AC90: AC90 What to leave on auto?

J

Joff

Member
Hi,

Im just starting out with the AC90. I was wonder what experienced users leave on auto? I guess most pros operate the camera mostly fully manual. But I am guessing that some functions can stay on auto to just make things easier. I am trying to use the camera in a fairly simple way, but I don't want to stay on full auto which will be crap. Do some of you prioritise manual functions and leave others on auto? I can get manual white balance easily enough, the battle is always for me with focus and exposure. Any tips much appreciated.
 
White balance: Left on auto, this function can cause unpleasant color shifts in your images. For example, shooting outside and a cloud moves overhead, the auto-white may try to compensate. It's better to stay manual and reset every time the camera is moved to a different setup or the lighting is otherwise changed.

Exposure: Auto exposure can cause unpleasant shifts in the image, too. It's handy to flip into auto momentarily when setting your shot, to see what the camera "wants," but flipping back to manual after that will help ensure an image that doesn't unexpectedly go dark or bright at an in opportune time. It may keep the subject somewhat in the right range, but the background is going to go dark or bright and there's no fix for that in post.

Focus: Again, using it momentarily to see what the camera "wants" is helpful, but shooting in auto-focus can mean that the image is constantly moving in and out of focus as the camera tries to chase the subject. With such small chips in he AC90, focus simply won't get so shallow that it will be difficult to pull in following your subject.

The AC90 has three rings behind the lens for manual adjustment of focus, zoom, and iris. This gives you really quick control over several aspects of your image. Practice, practice, practice, and teach your hand to navigate those controls without looking away from the viewfinder.

And avoid auto-anything with audio. That's just asking for bad results.
 
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I would say White balance has to to set with this camera ... especially indoors. Exposure is pretty good on auto but if you are in a controlled situation then you may as well set it manually. As far as auto focus ... I've found it to be pretty good, especially outdoor in good light. Inside with changing lighting it can be problematic, such as stage performances. With regard to audio I would recommend always using headphones just to be sure whats being recorded. The thing that has caught me out is when you sometimes use an external mic and forget to flip the switches back to internal mic when you unplug the external mic. Unless you monitor the sound you may well find no audio is recorded at all. (It's happened to me a few times)
 
I don't think the internal mics on most of these cameras are capable of giving good results. I do 20-30 stage events year and my routine is internal mic off, direct feed from a sound board to one channel (at events where they have multiple microphones/mixer), on-camera shotgun mic as backup #1 and a field audio recorder as backup #2. More often than not, there is a glitch at some stage from the mixer signal and I have to go to one or the other backup.
 
Hi Kwkeirstead

I have been working on some small time events, and I have always been using the internal mic with AC90. Recording has come our pretty good with the DJ's playing the music. But in the next week, I have a performance to cover, and they as asking me to get a mic to record the event. Event involves dances, skits, debates, presentations, dramas etc. They do not have any mixers or any complicated or hi fi audio equipment's. As I have never used a mic, could you help me is choosing a mic suitable for such a event. I will be stationed at least 25 from the talents and 10-15 from the stage. My budget is not much, looking under $250, but if anything good is available for another $100 more, probably I will go for it.

Thanks in advance.
 
hss_Rao said:
Hi Kwkeirstead

I have been working on some small time events, and I have always been using the internal mic with AC90. Recording has come our pretty good with the DJ's playing the music. But in the next week, I have a performance to cover, and they as asking me to get a mic to record the event. Event involves dances, skits, debates, presentations, dramas etc. They do not have any mixers or any complicated or hi fi audio equipment's. As I have never used a mic, could you help me is choosing a mic suitable for such a event. I will be stationed at least 25 from the talents and 10-15 from the stage. My budget is not much, looking under $250, but if anything good is available for another $100 more, probably I will go for it.

Thanks in advance.
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I'd recommend you get a PAIR of mic's and record using a simple stereo technique. Ideally, you would get a pair of small-diaphragm condenser mic's of the same make and model. Your mic's would need to be a bit closer to the action than 25 feet to get decent sound though. No biggie - you can run XLR's for a good long distance to your camera, just use tape where audience might interact with the cables.

