low light and blacks

[photoboy]

I am shooting a test commercial on sunday monday, it will be 1930 siloets and backlighting and lots of unlit areas and black zones, a bit of sin city. should i hire something else, i have an ok budget. red? super 16?

what is the 200 like in the darks and what are the best fixes to get a sharp filmy result in AE and FCP

A:undecided

 

[ProfessorU]

I love my HVX200, but I have to be honest. The HVX200 looks like oatmeal in the darks.

The HVX flavor of DVCProHD is unkind to the bottom half of the histogram. Figure on a big crush to the blacks in post to get them to look clean and sharp. If you have a great gaffer who understands this, then you should be ok. Pump up the master pedestal a bit to keep you out of the darkest grays. It can help to have a monitor on set that can help you visualize what the final output will look like, since what will be coming out of the camera will be low-contrast.

If you don't have a great handle on the lighting, I'd seriously consider s16. Just make sure you communicate with the person doing the transfer.

 

[Ted Spencer]

The HVX200a is vastly superior in low light. The lower the light the better it is vs the 200. Half a stop faster plus at least a whole stop (or whatever you'd call its equivalent) less noise. It's a new ball game.

I also have found just recently that the preset "Spark" scene file (f3) seems surprisingly cleaner than the others in low light. I just shot a concert with numerous blackouts, and they're quite noise-free. I'm very, very pleased with the 200a/Spark for this type of situation. All I did to modify the scene file was lower the Chroma level from +4 to +3 and the Detail from +3 to +2. Footage looks fabulous.

 

[Mac]

From your description, it sounds like you are describing high contrast visuals, with hot whites and deep blacks - and not low light conditions.

The 200 will handle what you describe just fine, but shoot tests first to be sure your master ped is where you want it - I usually shoot with the ped at -4 to -7 and the Gamma at Cine-D, and I've gotten some nice scenes like you're describing - but Cine-V might even be better for your needs.

My "A" camera is an HPX500, and I intercut footage like you've described from the HVX regularly (slow motion shots from moving cars, etc).

In my opinion the weakness of the 200 is the lens, it is mushy at full wide, so zoom in slightly for a cleaner look - and boost the Detail (like +4)... I actually set Detail at -2 on the 500 to intercut with the HVX at +4...

 

[Ted Spencer]

From your description, it sounds like you are describing high contrast visuals, with hot whites and deep blacks - and not low light conditions.

Point taken. The bulk of the shoot was as you describe, shot at either f5.6 from the back of the theater or 6.8 from the front. However, there's a segment where the lighting goes black and is then replaced by a couple of candles held by the actors, enhanced by ultra-dim stage lighting. Probably single digit IRE everywhere but the actual candle flames.

I pulled the iris wide open during the blackout cue. In the resulting footage there's a little noise, but *only* a little. Raising the white level a bunch, the mids a little, and crushing blacks just a tad in post was all it took to look really great.

Point is, the 200a represents a whole new ball game where low light usability is concerned.

The 200 will handle what you describe just fine, but shoot tests first to be sure your master ped is where you want it - I usually shoot with the ped at -4 to -7 and the Gamma at Cine-D, and I've gotten some nice scenes like you're describing - but Cine-V might even be better for your needs.

I prefer to crush blacks in post rather than in-camera whenever possible.

I found "Spark" to be a better starting point noise-wise than any other scene file. I was not overly concened with the "film-look" mojo in this shoot, so anything I could do to make it clean given the lighting challenges was the goal. All the Cine settings were somewhat noisier in my pre-shoot tests. As it turns out, the look is very filmic anyway, and I and my clients are ecstatic about the results.

I'm really thrilled with the 200a's enhancements.