Kholi's method for low-light recording

slimjimmed

slimjimmed

Well-known member
Kholi's order for manual lenses in section three of the beginning of the sticky thread:

1. Without engaging LV mode, set the camera in Manual Mode.

....2. Turn on AE-L (hold), you can check to see if it's active by peerin' into the viewfinder for the AE-L icon.
....3. Close your Iris down to an f5.6 ~ 8
....4. Aim the camera at a wall or surface that's brightly lit. It should not be blown out, but bright. ....I would say just about sixty-percent (60%) Exposed or a little more.
....5. Activate LV mode.
....6. Open the Iris to a 2.8 or 1.4 and check the cleanliness. Not to mention the 1/30 ~ 1/60th shutter. Mmmmm. Delightful.

Then on post #79:

You can't lock anything before you go into Live View mode... Anything you've done, for a split second, even if you lock it before hand, is erased prior to entering.

But in your original instructions you say that you lock before live mode. Step 2 is lock and step 5 is activate lv mode. Which is wrong, right?

Post #79 is right. In order to get low noise I have been activating LV mode and then locking immediately after.

Am I wrong? Don't the 2 posts contradict eachother?
 
Sounds like they do, but you're not doing anything but getting the camera ready to lock itself down to that specific setting when you hit the LV. Post 79 is probably a product of me just typin' fast while I was doin' something else.

You can do this same thing whether you've locked it or not. You basically need to just find a grey area and tune it to that.

Once you hit the LV, and if you have the AE-L (Hold) engaged, the camera locks itself into that setting.

It's weird, but you'll see if you futz around with it.

Oh, hi everyone. Haha
 
I read through the hundreds of pages, but I am still confused. Sometimes I get noise free video, sometimes I don't.

All I know is that the only thing that was working for me last night was to press LV, and then immediately press the AE-L button very quickly. It didn't matter if I pointed it under the desk or at a bright light. Both worked...although not everytime.

It almost feels like it is more about the millisecond timing of pressing the AE-L button after LV is engaged. Like there was a sweet spot of timing...
 
your camera won't repeat the settings you locked vefore entering live view. All it knows is that it has to lock auto exposure. So your camera will have little time to adjust, and won't adjust so much before it locks in. That's my take on it...
 
taubkin said:
your camera won't repeat the settings you locked vefore entering live view. All it knows is that it has to lock auto exposure. So your camera will have little time to adjust, and won't adjust so much before it locks in. That's my take on it...
Click to expand...

So, when a manual lense is used:

what is it locking when you lock it before engaging live view?

(Since it seems that autoexposure begins to auto-expose when live view is engaged.)
 
alright, here's the only way i can describe it best.

if you AE-L the camera before entering live view when looking at an evenly lit surface, your camera properly exposes to the light that's in the room. Hence "evenly lit surface". The lens is always at it's widest aperture whenever it's not in live mode and always exposes to that.

when in live view, that's when your +/- come into play. if you're not locked before going into live view, your +/- start to take over. that's why most will use a closet light or cell phone in live mode and use that to get constant exposure or noise free images when stopping down the lens and then opening it up. only way to get a noise free image is to not overexpose your light source and get a fast lens and have a lot of ambient light around.

i've been locking my AE using a closet light with a cleaning cloth over it before going into live mode cause it's always consistent and not overly bright and not too dark.
 
What do you mean 'that's when the +/- come into play'??

I have been going into LV unlocked, aiming my lens at a brighter area, then locking, to try to keep the ISO down. I leave my EV @+.3 on the suggestion by others that this keeps the shutter speed down. (I wish someone would actually measure the shutter speeds!)

Does what I do make sense? Are these other methods somehow better?
 
if you got into live view locked your +/- values have no affect. whereas if you go into live view not locked your +/- values change your iso/shutter speeds...somewhat. but, the .+3 was mentioned arbitrarily by one guy who played with the camera for one day in a review, i think and I could be wrong, that your best bet if locking in live view is to have it at .-3 and down

anyway, this post was just about the contradiction in Kholi's thread...now that's solved, what you're doing is fine...there's only two ways to get what you want. AE-L before you enter live view...AE-L after live view...done.
 
Jim Klatt said:
...
It almost feels like it is more about the millisecond timing of pressing the AE-L button after LV is engaged. Like there was a sweet spot of timing...
Click to expand...

If this is correct there is no chance to panning over the scene (after going into LV) to get an image free of waves + flicker caused by fluorescent lights. Then one has to choose => either free of noise or free of waves...
 
capice said:
If this is correct there is no chance to panning over the scene (after going into LV) to get an image free of waves + flicker caused by fluorescent lights. Then one has to choose => either free of noise or free of waves...
Click to expand...

it's not correct. there is no sweet spot when going into live view.
 
