Full auto

B

Bobonli

Well-known member
Does anyone run their camera full-auto for video?

I was helping someone on a shoot and asked him if he had dialed in his settings, to which he asked "What are you talking about?" I asked if he'd set ISO, frame rate, white balance shutter (which he said should always be 1/320) etc and he said "there's no point to doing that, you don't gain anything by setting that stuff." He was indignant that there's no need to monkey with the ISO.

I was a little shocked by the statement but it's made me question my workflow. I set everything manually. Being able to adjust ISO is a key feature of these cameras. And my understanding is that for 30 fps you should be running a 1/50 or 1/50 shutter.

Is this guy just plain incorrect or is there a reason to run full-auto?
 
hes wrong

the other day however i wanted to do a pan from the sky into a dark forest - I switched to auto ISO and it (kinda) worked

Ive done a couple of steadicam shots from outside to inside, otherwise its all manual

think about this - you frame a scene, and the exposure is correct, a white car drives by in the background so your auto stops down making your subject go mystically dark - auto has never worked and never will because the camera cant read you mind

S
 
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Bobonli said:
Does anyone run their camera full-auto for video?

I was helping someone on a shoot and asked him if he had dialed in his settings, to which he asked "What are you talking about?" I asked if he'd set ISO, frame rate, white balance shutter (which he said should always be 1/320) etc and he said "there's no point to doing that, you don't gain anything by setting that stuff." He was indignant that there's no need to monkey with the ISO.

I was a little shocked by the statement but it's made me question my workflow. I set everything manually. Being able to adjust ISO is a key feature of these cameras. And my understanding is that for 30 fps you should be running a 1/50 or 1/50 shutter.

Is this guy just plain incorrect or is there a reason to run full-auto?
Click to expand...

Well, if his work speaks for itself then he isn't necessarally incorrect.

But in general filmmaking terms, yes he's wrong. Normal circumstances ISO 200 29.97fps at 1//60th, or for 25fps be at 1/50, lens aperture f/2.8. That's all you really need to set things to.

Eerything else should be setting the ND filter, and then the proper job with the blocking, framing and lighting....
 
Lammy said:
Normal circumstances ISO 200 29.97fps at 1//60th, or for 25fps be at 1/50, lens aperture f/2.8. That's all you really need to set things to.

Eerything else should be setting the ND filter, and then the proper job with the blocking, framing and lighting....
Click to expand...

Whooaaaa... hold your horses there.

Ever tried filming surfing at 500mm and f/2.8? I'd like to see you do that. You'd want a couple of 1/64 ND's to knock the exposure down, not to mention the ridiculously thin DOF.

180 degree shutter may be a general rule/guideline, but choosing aperture all comes down to artistic choice. Want some nice bokeh? Open wider. Want a deep DOF landscape? Close it down. Fast action scene? Talking head? Steadicam/dolly shot?

As for the OP's question, don't worry, you haven't wasted years of your life fiddling with buttons for no reason. I'll leave some settings on auto occasionally such as leaving WB on auto when following the bride indoors during a wedding, but for the most part I'll set everything manually.
 
That's why I said under normal circumstances =]

Of course there are exceptions: practical low light indoors or ambient light night scenes you may want to go to F2.0 or F1.2 even.
 
The way I understand it, most Hollywood films shoot at around f/4 in most "normal" conditions. (whatever that means) It's more about depth of field control than anything else. Anything bigger and it's too hard for the AC to pull focus so it's reserved for ultra shallow effects and low-light situations. You can stop it down more if you're filming fast action and need more depth of field or just don't have enough ND. I was out shooting yesterday, which was the one of the hottest day on record in VA, and we couldn't go any bigger than f/16 and ISO 100 while keeping shutter at 1/50 to get a good exposure. We didn't have ND's at all, and I wasn't willing to go faster than 1/50th so we just had to use aperture instead.

Here's the deal: those settings are essential for controlling exposure, composition, and motion blur. Yes, if the guy's work speaks for itself then I suppose he's at most partially right. But the truth is, without taking control of these BASICS of camera operations, then you'll only be able to go so far with your cinematography. If you don't, you're eventually going to run into a wall that you can't pass.
 
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