7D Stupid, Stupid questions

[danabnormal]

I'm planning my first shoot and as part of this I'm doing test shots to ensure that I'm able to get the shots that I want in the best possible quality.

The following WILL be considered newb. For that I apologise. However I hope you will see that I have tried to do my homework. So....

I'm using a 7D with a stock EFS 18-135 lens. As I understand it the capabilities of the lense will come in to play but more of that in a minute.

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VIDEO MODE

I'm shooting PAL, so have select 1080p/24 for the 'film' look (as I have seen it described). I'm also set the colour profile to the custom flat setting as has been recommended on numerous sites.


ISO

As I understand it the native ISOs for the 7D are multiples of 160 and I should be looking to stick with the lowest ISO possible. I have found 160 to be impractical in the settings I'm looking to shoot (dimly lit bedroom, very early morning outdoor shots) but have been trying to not go past 640. Is this a practical limit? Should I not be scared of going past this? I know that higher ISOs offer more light but less noise and, obviously, I'm looking for the cleanest capture possible.


fSTOP

As I am shooting 24p I've been running the aperture at 60 (180 degree rule) but have found, in combination with the ISO setting, that the video is very very dark. Dropping to 30 helps immensely but what do I loose when doing this? I assume I'll be getting more motion blur as apposed to clean, vivid movement. I'm also aware that shooting at 60 gives some banding from various light sources (I'm shooting in the UK).


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Am I being too stringent with the settings I'm using? I only have the one lense, and I believe that the lense type can determine the shutter speed you use but know little beyond that.

The results I've tested so far with the above give very very dark and I think I understand why, but what I'm battling with is the best way to combat this.

Again, I apologise profusely for the 'newb' post but I'm determined to get these ironed out prior to continuing with my project.

Many thanks in advance,

Daniel

 

[thetvirus513]

1) I would not shoot flat unless you plan on color correcting (which you should do) but I don't know your plans

2) I don't usually have any issue with shooting over 640iso, but you do want to keep it as low as possible. However I would say you CAN go up to 1600 but keeping it around 800 or lower is IDEAL. You should really be lighting your scenes well though in order to keep this low.

3) I believe you are talking about your shutter speed not your f-stop / aperture. For shutter I would keep it around the 180 rule (some say 50 some say 60) I will go all over the place with my shutter when shooting events (such as weddings) but when I do a short film I really don't change that unless I am going for a certain effect (I have heard you want to bump up shutter for slomo) Again you NEED to light your scenes, that is how you keep your shutter and iso normal.


just my two cents, hope it helps

 

[life4eva]

You have F stop mixed with Aperture. Secondly in film, video, etc. You use lighting. By you not using lighting with a slow lens and not constant aperture will limit your shots a lot, so much so I would tell you not to shoot like this as you will NOT be happy with the image quality in dark areas where light is not present. LIGHT YOUR SCENE!!

If you are shooting PAL put your camera on 25 not 24.

Others will chime in.....

 

[Alex H.]

Hi, Daniel.

First things first: if you are shooting PAL, you aren't shooting 24p. PAL runs in either 50i, 50p, or 25p. You should be using 25p in 1080.

Yes, you want to use the lowest ISO possible, but if you don't have enough light then you may have to sacrifice a low ISO. That's just how it is.

As far as your aperture question, well... 1/60 is not an aperture at all. It's a shutter speed. And 1/60 is not close to the 180º rule for 24p, which would be 1/48 (and the closest the camera offers to that is 1/50). But the 180º rule only goes so far anyway. When you are dealing with any light source other than the sun (or fire), you have to consider your electrical system. In PAL countries, that's a 50Hz system. For NTSC, it's a 60Hz system. So it's safer to match your shutter speed to your electrical system for shooting under artificial light. Thus, in the case of PAL and 25p, you need to stick to 1/50 or to a multiple thereof. What you may see if you don't is some sort of strobing, or rolling bars in your image.

You also mentioned that the picture is too dark at 1/60. It will be better at 1/50, but you need to take into account your aperture and ISO. Aperture (f-stop) has to do with how wide open the iris is on the lens. If you can, open up a little bit to let in more light. If you can't, then you may need to bump up the ISO. If you can add light, you're even better off (the more light you have, the happier your camera will be). Your lens is rated 3.5-5.6. That means that zoomed all the way out to 18, you can open your lens up to f3.5. However, if you zoom in, your aperture will automatically decrease, and will be at 5.6 by the time you're zoomed to 135mm. Choose your shots carefully, and try not to zoom at all unless you have enough light to keep your aperture at 5.6 or tighter.

 

[William_Robinette]

Secondly in film, video, etc. You use lighting. LIGHT YOUR SCENE!!

This will serve you better then anyone who will come on here and tell you to get faster lenses, shoot at certain ISO's and use "xyz" color profile for more room in post. You make the shot beautiful, not the camera. Light it up, stage it correctly, frame it well and your movie will look better then 90% of the stuff out there.

End of thread.

 

[argo]

This is what I found strange about my 550D when I bought it. Why would Canon make it possible to shoot PAL at 24p (selectable in menu), in addition to 25p? For planned transfer to film?

 

[life4eva]

This is what I found strange about my 550D when I bought it. Why would Canon make it possible to shoot PAL at 24p (selectable in menu), in addition to 25p? For planned transfer to film?

Options..... Just one more reason why Canon is better than Panasonic to me.