White Balance Issue?

N

Northstar

New member
Hey guys....new to the forum, but what a great forum it is! Lots of info. I am an aspiring indie guy shooting a documentary right now.....having a great time using my DVX100. I'm taking this issue to the board because I thought maybe someone might know a tip on how to fix this.....

White balancing the camera is a cinch and I do it frequently when shifting between indoor and outdoor shooting. The indoor shoots are awesome; the color is great, the picture is terrific. [I am also using an anamorphic lens on the camera for the true 16:9 widescreen quality] Here's the problem I am having: outdoors, I am getting terrible picture quality. I have the gain set to LOW; I have white balanced using a sheet of white paper. The problem is the picture BLOWS OUT TERRIBLY. On a sunny day, I get a horrific blue cast or it completely blows out a light area altogether. I have tried shifting between presets on the white balance; I have the AWB turned off; I have tried it with it turned on and get the same result. [I am shooting in the standard 24p mode, I should note] ANY SUGGESTIONS from our more veteran users on what I could do to get a better picture outdoors? I know this is a remarkable camera that should have no problems working outdoors beautifully as it does for me indoors....I am sure it's something I don't have set correctly! I am all ears for suggestions!

THANKS RK
 
You mention that the video is blown out...
Are you changing to the ND filters?? If you don't it should show a blinking message in the view finder "1/4" or "1/8 ND".
 
I third it - sounds like your not using ND filters to knock down the hot areas. Learn to use your camera's Zebra setting to show these hot areas and adjust exposure accordingly with the ND filters and Iris. The camera's Marker (part of the Zebra feature) option helps you determine the F stop spread between the bright and dark areas and whether you need fill to help balance the shot.

Barry Green's book gives a lot of information on these camera features.

S Cannon
 
Yeah, and you may need to get a set of NDs for the lens too.

You also may want to check your iris setting--if it's in manual, set for an indoor shot, it's letting in way too much light when outside.
 
i just shot a ton of outside stuff over the weekend and could have used more ND. it was a typical bright sunny so cal day and even with the ND set to 1/64 and the iris stopped way down, my images are still brighter than i would like.
 
Many Thanks!

Many Thanks!

Hey guys many thanks for the suggestions! I don't shoot outside a great deal, so this arena is sort of new to me. But, I did follow your advice and use the ND filters for an outdoor shoot yesterday and the problem was totally resolved! Maybe I am alone in my feelings on the DVX manual, but it seems more like a book for a veteran camera operator as opposed to a guy who is really just getting started with his own serious equipment. [That, and I admit, I am more of a post-edit FinalCut and Adobe Premiere junkie than an avid camera guy!] BUT THANKS!!!!!!!!!
 
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