I find there is a sweetspot, and it's the only way that I can get consistently really low noise levels.

Kholi's method just doesn't work for me for whatever reason. Everything always comes out to not quite enough light. I have read his instructions about 8 billion times, I think I am going crazy.

Maybe cause I have an Ai 50 1.78 series E Lens? I don't know....

Anyhew, If I put my lense at f22, point it at a bright light, engage Live View, and and wait till the light makes like 3 hops up and quickly press AE-L, then open it all the way up....I get very low noise...barely perceptible.

The trick will be to do it outside of my office. :)
 
alright man, but i'm just letting you know, after having gone through every method possible, the only sweet spot there is to getting low noise is exposing the camera properly to the light you're exposing to. that's it.

kholi's method is actually good,( though it should be mentioned that no matter what f you stop your lens down it's the same now matter what) cause the camera exposes the correct iso/shutter before entering into live view.

at f22, you're pushing in more light and it's bumping up your iso especially if you still have it at +.3.

buy hey, whatever works for you right.
 
You are obviously referring to the aperture dial on the camera, correct? And not actually modifying the lens aperture ring before entering LV, (as you can't engage LV with the lens not set to f/22.)

If so I am little confused, I thought the camera settings (ISO, Shutter speed and aperture) didn't matter once the camera entered LV as it automatically decided its own settings for exposure...

Here is what I usually do, someone correct me if they see a better way:

1) Turn on camera
2) Set shutter speed 1/50 and ISO 320-500 range (just in case they DO actually affect LV)
3) Engage LV
4) Close down iris to 8-5.6
5) Adjust zoom/framing till I get roughly -2 stop underexposure and/or no flicker
6) Open up lens to f/4-f/2 range
5) AE-L
6) Zoom in on LCD to check noise levels

I haven't really messed with +/- as nobody has concluded the affect on shutter, ISO, etc.
 
Car3o said:
alright man, but i'm just letting you know, after having gone through every method possible, the only sweet spot there is to getting low noise is exposing the camera properly to the light you're exposing to. that's it.

kholi's method is actually good,( though it should be mentioned that no matter what f you stop your lens down it's the same now matter what) cause the camera exposes the correct iso/shutter before entering into live view.

at f22, you're pushing in more light and it's bumping up your iso especially if you still have it at +.3.

buy hey, whatever works for you right.
Click to expand...

i believe you are right. i'm gonna try one of those closet lights next....
 
alright, i'll try to help out.

You are obviously referring to the aperture dial on the camera, correct? And not actually modifying the lens aperture ring before entering LV, (as you can't engage LV with the lens not set to f/22.)

That's if you're not using a manual lens.

If so I am little confused, I thought the camera settings (ISO, Shutter speed and aperture) didn't matter once the camera entered LV as it automatically decided its own settings for exposure...

This is where it gets a little tricky. If you have a closet light, this is where you can sort of change the iso/shutter. If you place the light in front of the lens (while in live view,) stop down the lens do whatever you want, adjust your +/- to whatever you want, lock the exposure then open your lens back up, you have some differences in iso/shutter. it's just figuring out what you have is the problem. i've done a butt load of tests and can just go by what i think looks good.

1) Turn on camera
2) Set shutter speed 1/50 and ISO 320-500 range (just in case they DO actually affect LV)
3) Engage LV
4) Close down iris to 8-5.6
5) Adjust zoom/framing till I get roughly -2 stop underexposure and/or no flicker
6) Open up lens to f/4-f/2 range
5) AE-L
6) Zoom in on LCD to check noise levels

You repeat two steps??? What? I'm gonna change the steps for you and try that out.

1) Turn on camera
2) Set shutter speed 1/50 and ISO 320-500 range (just in case they DO actually affect LV) I'm with you, I still do it just in case
3) Engage LV
4) Close down iris to 8-5.6
5) Use an evenly lit surface(closet light from ace=perfect)
6) Adjust zoom/framing till I get roughly -2 stop underexposure and/or no flicker using the +/-
7) AE-L
8) Open up lens to f/4-f/2 range
9) Zoom in on LCD to check noise levels
 
Car3o said:
...
3) Engage LV
4) Close down iris to 8-5.6
....
7) AE-L
8) Open up lens to f/4-f/2 range
...
Click to expand...

Sometimes it seems that it must be more closed. If you under extremely low light conditions, it´s apparently better to shut down all the way to the bottom of 16 or 22. After then AE-L + open wide again. Cause otherwise the cam may not get enough light ...
​
 
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