exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can get!

S

schteevie

Well-known member
I tried a search, but didn't find exactly what I needed.
bare with me.

I am new to this camera - shooting a pilot for a TV show, and most if not all shooting is exterior.  

The first day of shooting came back very contrasty.
I was fighting with very stong sun and tried to find an exposure compromise for the sky and the subjects faces.
obviouslty that is asking alot; I was surprised to see how fast shadows fell off into black...

can some one run down the best settings for the MOST latitude this camera will squeese out?

I had it on 24p, cine-like gamma, 1/60th, kept the lens wide and stop around 11-16 (I used manual exposure to try to eye ball it).  
As for the other more advanced settings I am not sure about what is deal - any and all help is appreciated.


thnx alot for any help.
 
Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

if you need to see into the shadows more, youcan always raise the master pedistal, have a look at the master pedistal examples from the button at the top of the main site page.. its in with the articles and reviews. jarred did aggreat job of showing how the MP affects your shadows, and the ability to see into them. mind you youol have to work it in post so your image isnt milky if your raise it too much
 
Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

There's little you can do in-camera to rescue a situation like that. Contrast range is video's biggest weakness... all video cameras suffer from quite limited latitude.

You've got to add light to the dark areas. Bring along an assistant to hold a white sheet of foam core (or a more professional bounce card or reflector) and it will do *wonders* for the quality of your footage.
 
Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

thanks for the quick replys.
I couldn't find the link to that pedistal thing...?

as for lighting and bounce, thanks for the tip, but I'm aware of that stuff  ;)
I am actually more of a film shooter, so I am used to big crews and all the toys.
I will try to use bounce as much as I can, but in the meantime, I want to be sure I have the camera set up optimal; there sure are lots of switches and menus compared to an ARRI 35mm film camera  :P
 
Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

Did you try the built in ND filters. Also you can try increasing the shutter speeds if the subject is not moving alot.
 
Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

[quote author=Elvis link=board=news;num=1083178589;start=0#4 date=04/28/04 at 13:45:02]Did you try the built in ND filters. Also you can try increasing the shutter speeds if the subject is not moving alot.[/quote]

yes, I used the filters, and I didn't want to go faster then a 60th (some motion blur is a good thing for the "film look")

anyway - those variables afect overall exposure - I am looking for info about all the tweaks of the more advanced settings that might squeeze some latitude out of the bugger :P
 
Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

The cine-like gamma setting has the least lattitude (and no knee), so you might want to experiment with a different gamma setting (low, medium, or high). All three gamma setting have the same knee, so highlights are treated the same, but the high gamma setting will bring up the shadows the most without muddying up your blacks (which can happen when raising the master ped). The knee on the regular gamma settings helps compress the highlights, so they don't blow out as quickly.

If you have the DVX100a, I believe the lattitude is a bit better and have read that all three cine-like gamma setting include a knee. You can also adjust the knee yourself on the DVX100a.

However, as Barry G mentioned you've run smack into the narrow lattitude of video cameras. The DVX settings are for tweaking the image, but if there's a 10 stop difference between your shadows and highlights, you're just pissing in the wind.
 
Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

Re: exterior set-up - need all the latitude i can

[quote author=Barry_S link=board=news;num=1083178589;start=0#6 date=04/28/04 at 21:21:55] The DVX settings are for tweaking the image, but if there's a 10 stop difference between your shadows and highlights, you're just pissing in the wind.

[/quote]

well put ;) that is what I figured.
I'll use the high gamma next time and see how it goes...
 
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