What is your experience with sensitivity

[Richard Sutcliffe]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to compare my hvx performace with other users experience. I am shooting the HVX in DV mode (waiting for the moment to go p2/hdd) and using it for spots doco and news type work so no studio work. I have my zebras set at 70% and (following Barrys advice) 105%. Gain is set to zero, 3db and 6db.

I avoid using gain wherever possible as it gets noisy fast but I am finding it very hard at times to get enough light for the HVX even when the location appears very bright to the naked eye. Yesterday I shot a piece in a brightly lit gymnasium using standard scene file 6 and had to set up a blonde and a red head to get additional light onto the talent. Even then, I was still shooting at 2.4 thru to completely open. The camera was selecting f2.4-f2.8. I couldnt get the zebras to apprear anywhere when set to 105%. I must admit that I have previously only worked with Sony cameras and am not fully comfortable with the HVX, I have this notion in my head that I need to be shooting at f5.6 and that shooting fully open isnt desirable, yet I find myself doing this a lot, basically in any indoor location.

I am not a technical expert by any means but I am an experienced shooter and I just cant help feeling that the HVX isn't sensitive enough. I have shot some superb footage with it, but Im am nervous about indoor locations at the moment and it isnt practical to lug light kits to every news shoot.

does this sound familiar to anyone else? Can anyone offer advice?

 

[Lenilenapi]

My response is first of all I've been shooting 20 years and I rarely shoot anything at 5.6 indoors. I expect to shoot interiors at 2.8 to wide open. I don't mind shooting wide open though cracking the iris down a little bit is preferable.
If there's nothing white in the shot you won't get 100% zebras so that doesn't mean anything unless you have people with white shirts and your not getting zebra - that is a problem.
Nevertheless it is admittedly a slow camera.
In SD though I wouldn't hesitate to shoot with 3 or even 6 db gain on for doc or industrial work. The HVX at 6 db is is at least as quiet as the DVX100A at 0.

Are you shooting 60i or progressive? In 60i you really do lose an extra stop so that is a serious issue. Also i find interlace aliasing problems in 60i SD so I avoid it.

If you are in 24P and need more stop, try using a slower shutter (use syncroscan) I sometimes prefer 1/30th to 1/48th generally and that's 1/2 stop already. 1/24 sec is a little smeary but generally I don't mind and it gives you yet more light. ( In 30P the slow shutter seems jumpier to me for some reason.

 

[Richard Sutcliffe]

Thanks for the response. My expectation of shooting closer to 5.6 was really about this one location which was very bright, not really about shooting interiors generally.

Good info about prog vs interlaced sensitivity, I have mainly been shooting prog. Also good to know how it compares to the DVX for sensitivity.

Im used to shooting Sonys and I'm used to using the sharp b&w diopters. Now I find myself using the lcd a lot. I expect there is just going to be a period of adjustment before I get comfortable and able to predict the camera a bit better. I do use the shutter when it gets a little too dark and it does make a substantial difference. I haven't really used the synchro scan/shutter angle tho so I should experiment with that.

I know what shutter angle and synchro scan are but Im not clear on synchro scans relationship to shutter angle and shutter angle's relationship to shutter speed. Anyone help out? (thats not clear, what I mean is when to use synchro scan over shutter angle (I realise they are diff cam modes) and when to use shutter angle over shutter speed and why?).