Low Light Tricks are here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...viSynth-RULES!&p=2404683&posted=1#post2404683
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...viSynth-RULES!&p=2404683&posted=1#post2404683
GH2 Low Light Tricks
- Thread starter Ralph B
- Start date
Noah Blackwell
Active member
Thanks Ralph. These are going to be fun to try out.
One more that I haven’t seen before.
When shooting in shutter priority mode with Auto ISO the GH2 will meter even for Cinema, Standard, Dynamic, Nature, and Nostalgic color modes. It will use 1/3 of a stop lower ISO for smooth and 1/3 of stop higher for Vibrant.
Most people are already using Smooth so it would not make a difference to them. However, if you are currently using Vibrant you could get the camera to use 2/3 of a stop lower in camera ISO.
In reality you don’t get something for nothing though. The image is being underexposed for smooth and then the levels of certain areas are being lifted by the color profile. In the end you will get a properly exposed image with smooth. However, some sections will have more noise than their in camera ISO setting would lead you to believe. None of the sections will have more noise than the Vibrant setting would have though.
When shooting in shutter priority mode with Auto ISO the GH2 will meter even for Cinema, Standard, Dynamic, Nature, and Nostalgic color modes. It will use 1/3 of a stop lower ISO for smooth and 1/3 of stop higher for Vibrant.
Most people are already using Smooth so it would not make a difference to them. However, if you are currently using Vibrant you could get the camera to use 2/3 of a stop lower in camera ISO.
In reality you don’t get something for nothing though. The image is being underexposed for smooth and then the levels of certain areas are being lifted by the color profile. In the end you will get a properly exposed image with smooth. However, some sections will have more noise than their in camera ISO setting would lead you to believe. None of the sections will have more noise than the Vibrant setting would have though.
I did tests and posted the samples about 6 months ago on dpreview. I re-ran the tests again this morning and got the same results as I listed above. You can run the tests yourself. Just stick it in shutter priority mode with Auto ISO on.
Adjust the shutter speed to where the ISO is about 320. Then take the same picture with all of the color modes while the camera is on a tripod. You will see that the ISO varies from 200-500. The 200 will be for Smooth and the 500 will be for Smooth B&W.
Honestly, smooth is the only setting that makes sense to use in low light with Auto ISO on for stills. It will give you the fastest shutter speed of all of the color modes when your ISO is maxed out at 3200.
For video you should still use smooth. However, it is for different reasons. For video the shutter speeds are pretty much fixed(2x frame rate +- 1 stop depending on the look you are after). For low light video the key is getting in camera ISO as low as possible. Smooth is the setting that will do that.
You should never use Vibrant or Smooth B&W. Those settings will use the slowest shutter speeds and the highest ISO. It is unfortunate though because the Vibrant setting has the strongest colors which could be desirable in some situations. However, color can be easily corrected in post so it is much more important to keep the ISO low.
Adjust the shutter speed to where the ISO is about 320. Then take the same picture with all of the color modes while the camera is on a tripod. You will see that the ISO varies from 200-500. The 200 will be for Smooth and the 500 will be for Smooth B&W.
Honestly, smooth is the only setting that makes sense to use in low light with Auto ISO on for stills. It will give you the fastest shutter speed of all of the color modes when your ISO is maxed out at 3200.
For video you should still use smooth. However, it is for different reasons. For video the shutter speeds are pretty much fixed(2x frame rate +- 1 stop depending on the look you are after). For low light video the key is getting in camera ISO as low as possible. Smooth is the setting that will do that.
You should never use Vibrant or Smooth B&W. Those settings will use the slowest shutter speeds and the highest ISO. It is unfortunate though because the Vibrant setting has the strongest colors which could be desirable in some situations. However, color can be easily corrected in post so it is much more important to keep the ISO low.