Shooting at Night?

C

cyberagedave

Member
I need major help.
I am still new to the DVX. I shot a concert at night with it. Came out like ****, my friend also shot the same concert with a different camera, and it came out awesome. I know the DVX is way better but how do I get rid of the grainy, snow and the bad picture.

I was shooting on 30.

Any help would be great.
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

open your iris and choose a lower shutter... and dont move the camera too fast.
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

why shoot the concert at 30p and not 60i or 24p? Jus curious. I thought 30p is for stuff you'd want to slo mo in post and for pictures....
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

If you're shooting low light, and you don't care about it being progressive, 60i would be the best...the CCD's are the most light sensetive in 60i...
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

You could also try shooting 24P, but changing the shutter to 1/24 . . . . . and if you don't mind a blurry, spacey effect, you could even go to slow shutter and shoot at 1/12 or 1/6 ---- it's not naturalistic, but it can look nice if you like that sort of thing and you can't bring in lights.
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

Imo, the best ultra-low light settings are (regardless of frame rate):
Master Ped: Usually around +5, best to experiment here
Gamma: High (avoid cine_gamma_d especially)
Gain: As little as possible but whatever's necessary to achieve a decent image
Shutter speeed: As high as possible without getting a horribly blurred image
Matrix (very important): Not cinelike. It will create a lot of noise, especially in saturated areas (dark purples are the worst.) Normal is good.
ND: Off (duh)
Iris: Open (duh)

You can shoot in a pretty dark environment, even in progressive mode if you avoid the cine_like matrix setting and use the high gamma setting. If worse comes to worse, switch to F1 on the scene file settings. It's a good indicator (since it's just raw, uncorrected 60i) of whether or not you'll be able to shoot in a given condition.

Btw, if your friend had a vx2100, despite the difference in price, the vx2100 will have better low light capability by a decent amount. I know it seems unfair, but just remember that its dials don't glow in the dark!
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

I wonder if the original post was about shooting in real LOW LIGHT conditions.

I have been folloiwng this great forum for sometime. Intend buying a DVX soon.

this is my first post
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

[quote author=Hii link=board=Events;num=1091431063;start=0#7 date=08/03/04 at 01:39:44]I wonder if the original post was about shooting in real LOW LIGHT conditions.

I have been folloiwng this great forum for sometime. Intend buying a DVX soon.

this is my first post
[/quote]

Yes, it was pretty low, the only lights where the concert lights flashing on and off in different colors. The footage came out awesome on the other camera but I know its just settings. Even in the car when trying to interview some, I can barely see them thru my camera but oh his, it was perfect.
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

[quote author=Policar link=board=Events;num=1091431063;start=0#9 date=08/03/04 at 13:15:51]What camera was he using?[/quote]

The XL1
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

[quote author=Policar link=board=Events;num=1091431063;start=0#6 date=08/02/04 at 19:35:43]Shutter speeed:  As high as possible without getting a horribly blurred image[/quote]

I think I know what you mean here, but to be clear your shutter speed should be set to a low number (such as 1/30), a faster shutter speed will make your camera need more light.

Probably just my misunderstanding of the term "high shutter speed."

-Bischofftep
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

I think your correction is accurate. Slower shutter speeds (lower numbers) yield more light (and more blur).
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

Yikes, my bad...I meant as low as possible without getting horrible blur. Sorry, I haven't slept much lately....
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

[quote author=HorseFilms link=board=Events;num=1091431063;start=0#13 date=08/05/04 at 10:32:10]How does one engage the slow shutter speeds?[/quote]

Go into the Menu, SW Mode screen, then assign one of the USER buttons to SLOWSHUT. Exit the menu.

Then, press the user button to activate the slow shutter mode. Use the speed sel button to step through the speed settings.
 
Re: Shooting at Night?

What about the snow effect. Looks not so much blurry but like that snow feel. Especially on black background.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top