Low Light Footage from HMC40

Denwa said:
Barry, for comparative purposes. What is the ISO of the HMC150?
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500.

Actually for both cameras, what are the ISO of 24p, 30p and 60P?
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It doesn't change per recording mode. The HMC150 is 500 no matter what you do, and the HMC40 is 64 no matter what you do.

(which isn't strictly true, because none of these video cameras has a "fixed" ISO, it varies by what gamma curve you've selected and by what iris setting you have selected -- which sounds bogus, but it's absolutely true. There is no fixed ISO on any of them. But over the larger part of the exposure curve the HMC150 is ISO 500 in "HD NORM" gamma. I haven't tested the 40 across its entire gamma curve but my initial tests show 50 to 64.)
 
Hey guys,

I just realized to my surprise that all of these low light videos I posted were shot with the gain set at 24db. To me, from the statements I've read, you don't want to go above 12db, so after reading the manual and figuring out how to change it, the rest of my videos were shot with the max at 12db. But, the following videos were shot in full auto, auto gain control, and because of the low light I'm suspecting all at 24db:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz_kLRPGH1U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LGeh672W3w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1TvGSxXVac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbapMABkrFg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd_Qt2P2tqc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrJHP8xu9aU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WRWAbS2YXk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfEbt3QInms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoTXk8WFPdY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijNA4u7LMaY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chRUHPZ4t3s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_x7916_E-M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEjkZMyVa_s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1C7NrD2D8E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1jm8tYD0ao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7I5KEWRmrE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcOS1gM_z5E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VyWb0F9CZo

I don't think the above videos look bad at all at 24db, personally. What do you guys think?

Here's the rest of the videos shot with the gain maxed out at 12db, but these aren't all shot in the dark like the above ones. These you'l notice are tests of the gain, shutter speeds, auto gain control vs. manual gain control, digital zoom, white balance, and chroma levels, as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JQHQZMbRLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9drbNib8Mg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVZJSWpR_xY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd8J8Oxp0I0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRVs6rVE_wg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5zM7RZUV4w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-otdIu_L1U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B4RiYmJzbs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmEAqGb6hN4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAFwQi0WNgU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYWnhjmTYxA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNvd1G7KCeg

All of the above videos are being uploaded here: http://www.utvreport.com/videos/hmc40videos for download if you want the uncompressed files to watch on your computer versus YouTube. The dates of 10/12, 10/14, and 10/15 are all shot using 24db gain. And, 10/18 are the ones listed immediately above this text.

All of the videos aren't uploaded to the server yet, but I think all the 10/18 ones are already. The others are uploaded as we speak. You'l also notice that the videos on 10/18 are much larger than the rest. The reason for this is I outputted them from Adobe Premier at full 21mbps, instead of 6 mbps for all the rest. I can't tell much difference...can you guys? I'm not sure it's worth the extra size, download and upload time personally. I've found too that the best way to play these to see issues is at full screen, not the standard YouTube size.

I hope this helps...if anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. These were things I wanted to know before buying the HMC40, but I couldn't find out there, so I bought it. :)

Chris
 
Here is a link to some low light footage I shot of a Michael Jackson Flash Mob dancing on the Pearl St. Mall in Boulder CO this Halloween. I used the LO Noise setting. Shot in 720p 24 / 24fps shutter speed to get max light - didn't go over 18db of gain either. Not too bad and I boosted some color setting in post but overall I'm happy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A5js_CX3SU&&fmt=22
 
Barry_Green said:
Jack had something that we used for the GH1, a "spider brace", that really made a huge difference when hand-holding a tiny SLR, I'm sure it'd be equally effective with the HMC40. http://www.spiderbrace.com/
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Thanks, Barry, for the suggestion for the SpiderBrace. I used a shoulder stabilizer for a zi8 that had the cover shot and it held it's own while an EXCAM was on a steadycam. But the borrowed shoulder brace is over $200. OUCH! I just purchased an HMC40 and am happy to see a less expensive solution.
 
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