XH-A1 Manual Settings for Low Light at DVinfo.net

Don Kinsley · April 14th, 2009, 12:58 PM

Can someone tell me what you would recommend setting the shutter and iris to in manual mode when filming indoors in low light? This will be in a Church with many candles. Am I better off using Auto? I have the custom preset PFVision and Wolfgang's presets for low light but I have no idea how slow the shutter could be set or what an acceptable iris setting would be that won't mess up the video with ghosting, etc. I tried Tv 30 and PFVision but had the candle stands swaying and it was a mess.

Alan Craig · April 14th, 2009, 01:14 PM

hello Don it will all depend on the available light there are no set values.

Alan

Don Kinsley · April 14th, 2009, 01:59 PM

Are there limits? Like should you never go below 2.4? If yes, what other boundries should I not go past?

Don Kinsley · April 14th, 2009, 07:04 PM

To prevent ghosting should I keep the shutter at 1/60 in manual mode rather than going down to 1/15?

Tripp Woelfel · April 14th, 2009, 07:06 PM

Your available light sources will effect your choices, but I shoot outside in very limited artificial light and don't do anything special except for raising the gain to +6. Anything higher than that and it gets too grainy. I shoot in TV mode (auto iris) without issues.

This year I'm going to try the low light preset, but I haven't yet.

Hubert Duijzer · April 15th, 2009, 02:20 AM

I prefer manual. You don't want AGC ruining the shot and the focus hunting badly etc.
For 60i the shutter should be at 1/60th. If the light gets too low go to 1/30th but not slower. Open the iris all the way to 1.6, but if you zoom in, the iris closes to 3.4. So, if you plan too zoom, it's better to set the aperture to 3.4.
Set the gain switch to something like -3db/+3db/+6db or if you want to feel save, -3db/+6db/+12db. With +12db it gets grainy, but sometimes you have too.

So, iris open, 1/60th, if you don't have enough light, +6db, still not enough light shutter to 1/30th, still not enough light +12db.

Don Kinsley · April 15th, 2009, 04:07 PM

Thanks for the replies and advice - sincerely appreciated!

Ian Wright · April 17th, 2009, 01:58 AM

I use 1/25th (50i PAL) a lot and it doesn't affect the footage. The only effect I've noticed is that it reduces the choices for grabbing a frame from the video as more of the frames contain some movement.

Ian
Festival Video and Audio Previews - Festival Previews Ltd

April 14th, 2009, 12:58 PM	#1
Don Kinsley New Boot Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New York Posts: 21	XH-A1 Manual Settings for Low Light Can someone tell me what you would recommend setting the shutter and iris to in manual mode when filming indoors in low light? This will be in a Church with many candles. Am I better off using Auto? I have the custom preset PFVision and Wolfgang's presets for low light but I have no idea how slow the shutter could be set or what an acceptable iris setting would be that won't mess up the video with ghosting, etc. I tried Tv 30 and PFVision but had the candle stands swaying and it was a mess.

April 14th, 2009, 01:14 PM	#2
Alan Craig Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Warrington England Posts: 143	hello Don it will all depend on the available light there are no set values. Alan

April 14th, 2009, 01:59 PM	#3
Don Kinsley New Boot Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New York Posts: 21	Are there limits? Like should you never go below 2.4? If yes, what other boundries should I not go past?

April 14th, 2009, 07:04 PM	#4
Don Kinsley New Boot Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New York Posts: 21	To prevent ghosting should I keep the shutter at 1/60 in manual mode rather than going down to 1/15?

April 14th, 2009, 07:06 PM	#5
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	Your available light sources will effect your choices, but I shoot outside in very limited artificial light and don't do anything special except for raising the gain to +6. Anything higher than that and it gets too grainy. I shoot in TV mode (auto iris) without issues. This year I'm going to try the low light preset, but I haven't yet.

April 15th, 2009, 02:20 AM	#6
Hubert Duijzer Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Netherlands Posts: 177	I prefer manual. You don't want AGC ruining the shot and the focus hunting badly etc. For 60i the shutter should be at 1/60th. If the light gets too low go to 1/30th but not slower. Open the iris all the way to 1.6, but if you zoom in, the iris closes to 3.4. So, if you plan too zoom, it's better to set the aperture to 3.4. Set the gain switch to something like -3db/+3db/+6db or if you want to feel save, -3db/+6db/+12db. With +12db it gets grainy, but sometimes you have too. So, iris open, 1/60th, if you don't have enough light, +6db, still not enough light shutter to 1/30th, still not enough light +12db.

April 15th, 2009, 04:07 PM	#7
Don Kinsley New Boot Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New York Posts: 21	Thanks for the replies and advice - sincerely appreciated!

April 17th, 2009, 01:58 AM	#8
Ian Wright Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Edinburgh UK Posts: 94	I use 1/25th (50i PAL) a lot and it doesn't affect the footage. The only effect I've noticed is that it reduces the choices for grabbing a frame from the video as more of the frames contain some movement. Ian Festival Video and Audio Previews - Festival Previews Ltd