used to have DVXs & I have to say the HMC handles low light far better than those, including the Canon XH-A1.

Last week we shot a wedding reception at +12db and the images were akin to +9db on the Canon - pretty awesome if you ask me!
Click to expand...

I did a low light test between the HMC150 and Canon XH-A1. I couldn't figure out how to change the gain on the XH-A1 from 12 dB to 9 dB. Is it hidden in the menu somewhere?

I did own a XH-A1 for about six months and I can remember trying to avoid 12 dB gain because it was so noisy.
 
Evro, why do you think the Canon has the most Robust image? From that other thread... Which do you prefer?
 
D.R. Gates said:
I wasn't trying to be critical of you, just speaking in general terms about using effects appropriately.
Click to expand...

No problem, I always try to take criticism positively as it helps me to improve, it's the fastest way to get better in my experience, learn from mistakes.
 
Bokes said:
wow. Straight out of the box settings?
I have been shooting at 24p 1/48 shutter.
I am coming from a DVX100b and HVX200.
I also shoot with an EX1.
With the HMC- I'm getting similar low light results that compare to the HVX200- but I read the HMC should perform better.
My detail is -3, but like I said I'm trying every setting combination to find the best "low light/low noise" combo. I can't understand how Mark is getting decent results with out of the box settings.
I am also reading that some others have found the HMC to have excessive noise as well.
Click to expand...

I have been using standard settings as well, Scene file 1 mainly. The low light footage seems excellent to me.

I think there was an issue with some people underexposing the image because they didn't understand the zebra settings, this causes noise even in daylight. Check out some of the other threads on m=noise for more info.
 
I think I solved the low light issue. I raised the master ped +3 (something I always kept in the negative before) And went with a 9 gain in HD norm.
I also lowered the chroma level and coring.
It's not the EX1- but it's beginning to look acceptable.
 
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