GH2 Dealing with high contrast shoots

[-Tom-]

I'm sure this happens to everyone shooting a camera, stills or video - I'm wondering if there's a way to deal with it;

- when shooting in enclosed environments, such as rooms, how can one avoid that damn washed out blown up section that appears over the window area, even if there's just one window in the field of view?

- when pointing the camera west, even with sun behind buildings or hills, it seems you can choose between blown out sky or crushed black foreground.

Is this something that GH2 can't cope with, (dynamic range?) or is it because of our superior eyes and their dynamic range?

 

[Blue Bomber]

If you don't mind cleaning up noise, you can use iDynamic. I shot a proposal on top of a mountain a couple weeks ago with the sun to the back right of the subjects (not in frame, but maybe 20 degrees to the right), and it came out incredibly well exposed. To the point it looked like they were standing in front of a green screen. Normally, they would've been in shadow, and the black sweatshirt the guy was wearing probably would've been crushed.

Of course, there was a good amount of noise in the areas that were pulled up by iDynamic, but Neat Video had zero problems removing it without smearing anything. I'll post it up once completed. Nothing great in terms of cinematography since it's from a single angle, but the quality blew me away the first time I saw it, straight from the camera, and then after NR.

 

[Ian-T]

If you don't mind cleaning up noise, you can use iDynamic. I shot a proposal on top of a mountain a couple weeks ago with the sun to the back right of the subjects (not in frame, but maybe 20 degrees to the right), and it came out incredibly well exposed. To the point it looked like they were standing in front of a green screen. Normally, they would've been in shadow, and the black sweatshirt the guy was wearing probably would've been crushed.

Of course, there was a good amount of noise in the areas that were pulled up by iDynamic, but Neat Video had zero problems removing it without smearing anything. I'll post it up once completed. Nothing great in terms of cinematography since it's from a single angle, but the quality blew me away the first time I saw it, straight from the camera, and then after NR.

I’m interested in seeing your results also.

Makes me wonder how it would have turned out if you used thein-cam noise reduction along with iDynamic.

 

[Chris Adler]

If the shot is locked off you can shoot a clip of the scene again after the initial shot but on the 2nd clip expose for the window. Then in After Effects you just comp the properly exposed window into the first shot using a mask.

Other than that you pretty much choose what you want to expose for and accept what you get.

 

[Blue Bomber]

I’m interested in seeing your results also.

Makes me wonder how it would have turned out if you used thein-cam noise reduction along with iDynamic.

The in-cam NR isn't very heavy, so it would've probably smeared some stuff while leaving the chunkiness, and definitely wouldn't have come close to Neat Video's results (phenomenal with eliminating chunky/pulsing noise). Neat Video probably would've still worked with the resulting video, but I prefer to keep the full grain when planning to post NR, to keep as much detail as possible.

 

[Jim Simon]

If you have no control over the scene or the lighting, the best solution here is to get a camera that has enough dynamic range to handle the scene.

This is one reason why I'd love the BMCC to be ergonomically designed with event shooters in mind, instead of only production shooters. The people who most need that kind of dynamic range are the very folks who can't use the cameras that have it because they're lacking in some critical features.

 

[Bruce Watson]

When shooting in enclosed environments, such as rooms, how can one avoid that damn washed out blown up section that appears over the window area, even if there's just one window in the field of view?

There's two basic ways to deal with this. One, light the inside subject sufficiently to match the light levels outside. If you do this you will probably want to use daylight lights (either HMIs, daylight flos, or tungsten with CTB gel) for your interior work, else the window will most likely look fairly blue.

Alternatively, use ND gel on the window sufficient to bring down the level of outside light to match what you have inside. There's even ND gel with CTO built in to make the window light match tungsten lighting.

Either way works because both do the same thing -- match light levels between inside and outside.

 

[J.F.R.]

There's two basic ways to deal with this. One, light the inside subject sufficiently to match the light levels outside. If you do this you will probably want to use daylight lights (either HMIs, daylight flos, or tungsten with CTB gel) for your interior work, else the window will most likely look fairly blue.

Alternatively, use ND gel on the window sufficient to bring down the level of outside light to match what you have inside. There's even ND gel with CTO built in to make the window light match tungsten lighting.

Either way works because both do the same thing -- match light levels between inside and outside.

+1

Exactly, this is being done way before RED, BMCC, etc. To Jim Simon it's not about having a camera with more dynamic range necessarily as you can do a lot with lighting, I would go far as to say I would rather have a professional DP then a Red camera and no professional DP. A Dp as we all must be will know how to properly expose shots with specifics of the camera you are using.

Light your subject properly indoors and expose for the window if that is what you are looking for.

 

[Jockomo]

This is not always a solution, but if you schedule your shoot so that you are shooting in the evening (or early morning) when the sun is low in they sky your indoor/outdoor exposures will match better, although your color temp may be a bit cool on the outside of the window. You can compensate by using blue cc gels on your interior lights and those inexpensive cfl bulbs come in a wide range of color temperatures to replace your practicals in the scene.

Twice a day your lighting is perfect, plan for it when you can.

 

[Jim Simon]

To Jim Simon it's not about having a camera with more dynamic range necessarily as you can do a lot with lighting

Event and documentary shooters most often don't have that option. We shoot the scene as is, or we don't get it. There are no second chances. That's why WE need the cameras with higher dynamic range more so than production or narrative shooters who can adjust the scene to match the capabilities of the camera.

That's why it's frustrating when camera makers design cameras that have the imaging capabilities event and doco shooters need, but still can't be used for lacking features/ergonomics.

 

[TheDingo]

Expose for the hilights and add fill light when you can. In post, adjust the gamma to open up the shadows without losing your true black.

The GH2 is a contrasty camera, which is something you have to live with.

The GH3 should fix most of this, with at least 2-3 more stops of usable dynamic range when shooting.

 

[maranfilms]

Expose for the hilights and add fill light when you can. In post, adjust the gamma to open up the shadows without losing your true black.

The GH2 is a contrasty camera, which is something you have to live with.

The GH3 should fix most of this, with at least 2-3 more stops of usable dynamic range when shooting.

yup good advice, low contrast filters are decent at times as well.