C100: Need C100 Mark II help on getting focus correct!

[Beeboop]

I've done only a few weddings and I have made lots of mistakes. One mistake that I seem to be coming across often is focusing during a reception. I would mount my C100 MK II on a tripod and run off somewhere else with my A7S II. When I view the images at home, I come to realize that I was out of focus but not by much. However, it is enough for me to apply the sharpening tool in Adobe to fix the problem. So my question is, what setting is safest to capture wedding speeches when leaving my camera alone in a low light situation?

My guess is F8 and an ISO that looks good on my LCD screen? I remember someone telling me two F stops below the highest to keep everything in focus and an ISO to match it. Should I ever mess with the shutter? I have it set to 180 degrees.

 

[Doug_EX]

In your case, I wouldn't be afraid to play with shutter angle. Better to have the image in focus than worrying on the ''standard'' 180 degre shutter angle.

 

[Beeboop]

So you believe my shutter angle is the problem? The 180 degrees was a setting I switched to recently after this problem. I believe it was set to something else before, a degree and not an angle. I honestly don't remember my exact settings for these jobs but I believe I set it to F4 and an ISO to match on my LCD screen. I would just eye it on my LCD screen.

 

[Doug_EX]

So you believe my shutter angle is the problem?

No, that's not what I said. You said that your shot was out of focus...so, by changing the shutter angle (let's say 270 or 360) you can close the iris a bit and keep more in focus without going to far on ISO. Though with the C100, you can crank up the ISO without major issues.

 

[Carcaridon]

Is the problem that the subject is going in and out of focus? If so, then f/8 or more should give you a wider depth of field to hopefully compensate for this. If it's that the subject is never in focus, turn on your focus assist and make sure you magnify in when setting focus before leaving. The focus assist is really good on the C100MII so you should be able to nail that focus. An external monitor that is larger will help too. Sometimes that little flip out is just too small to nail crucial focus.

 

[Eric Coughlin]

Two things come to mind.

One, have the speakers speak from a mic stand that you provide them. Put the DJ's mic on the mic stand and tape it in place so the speaker doesn't remove it. This will keep them in one place so you don't have to worry about them moving around, which makes focusing, framing, and lighting all work out easier. You can also put a lapel microphone plugged into an audio recorder or wireless transmitter on the mic stand for backup in case the DJ's mic has interference issues.

Secondly, don't run around with your A7s? Why do you need to run around during speeches? Sure, run over to check the audio at the DJ's stand to make sure it's recording his feed properly, but other than that I'd figure to stay near the A-camera which is on the speaker.

For toasts I generally set aperture around f/2.8-f/4, ISO around 1000-4000, probably around 2000 on average. I almost always keep my shutter degree at 180 degrees, unless I'm desperate for light, such as needing to go over 10,000 ISO. Oh yeah, I film in Wide DR, so keep that in mind when I mention ISO values as ISO 1000 on Wide DR is equivalent to the brightness of ISO 2000 in Canon Log, and the ISO for the A7s may be completely different in terms of exposure. I'd avoid f/8 because assuming you don't have really bright lights with you that would likely put your ISO (in Wide DR) at around 8000-16,000, which is too noisy for my tastes. With the A7s II you may be able to get away with f/8 since it's better in low light than the C100. Then again, we did start using larger sensor cameras for a reason, and I prefer the look of the depth of field of f/2.8 to f/5.6 over f/8.

When I'm by myself I'll typically use a couple on-camera lights as setting up light stands is too much to handle by myself with all my other gear, and when I've got a second shooter I'll often setup two or three brighter tungsten lights on tall light stands.

Here are a few photos from some toasts setups I've done for weddings toasts. Typically I'll do a tight shot on the speaker, tight shot on the bride and groom, and wide shot of the three of them. I film about 40-45 weddings per year.

 

[ED299]

This sounds like a situation where you might try some experimentation with a similar setup (i.e. lighting and camera distance) and something to focus on to try a variety of settings. I've been finding similar AF challenges with my C100 II as well though in my case it's with long focal lengths. Peaking shows my subject to be in focus but I find there's a sweet spot that's better within the area peaking indicates is in focus. Unless I hit that sweet spot I have to resort to sharpening in post. Stopping down helps too to increase DOF and the in focus area. I prefer to balance exposure with ISO rather than shutter angle/speed. Hope you get this figured out before your next shoot.

