canon hf g20/25 maximum gain? settings?

[Andrew Maclaurin]

I've just bought a hf g25 and will be using it in full manual mode. What do people cobsider as the maximum level of acceptable gain? Any other settings I should consider when using at a wedding? Thanks

[David Johns]

I wouldn't want to go above 9dB really as it does start getting grainy. But on the other hand, as a daily news videojournalist, sometimes I'll take "whatever I have to" to get a shot so if that means max gain (24dB+) then so be it!!

[Andrew Maclaurin]

Cheers david! Do you have the same camera? How do you find things like thw autofocus ( something thst I don't really use)? Do you have any other advice for me?

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by David Johns

I wouldn't want to go above 9dB really as it does start getting grainy.

Not so sure about the Canons but I always believed that they are very clean at high gains, I use up to 21db gain without a issue on my sony handicams, not going above 9db on a handicam will make the camera useless in many situations, they are in fact designed to go much higher then that to cope with low light situations. Even at max gain (24db) it outperforms a fx1000/nx5 in terms of having a clean picture.

[Andrew Maclaurin]

hi noa, i've followed a lot of your posts on your handicams. do you use auto focus much and if so when?
any other tips are most welcome!
cheers

[Noa Put]

Autofocus on my sony's is very good as long as you stay wide, even when it gets darker, I only use manual focus when I zoom in on a person. I have 3 assigned touchscreen buttons of which one is for switching to manual focus. The touch focus on the lcd screen is unreliable on the newer versions of the sony cx range, they seem to have a mind of their own and since both my cx camera have the same issue it's not because it's a malfunctioning camera. When I want to keep a person in focus when zoomed in I first keep him in frame so the camera can handle the focus and then I switch to manual on the lcd screen and adjust the focus if necessary with a + and - button that appears on the screen. In worst case I could still assign the focus to the small dial on the camera and the camera will magnify the lcd screen automatically once you start turning the dial, there is also peaking available when necessary. So enough focus aids. I take it that the canon is not so much different.

[Noa Put]

Another thing about the gain, use as much gain as you need to get the right exposure, the latest generation of handicams are very clean, yes, there will be grain visible but as comparison, my father's Sony fx1000 which is quite light sensitive is MUCH more grainy at the same high gain and exposure levels. The sony's only ramp quickly once you start zooming in so I often find myself shooting at 15 to 21db gain. But as I said, grain is not an issue for me, I actually never had to use neatvideo on my sony cx camera's but did have to on my dslr's or my nex-ea50. Not sure how the canons perform but from what I have seen they are also very good in low light.

[Andrew Maclaurin]

thanks again. we'll see how it performs tomorrow!

[Andrew Maclaurin]

should I use face recognition or normal autofocus?

[Don Palomaki]

Limitations on gain, face tracking, and other auto settings are in large part situational. Whether or not to use them will depend on your artistic intent in the shoot, your final deliverable, what you can do on post production to corerct the image, and how familiar you are with the camcorder's manual controls/adjustments as an alternative to using auto modes.

Auto gives a decent image under "average" conditions and probably a better image in most cases than someone new to (i.e., not familiar with) the camcorder can achieve in a manual mode.

[David Johns]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

Not so sure about the Canons but I always believed that they are very clean at high gains, I use up to 21db gain without a issue on my sony handicams, not going above 9db on a handicam will make the camera useless in many situations, they are in fact designed to go much higher then that to cope with low light situations.

Well, I said I didn't *want* to go above 9, not that I wouldn't have to! Having tried the camera out at various gain settings, I stand by my preference, provided that I can get away with it.

Andrew, at the risk of a puff for my own channel, I've put several test videos of the G25 up on YouTube (link below)

Cheers
David