Gl2 on the fly! at DVinfo.net

Joe Irvine · May 18th, 2006, 07:56 AM

Fellow GL2er's
I'll be picking up a new GL2 for the first time tomorrow with the intention of fliming my daughter's basketball game just hours after the delievery of the camara. I've got to make a good go of it otherwise I'll hear the wife bitch about the "new expensive camara"! Those of you who have not had the pleasure of a 14 year marriage won't understand my concern on this issue but some here in this form know exactly what I'm talking about. I need some ideas on settings that will give me a good look. Yes it is indoors in the gym, yes I'll be shooting on a tripod and yes I don't know anything about the gl2.
Just don't want to shoot in auto and have the same look as my broken zr100.

Graham Bernard · May 18th, 2006, 08:34 AM

So, say what YOU think was wrong with your ZR100. Knowing this will give me an understanding from where you are starting.

Plus on what platform are you going to finally present your work?

I've had early success with AUTO. Set WB with one of the templates. Indoors lots of floros, I use the INDOORS WB. Doing this would take away the camera hunting for WB; I'd experiment with focus just to makes sure of the distance; Clamp the exposure so that it wasn't drifting UP and DOWN; Get plenty of B roll shots to hide my mistakes and make an interesting video; see if you can place yourself so that you COULD focus on some of the spectators to get B roll; get some locker room/line chat; but IF you are feeling "bullish" and confident try manual. There are those that are going to say stay with EASY mode. But my fears here are that what you felt you got wrong with the ZR you will only replicate - to a lesser degree with the GL2 - but your mistakes will be sharper. THIS I can;t answer for your wife - take your lumps! We all have. Learning this camera doesn;t fall into place. BUT shooting EASY mode will get you loads of fine shots. Compared to your shooting with the ZR? Only YOU and your wife can tell!

Have fun! You MUST have fun .. this ain't a chore . .well it shouldn't be ..

Grazie

Joe Irvine · May 18th, 2006, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham Bernard

So, say what YOU think was wrong with your ZR100. Knowing this will give me an understanding from where you are starting.

Plus on what platform are you going to finally present your work?

I've had early success with AUTO. Set WB with one of the templates. Indoors lots of floros, I use the INDOORS WB. Doing this would take away the camera hunting for WB; I'd experiment with focus just to makes sure of the distance; Clamp the exposure so that it wasn't drifting UP and DOWN; Get plenty of B roll shots to hide my mistakes and make an interesting video; see if you can place yourself so that you COULD focus on some of the spectators to get B roll; get some locker room/line chat; but IF you are feeling "bullish" and confident try manual. There are those that are going to say stay with EASY mode. But my fears here are that what you felt you got wrong with the ZR you will only replicate - to a lesser degree with the GL2 - but your mistakes will be sharper. THIS I can;t answer for your wife - take your lumps! We all have. Learning this camera doesn;t fall into place. BUT shooting EASY mode will get you loads of fine shots. Compared to your shooting with the ZR? Only YOU and your wife can tell!

Have fun! You MUST have fun .. this ain't a chore . .well it shouldn't be ..

Grazie

Yes, I though the picture was fussy and not much color. Seemed that if you weren't close the picture just was not as good. The coaches want a pan from far away so they can see the lanes open up. The zr worked but I"m hoping for a better result. For platform, I render to DVD.
And thanks in advance Grazie. joe

David Ennis · May 18th, 2006, 03:39 PM

Hello again, Joe.

The most dramatic wow factor of the GL2 comes from exploiting the zoom. Get some shots of your wife's daugther (aka your daughter) in close and you'll be fine. If one of your ZR complaints was washed out color you'll be very happy with the color saturation you get with the GL2.

The one area where you might have to adjust your expectations is on resolution in long shots down the length of the court. I expect the GL2 to be better than the ZR across the board, but one characteristic they share is looking better zoomed in than zoomed out. SD has its limitations. The better the lighting the better the result. To resolve a nose from the rest of the face at a distance requires not only fine enough pixels, but also detectable differences in color and brightness between adjacent features.

Joe Irvine · May 18th, 2006, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred Retread

Hello again, Joe.

The most dramatic wow factor of the GL2 comes from exploiting the zoom. Get some shots of your wife's daugther (aka your daughter) in close and you'll be fine. If one of your ZR complaints was washed out color you'll be very happy with the color saturation you get with the GL2.

