GH2 Under expose VS higher ISO? GH2

N

nobbystylus

Well-known member
Hi all

I'm using a driftwood hacked GH2 (Moon T7) and i'm wondering if generally its better practise to boost ISO levels rather than be slightly underexposed in terms of noise levels (particularly in the blacks). I notice that even slightly underexposed ( say one or two stops at iso 160) dark areas suffer from lots of noise.

Is it better to up ISO so that the exposure meters 'never' go below fully exposed ?
 
I don't have a GH2, but with the new G6 you have to expose to the right and crush in post. All these cmos type cams seems to create lots of noise in the shadows when underexposed regardless of ISO. On my old T3i, I was able to get less noise at ISO 2500 with ML than being underexposed at ISO 800. I think the G6 has better noise reduction routines than the GH2, but in either case it seems from my experience a higher ISO will be easier to work with in post when things aren't optimum. Cheers, Pete
 
Ok good to hear. I hate really noisy dark areas particularly when i'm only at ISO 160 etc, drives me a bit nuts. I'll aim for exposing to the right and take it from there.
 
Yes i know upping the ISO will add noise, but is it better noise wise than underexposing dark areas at a lower ISO? If i can up the ISO to the point where i don't underexpose in dark areas that tends to be an easier all around fix with neat video, but noise in underexposed areas even in a Low ISO is ugly and messy.
 
Well, it'll only get uglier and messier if you up the ISO. Being underexposed isn't what causes the noise, it just happens to be easier to see in those areas.
 
How far you should expose to the right depends on how crushed you want your highlights to be. Details exposed at the top 1/8th of the histogram will be compressed into a narrow range of near-white highlights. This is usually acceptable if you're filming in sunlight or with a direct light source in the frame, but not so good if the brightest details are in someone's face. With light skintones, ideal facial exposure is typically somewhere around 75%.
 
If i've got a choice, i'd rather blow a window out than have creepy crawling shadows with weird wavy noise patterns. GH2 seems so great when shooting outside, but shadows are always horribly noisy no matter what ISO i set it to.
 
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