How is this camera in very low light i.e. dim churches or rooms lit by candle light?

As a wedding videographer I would have to say wait for the XDCam EX!

Either that or you'll have to carry the new Sony light as a minimum requirement.

I love my FX 7 in the daylight, but for receptions it's quite depressing when you take your 1st shot (before the sun sets through the windows) at 6 p.m., and the camera is already at +18 gain!

Cheers Vaughan

I strongly disagree with claims on the V1 being so poor in low light. The idea is to not allow the camera brighten up the reality for you, which it will do if you leave gain in auto while not limiting it to say 6dB in the menu (12db at most).

When the scenery being shot is dim or even dark, try to allow only as much of gain as necessary to render it equally dark in your footage - you won't be disappointed! Of course, try to compensate for it with other settings, like freeing the bandwith by compressing blacks, or making for the overal picture dullnes by increasing colour gain, setting knee high etc. Also, when it's dark, don't darken it even further by engaging cinegamma. If you don't like it dark, use some light!!!

Gain as high as 18dB should only be used at those rare occasions when you really must document something that would be too dark otherwise.

Not that low light in V1. Is HDV not DV too much gain end up VCD quality...:( If is a candle light than let net it be or get some extra lights using LED type. Im getting the SONY Led light soon

I have a pair of v1u's which I use for ceremony's/receptions etc. We have been very pleased with the footage. Obviously, if you turn out the lights in a room, well, it's dark. So the idea is to use placed light in places that will help your footage. One of the darkest buildings we've ever shot in was a university chapel, dark walls, dark seats, dark ceiling, dark carpet, windows and ceiling lights that were meant more for design than function. Even then, with the bride being in white, white flowers behind them and light colored b/m dresses, we still had plenty of light.

We are pleased we went with the V1u. Like mentioned above, there's always a new camera coming out, the goal is to get what will work for your now, because it's hard to build a buisness, in video, without cameras. :}

I also have a pair of V1Us that I use for shooting performances. I had a very challenging lighting situation this spring, but I think the results are pretty impressive. The close shots are V1U, and the wide shots are HC1-- before I bit the bullet and bought a twin V1U.

YouTube doesn't look anywhere as good as my DVD does, but it gives you a pretty good idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3DrTDWlZ5M

I did a fair amount of post correction, but I think I preserved the dramatic lighting effect. Right from the beginning, a dimly lit lamp is swinging at the left of the screen. Then a figure emerges upstage in a thin shaft of light. And the person in the bright chrome body suit... yadda yadda yadda. All in a day's work!

Tom
I shoot Weddings and a lot of concert footage in clubs. I always carry my Bescor 50watt or 100watt camera light and battery pack.

I will post some new low light footage later today

Take a look at this thread this a clip that I made when I recieved my V1u
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=83387

Thanks everybody I appreciate your help. Is anyone here using the firestone with this camera?

Tom

Thanks everybody I appreciate your help. Is anyone here using the firestone with this camera?

Tom

I use the "firestone" for my car. It's a decent tire, but it doesn't work too well with my camera... lol.

Yeah... The 'Firestone', being a stone, is too heavy for me to move around, therefore I personally am using the Sony HVR-DR60. Not only is it lighter itself, but also allows tapeless recording with my V1E, which makes the whole rig even lighter:)

I also have a pair of V1Us that I use for shooting performances. I had a very challenging lighting situation this spring, but I think the results are pretty impressive. The close shots are V1U, and the wide shots are HC1-- before I bit the bullet and bought a twin V1U.

YouTube doesn't look anywhere as good as my DVD does, but it gives you a pretty good idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3DrTDWlZ5M

I did a fair amount of post correction, but I think I preserved the dramatic lighting effect. Right from the beginning, a dimly lit lamp is swinging at the left of the screen. Then a figure emerges upstage in a thin shaft of light. And the person in the bright chrome body suit... yadda yadda yadda. All in a day's work!

Jerry, good job! How did you do the sound - is it live from the performance?

Is anyone here using the firestone with this camera?

Tom

note to self, must proofread

Jerry, good job! How did you do the sound - is it live from the performance?

Thanks! I dubbed in the music from the CD in post. I brought up the applause from the live performance at the end. Depending on the type of performance, I think it works better if you don't use any live sound. Nothing like having a bunch of coughs and crying children during a dramatic moment.

Looking at the grab attached, can anyone say this is a poorly performing camera? Typical wedding ceremony, in-church lighting (yes I used the HVL-LBP on-camera light, but the distance in this particular shot was over 10m)!

EDIT John, here you are!

Looking at the grab attached, can anyone say this is a poorly performing camera? Typical wedding ceremony, in-church lighting (yes I used the HVL-LBP on-camera light, but the distance in this particular shot was over 10m)!

I don't think anyone is claiming that this is a poorly performing camera. It just has its shortcomings in low light. The scene that you snapshot has a decent amount of light. Show me a scene of a dimly lit dance floor at a reception. That would be a good test of low light performance.

I don't think anyone is claiming that this is a poorly performing camera. It just has its shortcomings in low light. The scene that you snapshot has a decent amount of light. Show me a scene of a dimly lit dance floor at a reception. That would be a good test of low light performance.

See my edited post above...

Not bad at all the 2 photos from Piotr, just take more adjustment up and down you have a good shots. thanks

See my edited post above...

Thanks for sending that. Camera settings, please, on scene presented in "kiss" photo. It also appears to be a camera light on the scene. Are you using a light and what wattage?
Again, thanks, that's an image I haven't seen yet.

Thanks John. My tested recipe for low-light is: blacks compressed, knee high, cinegamma off (very important) but colour gain up at 3. Also, shooting progressive 25p allows to use 1/25th shutter speed without too much smear (it's still one full exposition per frame). Something the FX7 can't do unfortunately!

As to the lamp: yes, in places like this I always have it on (what it is for, after all?) It' the Sony HVL-LBP LED lamp; with diffuser on it gives some 300 lux at 1 m (it's capable of 600 lux, but with concentrator on - never use it in front of people). On the "Kiss" shot, you can see the pair at the first plan nicely brightened - but the other people at the back, the walls, the bar were all untouched by my light, and yet no noise there either (gain was at 6 - 9 dB max). And it was a dimly lit scene, believe me!

Oh, and if you want to see my results in an even darker environment, and without any lamp - take a look here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost.php?p=648174&postcount=3

This was my first low-light shooting with V1E; didn't use the settings mentioned above (blacks were stretched instead of compressed, if I remember). This gave a somwhat low-contrast output with plenty of details in shadows; yet, still acceptable noise-wise, even though the gain was up to 15dB!

Thanks for the pics. It renews my faith in Sony and the V1. Of course, now I understand Sony will be coming out with a professional shoulder mount HDV camcorder (not the 1000u) in '08. I think I will wait for that as I have been using shoulder mount cameras for over 20 years, and I'm having a hard time getting use to these small handycams. Anyway, if the shoulder mount camera ends up being too beefy for my budget, it's nice to know that I can rely on the V1 as a viable second option.

I understand Sony will be coming out with a professional shoulder mount HDV camcorder (not the 1000u) in '08.

Not clear if it's the same or different from the NAB 2007 Prototype.

I think the big question is CMOS or CCD. They could go with the Z1 chipset -- updated; or a 1/3-inch version of the V1 chipset.

The other issue is how will 24p be handled: None. 2-3 pulldown -- still not supported by FCP!!! Or, Canon's style 24p.