The new camera "Must-Do" list

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N635DC

Well-known member
Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum but not a new panny user. I've been with the family since before the days of the good ol AG-456. Anyways it was time for an HD upgrade and I just took delivery from B&H on my first of 3 HMC-150 cameras. Anyways I filmed a minute outside then brought it inside and taped a minute. To preview my footage I plugged it in to my 42" 720 tv. The outside footage looked great, crystal clear with noise being minimal do to it being bright (love the ND filter), The indoor footage however left something to be desired. Even without gain +6 it looked noisy. I was shooting on scene file 1.

Question is, for someone who will mainly be doing weddings with this and shooting in less than awesome light conditions, what settings am I going to be needing to change to get the most out of these?

I keep hearing how amazing this camera is from everyone, so I figure there must be a few menu adjustments that need to be made in order to get the best results under indoor conditions.
 
What would resetting the scene files change? I haven't messed with them at all since I got it, wouldn't they be reset to what they are now? I'm confused.
 
just a disclaimer right off the Bat, I don't own this camera.. I do however own an AVCHD consumer level camcorder, looking to add this or the HMC40 to my cameras..

From the research I've done in low light situations it doesn't do great.. I know most of it is due to gain, but not all of it, again, not an expert but I think a lot of it has to do with the AVCHD filetype.. I think if weddings are your main focus, another camera may have been more suitable..
 
Try to do a black balance if that makes a difference, if not do a full camera reset from the menu. Also try scene file 4 or 5 (B. Press, Cine-V) for your best bet.
 
N635DC said:
To preview my footage I plugged it in to my 42" 720 tv.
Click to expand...

What Type, Brand, Model TV you have?

You plug it in HDMI?

Hmc150 usually has very little noise on +6 gain and is a great camera in low light... You can lower the Master Ped a notch or 2 to get a little less noise in the blacks.


but I think a lot of it has to do with the AVCHD filetype.. I think if weddings are your main focus, another camera may have been more suitable..
Click to expand...

Clearly not the case. Some of the top wedding Videographers shoot solely on the HMC150.


I would advise getting Barry's Handbook...

.
 
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advice

advice

I think the OP is asking an advice on what setting is best in lowlite, try this:
Lonoiz
detail level -4
v detail 0
detail coring +7
chroma level -1
chroma phase 0
master ped -13
a iris level +2
gamma - b.press (least noise)
knee - high
matrix norm1
skin tone dtl on
 
It would appear noisy also if it is not properly WB and the exposure was not properly adjusted. even at 12db in some cases in my weddings shoots were still acceptable.
 
Projectid said:
just a disclaimer right off the Bat, I don't own this camera.. I do however own an AVCHD consumer level camcorder, looking to add this or the HMC40 to my cameras..

From the research I've done in low light situations it doesn't do great.. I know most of it is due to gain, but not all of it, again, not an expert but I think a lot of it has to do with the AVCHD filetype.. I think if weddings are your main focus, another camera may have been more suitable..
Click to expand...

This it not true at all. The HMC40 is relatively poor in low light (it is based on a high end consumer camcorder), but the HMC150 is actually very good in low light, comparable to an EX1 for example.
 
KnoxHotch said:
Try to do a black balance if that makes a difference, if not do a full camera reset from the menu. Also try scene file 4 or 5 (B. Press, Cine-V) for your best bet.
Click to expand...

This makes a huge difference. You pretty much need to ABB every time you turn the power up the HMC150.

Lowering you're detail (and raising coring a tad) will also reduce noise as will lowering the pedestal.

I have had to do a complete reset only once so far, but I ABB every time I power up.
 
Denwa said:
This makes a huge difference. You pretty much need to ABB every time you turn the power up the HMC150.

Lowering you're detail (and raising coring a tad) will also reduce noise as will lowering the pedestal.

I have had to do a complete reset only once so far, but I ABB every time I power up.
Click to expand...

I have done mostly low light work and have never made ABB a practice. I may even venture to say most agree its something that only needs to be done every once in a while.

Things like the TV and settings of the camera (iris, gain, scene files, filters etc) have a much bigger factor.

I keep my Master Ped around -2 and haven't seen noise - Not sure how -13 would look, may make footage noticeably darker.


I plugged into a huge Sanyo LCD TV and the picture looked like crap, very noisy. Some LCD's (cheaper ones) have a horrible representation of noise...
 
also, make sure the TV doesn't have sharpening turned on. Out of the box- most LCDs are maxed out on sharpening/detail which will give you a false noise impression. The first day I hooked my 150 up to a 42" Sony 1080p via the HDMI- I saw noise. Turned off the TV's sharpening and 90% of it went away.

All TV sharpening is just line enhancement. Also- do a search on low noise scene file settings. The B. Green "low noiz" scene file (that comes with his book on the 150) looks great on my cam.
 
MadHMC150 said:
I have done mostly low light work and have never made ABB a practice. I may even venture to say most agree its something that only needs to be done every once in a while.
Click to expand...

That is contrary to my tests and the tests of others. This is specific to the HMC150. Maybe you do not notice it because you have you ped lowered or detail almost off?
 
Sadly I was looking at it on a 42" 720P Sanyo HDMI to HDMI. Got it a while back real cheap. I hevent adjusted those things yet but I'm guessing after I do them and look at it on a better TV It should look worlds better.



MadHMC150 said:
I have done mostly low light work and have never made ABB a practice. I may even venture to say most agree its something that only needs to be done every once in a while.

Things like the TV and settings of the camera (iris, gain, scene files, filters etc) have a much bigger factor.

I keep my Master Ped around -2 and haven't seen noise - Not sure how -13 would look, may make footage noticeably darker.


I plugged into a huge Sanyo LCD TV and the picture looked like crap, very noisy. Some LCD's (cheaper ones) have a horrible representation of noise...
Click to expand...
 
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