L.A. at Night

Thane101

Thane101

Member
I am going into L.A. tommorow to get some more shots of the city. I don't have a problem with my daytime footage, but my night footage is way too dark (almost solid black with flicks of light from the windows). I have the iris open but I am relectant to adjust the gain, other than this what would be the ideal camera settings (I have a DVX100b).

PS-Most of the shots will be still, I don't know if this helps.
 
A couple things to try:

* Lower the shutter speed. For still shots, this is not a problem. Lower it to 1/24, you double the light; 1/12 you quadruple it, etc. For shots that have movement, this will causing some streaking/blurring. If you have wide shots with cars moving around, it might actually be a very cool effect.
* Master Pedestal - Check your master pedestal. You can raise it up to possibly capture more shadow detail, and then in post you can bring your black level back down exactly where you want it.
* Gamma - Some gammas are more contrasy than others. You might try High gamma, as this will use more of the curve for shadows.
 
I think you just press the shutter speed button inside the LCD area. I'm not with my camera right now, but you turn default shutter off and cycle through the various shutter speeds.
 
I am using the DVX100b in 24p(a), and I will be shooting in the downtown area. Most of my footage will be comprised of landmarks and skyscapers (it will be used as an intro for a friend's movie).



Are you sure that the DVX100b can be set at 1/12, I can only get it to 1/24th.
 
DVX100B Slow Shutter Speeds:
60i mode: 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30 sec.
30P mode: 1/4, 1/8, 1/15 sec.
24P, 24P (ADV) mode: 1/6, 1/12 sec.
 
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