The one area where you might have to adjust your expectations is on resolution in long shots down the length of the court. I expect the GL2 to be better than the ZR across the board, but one characteristic they share is looking better zoomed in than zoomed out. SD has its limitations. The better the lighting the better the result. To resolve a nose from the rest of the face at a distance requires not only fine enough pixels, but also detectable differences in color and brightness between adjacent features.

Thanks Fred, I hope my position in the rafters won't throw the Gl2 for a loop. You can just imagin what the wife will say if the picture is the same as the zr! joe

Dale Guthormsen · May 18th, 2006, 11:18 PM

Do not know if i am to late,

I shot a number of Basketball games this spring as the season closed, regionals and provincials. it was a blast. Here are a couple thoughts.
1. get center on the court, up high enough to not have walkers pass infront of your lens.
2.you might try tv mode and set the shutter speed for 100th. If you have to shoot a little slower you will see some blurring effect.
3. I shot in 30 p mode so i could pull out stills more easily later.
4. I zoomed in on the net, manual focused and then withdrew to the center line. This kept almost all of the game in focus.

5. Remember to set you white balance manually or with the indoor preset!!
6. If you use an exterior mic and shut it off during a break, remember to turn it back on!!!!
7. My rode shotgun mic did an admirable job recording sound in the gyms.

Hope some of the above will help you later.

Joe Irvine · May 19th, 2006, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale Guthormsen

Do not know if i am to late,

I shot a number of Basketball games this spring as the season closed, regionals and provincials. it was a blast. Here are a couple thoughts.
1. get center on the court, up high enough to not have walkers pass infront of your lens.
2.you might try tv mode and set the shutter speed for 100th. If you have to shoot a little slower you will see some blurring effect.
3. I shot in 30 p mode so i could pull out stills more easily later.
4. I zoomed in on the net, manual focused and then withdrew to the center line. This kept almost all of the game in focus.

5. Remember to set you white balance manually or with the indoor preset!!
6. If you use an exterior mic and shut it off during a break, remember to turn it back on!!!!
7. My rode shotgun mic did an admirable job recording sound in the gyms.

Hope some of the above will help you later.

Beautiful Dale, just what I was hoping for. Tonights the big night....thanks again joe irvine

Mike Cavanaugh · May 19th, 2006, 08:41 AM

Joe,
I shot a lot of Volleyball with a GL-2 this past season and agree with almost (99%) all of what Dale had to offer. The one exception: I would not rely on the indoor preset for white balance. Depending on the lights used at the school they may range from flourescents to tungsten to halogen to mercury vapor to who knows what! The indoor preset will not handle that range well. Stick with the manual white balance.

David Ennis · May 20th, 2006, 10:38 AM

The indoor preset may not be perfect under all indoor conditions, but it's not prone to the error you may get with manual due to local differences where you make the setting. I think that either one is worth a try as Dale said, and just go with the one that looks better.

Dale Guthormsen · May 20th, 2006, 11:11 PM

Mike,

You are right about the possible differences in lighting!! Most gyms up here use mercury vapor. I had one gym that had very poor lighting. I actually tried manual, and both presets. In this particular case the image looked best when i used the outdoor preset, go figure that one!! If I recall correctly this gym had florescent and some kind of yellowish bulb.
I finished the Job, and posted off the first two dvds and they were totally pleased. I actually had a period of time with no ambient background sound (forgot to turn on my mic). I put in background music through the entire video and you hardly notice it was missing (thank goodness).

I would also recomend totally using headphones to better monitor the audio!!!

Dale

Mike Cavanaugh · May 21st, 2006, 12:12 PM

To avoid the problem Fred mentioned of the location of your WB throwing the image off (Some gyms use different type lights over the playing surface that over the seats) set the WB on the floor before the game begins.

May 18th, 2006, 07:56 AM	#1
Joe Irvine New Boot Join Date: May 2006 Location: sebastopol, ca Posts: 8	Gl2 on the fly! Fellow GL2er's I'll be picking up a new GL2 for the first time tomorrow with the intention of fliming my daughter's basketball game just hours after the delievery of the camara. I've got to make a good go of it otherwise I'll hear the wife bitch about the "new expensive camara"! Those of you who have not had the pleasure of a 14 year marriage won't understand my concern on this issue but some here in this form know exactly what I'm talking about. I need some ideas on settings that will give me a good look. Yes it is indoors in the gym, yes I'll be shooting on a tripod and yes I don't know anything about the gl2. Just don't want to shoot in auto and have the same look as my broken zr100.

