Best Settings for True Blacks

DOSMedia

DOSMedia

Well-known member
Hey all Im new here, and new to the HVX world as well. I have played with a lot of friends and finally on Saturday morning my hvx came in. I used to shoot on a Sony HVR V1U, which is still a pretty good hdv camera that i liked a lot, especially the daytime quality.
I was very familiar with the camera and knew how to work the settings to get the best quality possible.
Now im on an hvx and shooting in 720pn. I am a snowboard and ski producer and do a lot of freelance work as well.
As some of you may know us snowboarders and skiers do a lot of filming in the night time in urban areas.
I tried to mess around with the HVX a little but cant seem to get "true blacks" or at least blacks that are not noisey and grainy. The gain is at zero so now i cant figure out what settings are going to be the best to get true blacks.

Thanks for the help
Bentley
 
In absence of a wave form monitor, use the master ped : keep the lens cap on, turn on the marker and adjust the master ped until its at 0 exposure.

noise will vary depending on the gamma settings.
 
Last edited:
DOSMedia said:
I tried to mess around with the HVX a little but cant seem to get "true blacks" or at least blacks that are not noisey and grainy. The gain is at zero so now i cant figure out what settings are going to be the best to get true blacks.
Click to expand...

Bosindys method will help you calibrate the black levels. THough the HVX is pretty noisy in the darker areas. In addition its low light performance is not so good either. You sure you bought the right camera for your needs? That isnt rhetorical either.
 
Noel Evans said:
Bosindys method will help you calibrate the black levels. THough the HVX is pretty noisy in the darker areas. In addition its low light performance is not so good either. You sure you bought the right camera for your needs? That isnt rhetorical either.
Click to expand...

I used to have a camera with 1/4" inch CMOS chips, so the low light was even worse then the HVX.
I have seen some videos of guys that got true blacks on the hvx and the night shots looked really good. When shooting at night i use 5000 watts worth of lighting, so thats not a problem, just want all the blacks to show up clear.
I will give that a shot.
Im not shooting all the time at night, so yeah the HVX was the right choice and i have never been happier with a camera before.
I like shooting a lot of over cranked stuff and the quality in 720pn overcranked blew me away when i first used it.
The only other camera guys in the Ski and Snowboard industry that are being used that is better then the HVX is the EX1, which is exceptional at night.

Thanks Guys.
:)
 
bumping your master ped into the negatives will crush the shadows and make them black and help to mask the noise.

You can also do a black balance on the camera if you haven't before. It's not something that needs to be done often but it's good to do now and then. Just hold down the white balance button, let it set white balance and then continue holding down the button and then it will set black balance.

I typically run a -4 or -5 master ped. If you are concerned with noise and aren't shooting in adequate light, you can try some of the less noisy gamma curves. B.Press, High, HD norm... I think. I typically shoot cinev or cined. Once you hone in your settings you should get a lot better results (I certainly have once getting used to the camera), but if you don't have enough light, noise is something you are going to have to learn to live with.

Later,
Jason
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top