Low light -- terrible...need some help

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Phil1076

Well-known member
Hello,

I've been lurking on these forums for a few weeks and finally decided to sign up. I've had my HMC150 for about 3 weeks now. I've read pages and pages about this camera before buying it and am now mostly familiar with all the settings.

I've read about how good this camera is in low light and either my camera is completely broken or we have differing definitions of what "low light" is.

I have tried EVERYTHING....I mean EVERYTHING, and I think I'm ready to try my hand at returning this camera next. In all but the absolute darkest rooms, the footage is completely unusable. Gamma, master pedestal, shutter speed, iris, gain....etc etc I've played with every control and the footage is so grainy and noisy that it's unbelievable. I've tried all the recording resolutions/shutter speeds but nothing works. I'm seriously contemplating returning it but I don't know what else to get in this price range. I'm attaching 2 image stills from my baby son's room. The first is with a light on in the corner in the room. It's a bright light and lights the entire room well for the eye to see. The second pic is the same room/shot but with the main ceiling light set to very low (like an evening wedding may be). Both images were shot at 1080/24p.

By goal is to video weddings but either there is something seriously wrong with this camera or I'm missing something. Does anyone have any ideas?

I see youtube/vimeo videos of people shooting in much lower light then I am...even one guy posted a video of him recoding lights in complete darkness and it looks beautiful...Can anyone help me? Thanks in advance.
 

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those are way underexposed. but it may help to tell us your scene file settings for these shots. any underexposure on any camera will most likely introduce noise.
 
What is your shutter speed?
What is your aperture?
What level of gain are you using (if any)?
Are the ND filters on?
How many watts are the lightbulbs in the room?
What is your scene file setting?

Help us help YOU!

stills from my baby son's room. The first is with a light on in the corner in the room. It's a bright light and lights the entire room well for the eye to see. The second pic is the same room/shot but with the main ceiling light set to very low (like an evening wedding may be).
Click to expand...

Also: Where is your on-camera light???

Want to shoot weddings and events (or anything else in a "cave")? You'd better BYOL (Bring Your Own Light) or you're SOL (S*** Outta Luck). I recommend the Comer 1800, which I bought from L.A. Color Shop.
 
I shoot weddings. A word of advice, always avoid shooting anything indoors without using an on camera light. Receptions are typically lit low for ambiance. If you want a happy bride, use a light.
 
If there is simply not enough light for the camera to pick up the image and this is normal, then that's fine; I'm ok with that. It's just that the way that people have posted on the internet made me think that this thing magically works in near zero lighting conditions. I actually purchased a light a few days (Litepanels LED Micro) and tried it out about a half hour ago and the results were MUCH better.

Since this is my first pro camera, I just wanted to make sure that there was nothing wrong with it. If I need a light, I'll bring a light. Thanks for helping me confirm that it's ok.
 
Try these settings and see if together they help:
-1080p/24p
-1/48th second Shutter speed or 180.0d Shutter
-Cine-"V" scene file @ default
-LP Micro set to full power
-Gain of +6 or +12 if that's not enough exposure with the light

If that doesn't do it, your only other options are a more powerful light like the Comer 900 or 1800, or a more sensitive camera like a DSLR (which also brings a whole different bag of issues).
 
Hey Phil,

i guess you "imaginations" of low-light capabilities are to high :)

Compared to a VDSLR the HMC got really small chips...

Im using the HMC151e, the european model and shooting mainly in 1080p... Shutter set to default 1/50th...If i get in low light situations i try not to go over 6db of gain. i changed the setting L: 0dB M: 3dB H:6dB

A little boost up can be done in post... which looks better in my eyes then using high gain directly by the camera.

Another way to achieve a little more light is to set the shutter down to an 1/25th (1/24 on your model i guess...). The downside is the motion-fluidness...

And as mentiond using an on-camera light...
 
Still waiting to see example with full setting info - What Jason asked. Video needs/wants/demands/loves/eats light and "low light" is a subjective term, but on the surface I'd agree something is definitely off.

Welcome to the forums btw.
 
The issue has been resolved. I guess my expectations were unrealistic given my limited experience.

I just did a wedding this part weekend and everything went well. I limited myself to 6db gain and everything looks nice and clear, even in low light situations. Thanks all.
 
Hence my problem with the absolutely asinine and vague term low-light. It's utterly meaningless and puts people in very poor positions trying to replicate the work of others.

Best to give lighting levels in Footcandles, or lux, or if that can't be done, then in ISO/F-Stop of correct exposure.
 
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