HMC150+Camera Light=Still Too Dark...HELP

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DavidH977

Member
Just got the HMC 150. Love it thus far, but have some issues. Low light shots are a problem. I shoot events at night clubs. Prior to my HMC 150, I was using a small Sony Handcam I got from Best Buy. At night clubs I use a small Sima light. The Sony and Sima combo was great in terms of lighting an area, but footage was grainy due to overall quality of camera. With the light on the Sony I could light things well right in front of me while also seeing a well lit lighting area in background. See example:

vimeo.com/6860920

Fast forward to the HMC 150. I have used the HMC in a few clubs with the same light and the result are very different. In the same club while shooting on the HMC and sima light my footage is even darker than with my old set up. That small Sima light with the SONY casted a decent area of light, but the HMC and light doesn't seem to pick up the same area of light. The light barely lights up things right in front of me.

I'm thinking I have the HMC set to the wrong setting. I feel this problem is due to some auto setting that is on. I am new to camera with this many options. Still learning. I haven't really changed any settings. What should I do???

I will post example soon. But clearly the HMC has better low light than my old Sony. PLEASE HELP!!!!
 
try the iris and gain settings, shutter speed might help.
we shoot a lot of low light and those settings get the job done for us.
 
irvineimages said:
try the iris and gain settings, shutter speed might help.
we shoot a lot of low light and those settings get the job done for us.
Click to expand...
Irvine images, do you have examples of your work? For the most part, I am on auto. I try shooting in 24P/30P/60P but with low shutter I get ghosting. Iris says "open" when filming in the dark. I guess I need to use a higher gain, but don't want too much grain. I feel that the light does a decent job lighting up a dark space, but the camera isn't picking up the light.

I feel that my current settings are to blame. I need someone to give me the best settings for shooting in a nightclub situation? Let's assume I have the wrong settings currently.
 
Irvine images, do you have examples of your work?
Click to expand...

unfortunately all i have is images at the moment, we are in the process of ordering a computer powerful enough to work with avchd.
we don't use any artificial light except for night shots of wild life, soo... it's a bit different, but the principle should be similiar.
here's some pics of low light shots.

l_158040b14b344045ba6c79d89f53a3d3.jpg


l_01184ecf2d5a42d390496e613d33a3c1.jpg


l_bb3332f2b0c6403593eb2bdf1352d0b6.jpg


l_801d43f754cb4bc6b08f0b3f3b61ca1f.jpg


l_01b1f79e9fc947009bb98e715f963e19.jpg





I feel that the light does a decent job lighting up a dark space, but the camera isn't picking up the light.
Click to expand...

yeah, it's probably your settings rather than the light, i use a heavy duty light to shoot at night and it works great, but with this light you'd be blinding people.

I feel that my current settings are to blame. I need someone to give me the best settings for shooting in a nightclub situation? Let's assume I have the wrong settings currently.
Click to expand...

i'm not sure, and i don't use artificial light much... personaly, i don't like auto modes so i mainly stay away from them, that may or may not be the problem.
i've only had the 150 for around 2 months or so, and this is my first real vid camera, so i'm not the best problem solver yet, i'm sure someone else will come along soon and help with the answer, good luck.
 
DavidH977 said:
Just got the HMC 150. Love it thus far, but have some issues. Low light shots are a problem. I shoot events at night clubs. Prior to my HMC 150, I was using a small Sony Handcam I got from Best Buy. At night clubs I use a small Sima light. The Sony and Sima combo was great in terms of lighting an area, but footage was grainy due to overall quality of camera. With the light on the Sony I could light things well right in front of me while also seeing a well lit lighting area in background. See example:

vimeo.com/6860920

Fast forward to the HMC 150. I have used the HMC in a few clubs with the same light and the result are very different. In the same club while shooting on the HMC and sima light my footage is even darker than with my old set up. That small Sima light with the SONY casted a decent area of light, but the HMC and light doesn't seem to pick up the same area of light. The light barely lights up things right in front of me.

I'm thinking I have the HMC set to the wrong setting. I feel this problem is due to some auto setting that is on. I am new to camera with this many options. Still learning. I haven't really changed any settings. What should I do???

