zebra pattern

S

sodotoguwangus

Well-known member
I posted a topic last week about not being able to expose propertly, and several of you suggested using the zebra. It works great, however, it has lead me to more questions.

1. On my HVX, there are two zebra settings one for 80% and one for 100%. What's the difference? Why would I choose one over another? (EDITED TO ADD: actually, I just found out that in the SETUP DISPLAY menu, you can choose the various levels of zebra settings from a wide range of values. Which values should I choose to set the zebras to?)

2. How exaxtly do you use zebras? Do you manually turn the iris down until they dissapear? Or should some zebras still be visible on the brightest spots? Ive been closing the iris till they dissapear, and the results seem good.

3. If you push the zebra button several times, you get an option called marker. What is it? How do I use it?

Thanks.
 
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Zebras are just tools to measure but not correct nothing, just tell you what's going on, you have two options to measure over expossed areas with the VHX .

I use Zebra 1 at 85% to see what happend to White people skins, and zebra 2 at 95% in order to control High lights as windows or open doors, etc.


if I can, I prefer to correct lights rather than iris, so I block lamps, close doors or hang ND filters in front of windows; then make minor adjustments to camera´s iris.

Note that some very little areas over expossed can be accepted

:)
 
Zebra patterns are very subjective. They are great for "run & gun" when you can't control the lighting except for the iris. Every DP is going to have their own set of guidelines with regard to correct lighting.

When lighting conditions are out of your control, you need to find settings that work for you under almost any situations. I choose to use two settings. The first one is 70% for normal skin tones and the other is 105%. Why 105%? I want to know when a highlight is completly "blown out". It's kind of like a histogram in digital still photography. Anything totally to the right is gone forever.

In answer to your question about do you turn your iris down until all of the zebra is gone? Again, that's your call. Just remember that if you have very bright sun hitting a metallic object, chances are it's going to zebra even though the rest of your image is perfectly exposed.

I shoot with zebra on all the time. I never turn it off.
 
You had also asked about the "Marker". The marker allows you to read the various levels or percentages of light within the box in the middle of the screen. In other words, it you move your camera around an image, the center will give you the percentage in that particular part of the image. This is a very handy device. It really acts more like a "spot" meter. You of course can change those numbers by raising or lowering the iris, speed, or lighting sources.
 
Thanks for all your awesome replies! Really cleared things up for me.

One thing though. About the marker . . . still not completely sure how to use it. What is the big square? And what is the little one inside (in the upper right corner?). Is it possible to move the little square around inside the big square, or are you supposed to physically move the camera?

Also, I understand that the marker will give me a percentage, but what does it mean? Thanks.
 
The smaller box is the area that the marker is actually sampling a percentage of brightness from. The best way to understand the percentages is that 0 represents solid black and 99 brightest luminance level.

Let's say you have an image in your viewfinder that takes in a person, a table, and food on the table. If you wanted to check the percentage of luminance on the food, you would move your camera so the food falls withing the little square. The number that shows up represents that percentage of light. In other words, you can check for hot spots, or conversely areas that may be too dark in which case you might have to open your iris more.

Hope this explains it.

eric
 
Eric, thanks.

But, if the smaller box is the box that samples the percentage of brightness, then why is their a large box? Is there a purpose to the large box?
 
Thanks ericcosh for such a clear explanation of Zebra. Now I also know how to expose correctly. I'll set my Zebra 1 to 70% & Zebra 2 to 105% like you.

However, I've tried puting the zebra on all the time while shooting. But the stripes in my EVF can be distracting at times & doesn't really help me to make out the subjects I'm shooting. Any comments on zebras being more distracting than helpful? THanks.

Andrew
 
Btw, another question. On Peaking. How do you use the peaking function on my DVX100A to focus an out-of-focussed image optimally. So that it is at it's maximum sharpest?

All I see in my EVF when peaking is on is a white outlline surrounding objects & subjects. But does the appearance of the outline change when focus is sharp, so that I know I've achieved sharp focus?
 
The appearance of the outlines at all signifies focus. When the outlines are most apparent, you can be fairly sure that part of the image is in focus. Personally I don't trust the peaking all that much and always do a back-focus whenever possible. I'm hoping that JVC hasn't patented their brilliant system of focus assist, and we'll see it on other cameras soon.
 
With regard to leaving the zebra on all the time, as I mentioned, this is very subjective. I've been doing it so long that for me it is just second nature. If it is distracting, then once you get your proper exposure, just turn it off.

If you have a setup shot where you have perfect control over your lighting, then it's not a problem to shut it off. However, if you're in a rapidly changing lighting enviroment, then I would suggest you leave it on.

One of the best pieces of advise that I've ever been given in the digital world is "when in doubt, go lower". That applies to not only light, but sound.
 
ericcosh said:
One of the best pieces of advise that I've ever been given in the digital world is "when in doubt, go lower". That applies to not only light, but sound.
Click to expand...

Good rule Eric. You might add a little "noise" when bootsing in Post, but if you over expose video or over modulate audio, there is NO pulling it down or getting it back. It's gone.
 
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