 

[Beeboop]

I love your work Eric. I was just checking out your reel on vimeo. I want crystal clear images just like you! Do you use a C100 for all of your footage including glidecam shots? For the glidecam shots at dark events, are you using an on camera light?Everything seems to be in focus as pertaining to the depth of field. There isn't much blur in the back. I am assuming you are using f4 for most of your shots? Thanks. Going to practice tonight around the house.

https://vimeo.com/twosensefilms

 

[NOA]

So my question is, what setting is safest to capture wedding speeches when leaving my camera alone in a low light situation?

The safest way is to stay with your camera and monitor the focus and if you need to leave it running unmanned just close down the iris so you get a wider dof and set your iso to get the right exposure, I wouldn't touch the shutter though. How much you can close your iris depends on how much light is available and that's something you need to find out while shooting, it all depends what the highest acceptable iso is your camera can handle without your image drowning in noise.
@ Eric, I thought that first image was from a press conference I"m sure you will get excellent images in that way but where I live that would not fly, wish I could shoot that way though.

 

[Eric Coughlin]

Thanks. Yeah, it's all with the C100 Mark I and Mark II. I'll sometimes put an on-camera light on the camera on the Glidecam, particularly for the exit at the end if it's really dark outside, though more often during the reception when it's dark I'll put on the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 @f/1.8 and that's often bright enough to keep the ISO at 4000 or below without an on-camera light. No on-camera lights were used in the Steadicam reel. Indoors on the Glidecam I'm often around f/2.8-f/4; at a reception, often f/1/8-f/2.8, or f/4 if I'm on the 24-105. I got the 24-70 f/2.8 recently so I use f/4 less often now on the Glidecam, but if there's enough light I may set it to f/4 to make focusing a bit easier. Autofocus often helps, though I don't leave it on unless I'm center framing a subject of course. Most often I use autofocus on the Glidecam to quickly focus like a one-shot-focus, aim, focus, turn it off, re-frame for rule of thirds, and continue shooting. Press again on and off quickly to refocus any time the subject's distance to the camera changes.

Face detection on the C300 Mark II is also awesome for focusing at weddings; I've used my C300 Mark II on two weddings so far and that feature is great. I haven't tried it on the Glidecam yet as it's quite a bit heavier. I need to add more weights to the bottom, more than what comes with the Glidecam, so I purchased some more weights which are sitting in a box currently. Need to get that setup before tomorrow's shoot!

Otherwise I'll stick with the C100 Mark II for Glidecam shots, and my Steadicam Zephyr for C300 Mark II Steadicam shots. But I think the Glidecam should work. I use my Glidecam HD4000 with the Steadicam Merlin vest which is rated to support up to 10 lbs, which is around what my C300 Mark II setup weighs.

 

[Beeboop]

Hey Eric. Do you film in 23.98p or 59.94i? If you use both, what do you use most often or when do you switch between the frame rates?

 

[EIREHotspur]

A C300 mark 2, A C1oo mark 1 and two C100 mark 2s.... Thats a dream setup Eric....

Looking at your photos at the reception would make me very nervous...can just picture any of those people getting up and falling over an unattended tripod....I would probably use a 70-200 zoom and find a wall...

Ever heard of a person who is so awkward they would fall over a chair in the corner of a room?

 

[Eric Coughlin]

I film in 24p most of the time. 60i when I want to do slow-motion on the C100 Mark I. 60p when I want to do slow-motion on the C100 Mark II. 30p for the occasional TV job or the like where the client specifically requests 30p.

In one of those photos I have two telephotos (I have two 70-210 and an 80-200) and a 24-105, sometimes I'll use three telephotos for toasts and am sometimes a bit further back. I always use three telephotos for the ceremony. For the toasts I want to be pretty tight so I don't want to be too far away, even at 200mm. I suppose I could go further back if I had a 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 or a teleconverter, which are on my list of things to buy this year, but that'd probably not be ideal for a reception as I often film at f/2.8 to f/4 for toasts since there is less light. The Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 may be a great lens for such purposes. A bit heavy.

Anyway, I haven't had any issues with people knocking over tripods. I use stable tripods (rather than the flimsy ones I used to use for my B and C camera) and people don't typically stand up and walk around during toasts, only after them, at which point I'm moving tripods back to the DJ's booth.