View Full Version : Shooting in a Subway


Tommy Davis
January 19th, 2007, 04:42 PM
Hi All:

I am trying to shoot with the HD100 (in 24p mode) in the subway, not on the train but in the station itself. The light is pretty dim. So I have tried a few recipes from the thread above but nothing really seems to work. The image is way too dark. I am trying to give it a cinematic look, yet also come away with an image that's viewable. Any advice or recipes?

Thanks in advance.

Best,
Tommy

Council Bradshaw
January 19th, 2007, 05:38 PM
Don't know what kind of action you have in your frame but you may try dropping your shutter speed to 1/24th. This will help and looks acceptable as long as there isn't fast motion.
That's my 2cents.

Stephan Ahonen
January 19th, 2007, 09:49 PM
How much gain are you using? You might have to bite the bullet and crank it up a bit. The other option is to bring in some of your own light.

Jason Nolte
January 22nd, 2007, 10:05 AM
You could go even lower than the 24p - try cranking it down to 7.5. You will get blur on movement, but will be able to use existing light.

Jiri Bakala
January 22nd, 2007, 11:14 PM
...hmmm, how about finding another station that might be a tad brighter? Also, if you have a permit to shoot there (trust me, I almost got arrested shooting in NY subway with Z1U), and also depending on what you are shooting, you might be able to bring a single light (like a 1k) and bounce it to get a little more light. Let us know how things are progressing...and good luck.

Tim Dashwood
January 23rd, 2007, 05:25 PM
I shot in a few subway stations and trains for a feature film without an issue.

24P, 1/48th, 0dB. My gaffer brought along a pocket par with the softbox attached and we used it when we needed a little extra fill. I don't even think I had to increase the gamma, but I may have. I can't remember.