DVX sucks in low light? No, it rocks!

B

bogatyr

Active member
There is many situations where i can't control the lighting and the video turns out too dark. It looked ok on the camera LCD (too dark in the viewfinder though) and when I come home I discover to my horror that the lightest parts of the picture are at 30%:Drogar-Smoke(DBG): :furious3::Drogar-Mark-10(DBG)!!!

I'm shooting progressive (scene file 6 cinema mode) and I wonder if there is anything I can do in the settings to make it more light sensitive and less noisy when color correcting.

I know I'll get more light shooting interlaced but then I'll end up with footage that's both progressive and interlaced in one doc...uhh will look weird.

:dankk2:
 
You'll have to experiment with different gain levels, and decide for yourself what is acceptable. The more you raise it the more sensitive to light it will be, but it will be noisier. Before that, ensure that the aperture is as open as possible, that you're not zoomed (which will make the aperture smaller), and make your shutter speed as low as possible while still producing an acceptable amount of motion blur. How much you can slow your shutter speed will depend on how much movement is in your shot.
 
The DVX is ISO 640 in progressive, and ISO 1280 in interlaced. How that "sucks" in low light is hard to fathom. If you need more low light performance you can do many things:
1) switch to interlaced, it'll double the sensitivity (but it'll be interlaced...)
2) switch to a slower shutter speed, like 1/24th, that'll double the sensitivity (but it'll be a little blurrier), or
3) put in some gain; 12dB will quadruple the sensitivity (but it'll get noisy).

The DVX absolutely blows away any sub-$6,000 HD camcorder in terms of low light performance, and is probably neck and neck with the EX1. As to how someone can say that it "sucks" is unfathomable.

Also, cine-D is the darkest of the gammas. Try "high", it looks probably a stop faster.
 
I can't say that I've had much experience with other cameras (my DVX is it!) but if it gets too dark for progressive modes with both the aperture wide open and 3dB gain (that's my limit with gain - only good if you absolutely have to get the shot in my opinion) I tend to shoot interlaced then run the footage through magic bullet (now known as magic bullet frames) in post :)

You might want to try the high gamma as per Barry's suggestion and maybe mess with the detail coring a bit to soften the noise in the image too (might not be the look that you are after though)

Have you had a go with any other cameras to compare the low light performance? or are you maybe expecting a bit too much from the DVX?
 
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Thanks guys for your suggestions, particularly HBlack, Barry and MasterP. I didn't know progressive needed twice as much light! PD170 is great in low light but I'm not sure it's that much better than DVX in interlaced mode. I had the idea of doing magic bullet in post and apperantly it works even better in PAL, 'cause that's what i'm shooting.

My biggest discovery so far has been that the lcd is not a good gauge for exposure, the viewfinder is much better.

By the way, that "DVX sucks in low light" I heard before I bought the camera, so it's kinda ironic now that i'm dealing with this issue myself.

Thanks again:)
 
Some ideas, correct me if they are crazy:

Lower chroma level might give better light sensitivity since, b/w cameras are more light sensitive.

Raising the master pedestal also seems like it should help, at least will save some blacks from being crushed.

As for shutter speed, setting it to 1/32 seems like a reasonable compromise between more light and less blurr.
 
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Chroma level shouldn't affect anything. DVX and PD170 are very comparable in low light when you put the DVX in interlaced mode.

Slowing the shutter speed will help, raising the master pedestal won't do anything for your sensitivity but it'll maybe make you think you can see more in the shadows. Using high gamma will make the overall image noticeably brighter.
 
The DVX sucks in low light? Are you serious? Perhaps you should get a Sony single chip with infrared night vision?

Dan
 
I wouldn't recommend it for action sequences, but I've found that 1/24th shutter speed is usually perfectly fine for relatively static scenes.

Heck, I even once forgot and left it on 1/24th while filming a musical, and the dance numbers still came out fine and the customer never noticed and was still extremely satisfied.

I would still go higher if possible and would much prefer to bring in more light to get a proper exposure at a more suitable shutter speed, but the times I've had to resort to 1/24 to get a decent exposure the result was still acceptable.
 
Just got back from shooting interlaced at that same location and with the same light, literally night and day... sorry for the pun... but now will need some serious magic framing to match the motion in progressive shots. 1/25 shutter comes close but still needs more light. for a sitdown interview works fine. Thanks anchoryanker.
The high gamma really does help. Thanks Barry.
 
yeah shooting with an hvx with a 35 adapter makes me miss my dvx days. i used to be able to light a scene with a single 100w china ball and a small hairlight. now i need 6k to get the same results.
 
Isn't shooting between Progressive and Interlaced a trade off?

Interlaced is brighter, but the lowest shutter speed is 1/60. Progressive allows a shutter speed of 1/24.

I've compared the two and they're very similar in brightness. It's hard to tell which one lets in more light.
 
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