Advice for filming Sunset or Sunrise with the GH1

J

Jrb

Member
Can anyone give me any advice on what settings would be best to use for recording a sunset / sunrise?

If I use creative Video mode for a sunset then there's all sort of exposure problems as the sun goes down and the landscape becomes a lot darker. Starting off I would have the aperture closed right down due to the sun being so bright.

I tried using the fully automatic mode but this obviously changes the shutter speed and ISO dramatically giving me the horrible banding etc once the composition darkens.

As for a sunrise starting out dark I can't think if this would be possible to do unless using automatic mode.

Is this a no go? My simple Sony XR500 point and shoot films it perfectly... But I want to try and make use of my Olympus 9mm wide angle lens on the GH1.
 
Shooting a timelapse of the sunrise or sunset is always going to be a compromise and always going to require some interpretation and foreseeing how things will look. You don't want to adjust any expsosure during the timelapse and you will also want to get the exposure that allows for the largest acceptable image for the longest amount of the timelapse. When I did a lot of the timelapses on the HVX, I would usually shoot with a faster shutter and just accept the images weren't going to be the best in the beginning/ending.

Another huge tip is that on a sunrise or a sunset it's great to have a compass or a GPS to know the exact location where it will be on the horizon.
 
Thanks guys...

Mojo43... I tried your technique and its seems to work ok... Exposure Mode set to A.

So I had to set my aperture to 22 and i didn't need to use and ND filters. I also thought that once this bright sun had set I would want the dark composition not to be too dark. Bearing in mind that the aperture was closed right down to 22 I set my ISO at 500, this was fine and not too bright at the beginning of the recording. So I guess the camera is automatically adjusting the shutter speed and at the start its using a fast shutter... So as the sun goes down and the composition gets darker it's adjusting the shutter gradually slower. The histogram was always white so that looked all good. Then I guess once the shutter had been automatically slowed down to 30 (its slowest for video) then the camera couldn't adjust any more and the picture was quite dark.... But then came the horrid vertical lines and noise.

Have I understood this correctly as in my description above? So I'm thinking now to do maybe a 2 hour timelapse from very bright to very dark the GH1 isn't the best for this?

Thanks J.
 
I think we are talking about two different things. I was talking about taking a timelapse of pictures with an intervalometer. If you do it this way the camera will change the shutter speed as the sun sets.

Here is a quick explanation:

Keep your aperture wide open (f4 on the stock lens) and set it on the highest ISO you feel comfortable for shooting at night (try 640). Since you are on A mode the shutter speed will be high during the day and will grow longer and longer as the sun sets. You shouldn't be seeing any banding at all. Just remember that once it is dark your shutter speed may be very long and your intervals shouldn't be longer than the shutter speed.

Hope this helps...
 
ah right thanks Mojo43.. yes photo stills with a intervalometer i guess would be so much better. Better quality and no huge video files to work with. Can you recommend a good intervalomter for the GH1? I think this is going to be the best option. J.
 
Sure, just ebay search intervalometer for GH1 and there will be lot's out there. They are around 40 dollars or a little cheaper. I have never had a problem with mine....
 
I attempted this a while ago. The only way to actually handle the massive change in light (without flicker) is to motion control your aperture ring. Unfortunately i dont know of anything like that, short of having something custom made.
 
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