Hi

I've been asked at the last minute to video my sisters wedding! I've only recently purchased a Z5E camera and so have had very little time to work with it - the wedding is Thursday coming.

Could anyone advise on the following:
(i) The best settings to use for this camera for the wedding, i.e. shutter speed etc
(ii) The best way to white balance this camera.

I apologise for the nature of the questions, but time is running short - I only found out yesterday!!

Thank you all in advance.

Not to put you down or anything like that but if you have to ask this kind of questions, your knowledge is very limited in shooting and you are in no shape to shoot a wedding, my best advice is to find a professional to help you, or if you can't then go into the menu and find the gain limit and set it to 12db, then put the camera in auto and shoot in auto mode, and try to stay away from backlit situations, this will let you concentrated on framing and composition and not have to worry too much about whitebalance, shutter speed...

I personally like the look of 30p for weddings, but again that is just me. As for white balance it depends on the situation. I have gotten in the habit of manually white balancing when needed, I don't use the presents very often.

I know the wedding is soon, but I would put some test footage on DVD so you can see the results for yourself.

Brother Khoi. I check out your demo online and saw you shot only american wedding. What happen to Viet wedding???? They can't afford you??? heheh that not suprise me when i saw your work. I hope i could learn more from you and just wondering if you don't mind showing me your trick heheh Awsome work bro

I think you'll get something good enough if you just set the camera on auto... Unless you're confidant enough to dabble in manual...

I would suggest shooting 30p with a shutter of 60. and a shutter of 30 at the reception because of the low light, don't put the gain above 12db either. And only go past 6db if you absolutely have to.

for white balance I think either auto or just point it at a general scene on a wise shot and it'll white balance well enough. If you want to get finicky then keep a little white card on your person and blur focus until the entire screen is white and then whitebalance.

The advice to shoot full auto is excellent -- that's really the only practical way in this particular case.

Thread moved from W/EV to Z5.

I also agree with full auto. The Z5 will do a real nice job in auto, just watch for backlight (windows with bright light coming through). Go into the menu and set AGC Limit to 12db.

I'm a big fan of 30p, but I would strongly suggest to stay with 60i until you learn more about the camera. If the Z5 is like the FX1000 in full auto with 30p on, it will set shutter speed to 30. You need to keep shutter at 60 unless the lighting is bad.

Good luck.

...Go into the menu and set AGC Limit to 12db...

Why do you advice to set the AGC limit to 12db. By default is OFF. Should I also set mine to 12db as well?

Stelios

If your using auto gain then that's what I would suggest because of the increase in noise (grain).

find the gain limit and set it to 12db, then put the camera in auto and shoot in auto mode, and try to stay away from backlit situations, ...
hear that James?
best advise,
and try to stay on the tripod as much as you can.

Thank you all for your advice and help - it is much appreciated.

If your shooting in Northern Ireland the setting should be 50i or 25p, not sure if the Z5 European model allows changing between the two systems anyway but rest of advise is good. Oh and practice like crazy up to the wedding!

Steve

I have the Z5P (Pal europe version).

It only allows for Pal operation, 25p or 50i - it will not do 30p or 60i, or anything NTSC/non-PAL.

I'm not sure how many versions of this thing exist? Z5U (USA?), Z5N (North America?), Z5E, Z5P (Pal), Z5J (Japan), Z5C (Canada)..?

I have the Z5P (Pal europe version).
No, the P is for Pacific, i.e. Australia, and is indeed PAL.

The E is for Europe PAL. U is for US NTSC (actually ATSC, but that's another thread), and J is for Japan. Canada uses the U IIRC. C would be China, or at least it has been in the past. There may be other versions as well.

If your using auto gain then that's what I would suggest because of the increase in noise (grain).

in other words Tim, if you are using auto gain and set the AGC Limit to 12db, will you have less chance to get have noise?

Stelios, you will start to see noise when any gain is added, I don't even trust 0db....I try to use -3db as much as possible. (Why have -db settings if 0db is really 0). 6db and under is not very noticeable, but the grain is there. Seems like when you get over 12db it starts to get more noticeable, to me anyway.

I don't like going above +6dB, personally...

Some great advice people. I'm a Z5 newbie with a wedding to film in July. I usually film 1 wedding a year, being a non-commercial hobbyist.

The biggest thing I wished I could have changed on my last wedding shoot - with a VX2100 Sony - was to allow a shot to be framed with a candle between me and the happy couple. The auto focus got lost at an imortant point, which took me a couple of seconds (a long time!) to hit manual focus and fix it.

My tip James is to make sure the tripod is level - 16:9 really stands out if you're on a slight tilt.

The confidence with using auto with the Z5 is warming. I'll set AGC to 12db. :)

Hi, James . . .

How did the wedding shoot work out? If you shot full-auto did this produce a good looking video? I hope you had great success with the new camera.