May 18th, 2006, 03:39 PM	#4
David Ennis Fred Retread Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 1,227	Hello again, Joe. The most dramatic wow factor of the GL2 comes from exploiting the zoom. Get some shots of your wife's daugther (aka your daughter) in close and you'll be fine. If one of your ZR complaints was washed out color you'll be very happy with the color saturation you get with the GL2. The one area where you might have to adjust your expectations is on resolution in long shots down the length of the court. I expect the GL2 to be better than the ZR across the board, but one characteristic they share is looking better zoomed in than zoomed out. SD has its limitations. The better the lighting the better the result. To resolve a nose from the rest of the face at a distance requires not only fine enough pixels, but also detectable differences in color and brightness between adjacent features. __________________ "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence..." - Calvin Coolidge "My brain is wired to want to know how other things are wired." - Me

May 18th, 2006, 11:18 PM	#6
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Do not know if i am to late, I shot a number of Basketball games this spring as the season closed, regionals and provincials. it was a blast. Here are a couple thoughts. 1. get center on the court, up high enough to not have walkers pass infront of your lens. 2.you might try tv mode and set the shutter speed for 100th. If you have to shoot a little slower you will see some blurring effect. 3. I shot in 30 p mode so i could pull out stills more easily later. 4. I zoomed in on the net, manual focused and then withdrew to the center line. This kept almost all of the game in focus. 5. Remember to set you white balance manually or with the indoor preset!! 6. If you use an exterior mic and shut it off during a break, remember to turn it back on!!!! 7. My rode shotgun mic did an admirable job recording sound in the gyms. Hope some of the above will help you later. __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

May 20th, 2006, 10:38 AM	#9
David Ennis Fred Retread Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 1,227	The indoor preset may not be perfect under all indoor conditions, but it's not prone to the error you may get with manual due to local differences where you make the setting. I think that either one is worth a try as Dale said, and just go with the one that looks better. __________________ "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence..." - Calvin Coolidge "My brain is wired to want to know how other things are wired." - Me

May 20th, 2006, 11:11 PM	#10
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Wb Mike, You are right about the possible differences in lighting!! Most gyms up here use mercury vapor. I had one gym that had very poor lighting. I actually tried manual, and both presets. In this particular case the image looked best when i used the outdoor preset, go figure that one!! If I recall correctly this gym had florescent and some kind of yellowish bulb. I finished the Job, and posted off the first two dvds and they were totally pleased. I actually had a period of time with no ambient background sound (forgot to turn on my mic). I put in background music through the entire video and you hardly notice it was missing (thank goodness). I would also recomend totally using headphones to better monitor the audio!!! Dale __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

May 18th, 2006, 08:34 AM	#2
Graham Bernard Old Boot Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London UK Posts: 3,633	So, say what YOU think was wrong with your ZR100. Knowing this will give me an understanding from where you are starting. Plus on what platform are you going to finally present your work? I've had early success with AUTO. Set WB with one of the templates. Indoors lots of floros, I use the INDOORS WB. Doing this would take away the camera hunting for WB; I'd experiment with focus just to makes sure of the distance; Clamp the exposure so that it wasn't drifting UP and DOWN; Get plenty of B roll shots to hide my mistakes and make an interesting video; see if you can place yourself so that you COULD focus on some of the spectators to get B roll; get some locker room/line chat; but IF you are feeling "bullish" and confident try manual. There are those that are going to say stay with EASY mode. But my fears here are that what you felt you got wrong with the ZR you will only replicate - to a lesser degree with the GL2 - but your mistakes will be sharper. THIS I can;t answer for your wife - take your lumps! We all have. Learning this camera doesn;t fall into place. BUT shooting EASY mode will get you loads of fine shots. Compared to your shooting with the ZR? Only YOU and your wife can tell! Have fun! You MUST have fun .. this ain't a chore . .well it shouldn't be .. Grazie

May 19th, 2006, 08:41 AM	#8
Mike Cavanaugh Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Albany NY Posts: 311	Joe, I shot a lot of Volleyball with a GL-2 this past season and agree with almost (99%) all of what Dale had to offer. The one exception: I would not rely on the indoor preset for white balance. Depending on the lights used at the school they may range from flourescents to tungsten to halogen to mercury vapor to who knows what! The indoor preset will not handle that range well. Stick with the manual white balance.

May 21st, 2006, 12:12 PM	#11
Mike Cavanaugh Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Albany NY Posts: 311	To avoid the problem Fred mentioned of the location of your WB throwing the image off (Some gyms use different type lights over the playing surface that over the seats) set the WB on the floor before the game begins.