I will post example soon. But clearly the HMC has better low light than my old Sony. PLEASE HELP!!!!
Click to expand...

I have a theory about what your problem is. The HMC has a much wider lens than consumer cameras, probably wider than the beam of your light, meaning that only the centre of the image will be illuminated, is that what is happening?

If so, you need a video light with a wider beam, I find a Litepanel micro is fine for this (using the diffuser filter that comes with it).

Other than that, I would recommend using 12db gain, iris fully open and if necessary a slower shutter (I use 1/25 but I'm in PAL land, not sure what the equivalent is for you, maybe 1/30 if filming 30p). You need to learn to use the camera in manual to get the most out of it, the auto mode is not much use to be honest. Also remember to white balance or everything might be too orange. If used properly the 150 will give you much richer, clearer images in low light than the ones in your vimeo example.

Hope that helps,

Stuart
 
studio1972 said:
I have a theory about what your problem is. The HMC has a much wider lens than consumer cameras, probably wider than the beam of your light, meaning that only the centre of the image will be illuminated, is that what is happening?
Stuart
Click to expand...


This is probably the case too (unless you had really incorrect settings)

Check out Takys examples of a bunch of popular lights... I went with the Comer - very very happy with it

http://lacolorshop.com/blog/view.asp?id=12

For the money the Comer 1800 definitely (even the 900 is a bit) better then LP micro in my opinion and I have used both in night clubs... Here is an older night club video using the LP micro (in just a few shots): http://vimeo.com/5414640
 
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The higher gain adds very little dirt on Panasonic's new model cameras. You can also change the shutter speed to 1/30. It will introduce some smearing but will get you about another stop.

Another light that you may want to consider is the Lite Panels Micro and if you need more light than that you can go with the Lite Panels Micro Pro.

Andrew Hoffman
 
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MadHMC150 said:
This is probably the case too (unless you had really incorrect settings)

Check out Takys examples of a bunch of popular lights... I went with the Comer - very very happy with it

http://lacolorshop.com/blog/view.asp?id=12

For the money the Comer 1800 definitely (even the 900 is a bit) better then LP micro in my opinion and I have used both in night clubs... Here is an older night club video using the LP micro (in just a few shots): http://vimeo.com/5414640
Click to expand...
Videos look good. I hope you picked up the money those dudes were throwing away...
I think I need to pick up the lite panel light or another that you recommended. When I pan the crowd on my current settings I can't see much.
 
studio1972 said:
I have a theory about what your problem is. The HMC has a much wider lens than consumer cameras, probably wider than the beam of your light, meaning that only the centre of the image will be illuminated, is that what is happening?

If so, you need a video light with a wider beam, I find a Litepanel micro is fine for this (using the diffuser filter that comes with it).

Other than that, I would recommend using 12db gain, iris fully open and if necessary a slower shutter (I use 1/25 but I'm in PAL land, not sure what the equivalent is for you, maybe 1/30 if filming 30p). You need to learn to use the camera in manual to get the most out of it, the auto mode is not much use to be honest. Also remember to white balance or everything might be too orange. If used properly the 150 will give you much richer, clearer images in low light than the ones in your vimeo example.

Hope that helps,

Stuart
Click to expand...
I think your theory is right on. With the light on, I can only see small area of light right in the center of the frame. I need to upgrade my light. Plain and simple. Thanks.
 
Just realized that in FCP viewer, my footage looks dark. I am viewing on MacBook Pro w/o the glass screen. I thought footage was going to be too dark, but when I exported footage was much brighter. Still could use a better light, but I was pleasantly surprised.
 
DavidH977 said:
Just realized that in FCP viewer, my footage looks dark. I am viewing on MacBook Pro w/o the glass screen. I thought footage was going to be too dark, but when I exported footage was much brighter. Still could use a better light, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Click to expand...

You might want to try calibrating your screen, I had huge problems with exposure and colour correction until I did it.
 
DavidH977 said:
Just realized that in FCP viewer, my footage looks dark. I am viewing on MacBook Pro w/o the glass screen. I thought footage was going to be too dark, but when I exported footage was much brighter. Still could use a better light, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Click to expand...

I also have noticed this on 2 different MBP's. It crushes the blacks a bit more than normal also.
 
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