I don't have the Z5, but have the very similar Z7U. I do most, if not all of my shooting, using the manual controls the camera offers for exposure, focus, white balance, etc. Once you have time with the camera to practice with the various settings that control manual settings, I think you will find it will make your work in post production a lot easier. You won't have to worry about and waste time colour correcting or trying to fix the exposure the camera didn't get right.

If you are looking to get the most from your Z5, have a look at the Vortex Media site and check out their Z7U training DVD. It is a fantastic instructional video that would work for any Z5U owner since about 90% of the feature set is the same as for the Z7U. Doug Jensen who is the host of the video, and a pro shooter, goes over everying that will get you up-to-speed with recomendations for both NTSC and PAL users. He makes it all seem so easy and makes the challenge of learning to "shoot like a pro" fun too.

I have a lot of the Vortex DVD's, and other products, and not one has been a disapointment.

When you have a few mins. please let us know how the wedding shoot turned out. And also, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on using the Z5.

Ian

Hi, James . . .

If you are looking to get the most from your Z5, have a look at the Vortex Media site and check out their Z7U training DVD. It is a fantastic instructional video that would work for any Z5U owner since about 90% of the feature set is the same as for the Z7U. Doug Jensen who is the host of the video, and a pro shooter, goes over everying that will get you up-to-speed with recomendations for both NTSC and PAL users. He makes it all seem so easy and makes the challenge of learning to "shoot like a pro" fun too.



I enthusiastically second Ian's recommendation of Jensen's Z7 DVD for Z5 owners, especially for beginners like me who are new to this level of camera. The Sony manual that comes with the Z5 is O.K., but after reading it several times, I was still pretty much stuck doing everything in "automatic" mode with default settings. After going through Jensen's DVD twice, I am now shooting almost exclusively in manual mode and the quality of my shooting, although still far from professional, has improved greatly.

Although the DVD was made before the Z5 was introduced, the vast majority of the material is directly applicable to the Z5. I was going to sell the DVD once I had viewed it, but I'm going to hang onto it.

Hi. Many thanks for all your advice and help - it was much appreciated. The wedding went OK and I'm very pleased with the quality of the footage. However, a few small problems
(i) I set everything to Auto, but I think this may have caused another issue.....I'm assuming with auto-focus the camera focuses on a certain object - anything that then walks in front of this causes problems for the auto focus?
(ii)I also found that when I wasn't panning, and people were walking from left to right, on playback their movement appeared jagged/stilted....it wasn't as smooth as I though it would be. I'm guessing that the shutter speed probably would have needed adjusted, but of course being in auto mode....is my logic correct?

I was very reluctant to shoot in manual mode, given the notice I was given for the wedding and it being my first time, I didn't want to get things drastically wrong - thanks for the tips regarding the DVD - it sounds like a very wise investment. Had I had more time etc I would have tried the manual route - something to think about for the future.

As to the Z5E - very happy with the quality of picture and ease of operation....whilst I'm still trying to get my head round the various options for 'manual' etc, overall I am very impressed with it. I didn't experience any 'rolling shutter' issues so would happily recommend it. With more experience etc I'll get a better handle on how to operate it better.

(i) I set everything to Auto, but I think this may have caused another issue.....I'm assuming with auto-focus the camera focuses on a certain object - anything that then walks in front of this causes problems for the auto focus?

Yes, you need to be in manual focus for anything that will confuse the auto-focus system. As someone once said - you're camera is brilliant at focusing on an object, but lousy knowing which object to focus on. You need to be able to tell it where you want the focus, and for this you need to be in manual mode.

Note that you can still leave the camera on auto for exposure/WB control and everything else, but put the focusing on manual.

(ii)I also found that when I wasn't panning, and people were walking from left to right, on playback their movement appeared jagged/stilted....it wasn't as smooth as I though it would be. I'm guessing that the shutter speed probably would have needed adjusted, but of course being in auto mode....is my logic correct?

Where you shooting in 50i or 25p? What is the shutter speed used in that shot?

Hi. Thanks for your replies to-date. My apologies for the delay in replying to you! I was shooting in 25p and the shutter speed was 25. Due to the fact that I'd used the camera much, I was advised to put everything in auto.

Any advice you can give would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I assume that shooting in 50i would be best for filming a wedding which will be exported to standard def DVD.
I've assigned the focus extender tool and turned macro focus option to off.

I'm assuming with auto-focus the camera focuses on a certain object - anything that then walks in front of this causes problems for the auto focus?.

I disagree with Ben, and say no to this. The camera's auto-focus system is purely contrast based, and people walking in front of the camera will only make it refocus if the people closer are of higher contrast.

So if you're focused on the bride and groom (in black and white respectively) and a grey suit walks between you you'll find the camera ignores the suit. Conversely if you're filming a grey suit and a polka-dot dress comes between you, the camera will indeed refocus (as I would too).

Yes William - shoot in 50i to capture the day with the most realistic, smoothest motion. You can always muck about with it in post later, and most importantly, hit 'undo'.

tom.