Sony HVR-1VU Low Light Test

swoopie

Active member
This Sony camcorder has a low light rating of 4-lux. That's not particularly good; however, Sony is well-known for having gain circuits that are outstanding and produce very little noise. I have found this to be true. For the test, I shot some footage at night here in my little bedroom studio using nothing but a small Bescor 50-watt LED light attached to the shoe with the cam on a tripod about 6-feet away.

no_adapt_front.jpg


It's a cold shoe, but the light runs off its own batteries. This is just about the largest light you'll ever see attached to a camcorder shoe, but 50-watts is still very little light. It's good for doing outdoor nighttime interviews in a pinch, but that's about it. I traded a small mixer to a guy on Ebay for it.

The light wouldn't scoot all the way back on the shoe though without bumping into the microphone, so I had to get an adapter (also made by Bescor) to lift it up higher. Chances are I'll end up using the adapter more than the light because it's also good for mounting an LCD monitor and getting it up out of the way in the same fashion.

no_adapt_back.jpg


with_adapt.jpg


The footage was shot in 1080P at 24A with cinema tones. Here are a couple of stills.

eyes.jpg


face.jpg
 

Attachments

  • no_adapt_front.jpg
    no_adapt_front.jpg
    28.7 KB · Views: 0
  • no_adapt_back.jpg
    no_adapt_back.jpg
    26.6 KB · Views: 0
  • with_adapt.jpg
    with_adapt.jpg
    39.4 KB · Views: 0
  • eyes.jpg
    eyes.jpg
    35.3 KB · Views: 0
  • face.jpg
    face.jpg
    36 KB · Views: 0
Last edited:
Back
Top