You could do worse than the Rode NT5's which I think retail for about $350 for a matched pair. There are others in this price range and below as well (the MXL 991 goes for about $100 per pair - not sure how good they sound, but for that price if they even work you are getting a bargain). Get a cheap T-bar and some thread adapters to convert one of your light stands to a mic stand.

Google ORTF.
 
This has veered into an audio-forum worth thread... but for recording events when you can't get a board mix, don't go all knee-jerk and grab a shotgun.

Small diaphragm condensers are better than, say, a dynamic (though a pair of Sure 57's or 58's, back a ways, can even work quite well). If you have 'em, even low-cost large-di. chinese mics are getting pretty amazing, like the ADK Area 51. A large mic will give you more low end and a more natural sound to some extent... but there are deals on pairs of small condensers. Many people like the Joe Meek pair for a budget. The ADK sd 1 is a luscious mic for the $$. But if you don't do a ton of events, you may not want to invest in much... but if you have musician friends, you can get your hands on some Sure 58's. if they're home-studio types you may be able to go upscale. And see if the sound person has a way to give you a board mix - many DJs and live sound guys record their sets to laptop. many club live-sound guys sell a CD to the band right after the show. Mix that with the room mics and you'll have a lot of control.

The t-bar will work OK, but you want to X-Y the mics (point them to opposite sides of the room). You'll get a fuller stereo sound with mics separated as wide as possible. You can always pan 'em back in post if the sound is just "too" wide, but you can't expand mics in post.

As for shooting manually - an important thing you can do is get 2nd nature with focus and iris direction on the ring - if the subject moves away, you'll intuitively roll the focus without hunting. I keep my AC-130 set to show "feet" which also helps when setting up a shot.
 
Back to the original question, I would recommend leaving nothing on auto. You will always get a better result with manual settings on any camera, but particularly with these Pannies. When I finally gave up on auto settings and learned how to set the camera manually, I was stunned at the increase in quality of my shots.
 
How would I go about using manual settings outdoors to catch a golf event (baring in mind I need to capture all the mishaps, bad shots etc for a charity night viewing)? Is there a process to follow for setting the ac90 manually outdoors? Thanks
 
gaddster said:
How would I go about using manual settings outdoors to catch a golf event (baring in mind I need to capture all the mishaps, bad shots etc for a charity night viewing)? Is there a process to follow for setting the ac90 manually outdoors? Thanks
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Same as setting manual functions indoors: exposure, white balance, and focus. Adjust as necessary as circumstances shift.

Once you have exposure and white balance set, they shouldn't need to be adjusted unless lighting conditions change (e.g. goes from sunny to cloudy, sun starts setting, moving the camera from sun to shade). After that, it's all about focus and framing.
 
Auto use of AC90

Auto use of AC90

I have gotten good results with the following use;

1. Actual manual WB with white paper in scene light. Every setup. Every time the color temp changes, indoors or out.
2. Frequent BB. In manual, in any WB mode except Ach, the WB buton will set BB. Barry Green recommendation.
2. Set the camera to manual. Button to auto Iris when the scene or light changes then back to manual to lock it and prevent exposure hunting with pans. Button to manual when the shot is setup.

The only problems I encounter with the camera in full auto is exposure hunting. I have never seen it focus on the wall behind the subject rather than the subject when in autofocus mode. You cam pick a face, and prioritize that one face for focus when in auto.

The camera can focus better than my old eyes, and as long as the auto exposure is not seeing light changes during the shot, it exposes as well as I can win an incident meter. I have one user button set to "Back Light" when the background is large and bright, or actual backlight.

I have never used a still or motion camera that I like as much as the AC90.

What I don't like? You cannot record camera settings to a card. You cannot use the display and the viewfinder at the same time. Also, I would like the display be hinged so that if you bash it it would just flip away, and not snap off.

The chips are so small the depth of field is ....deep. It is hard to get an out-of-focus shot except at the longer focal lengths. The OIS is damn near a good as a dolly. Well...not really...but it is amazing.

With the camera on a support and framing a distant scene, you can drop you open hand in front of the lens, about a foot away, and you hand will sharp when you stop in in front of the lens. When you quickly lift you hand away, the distant object will be sharp when your hand comes out of frame.
 
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