Problems with EXP LOCK in CANON XHA1 at DVinfo.net

Alioshka Pakareva · May 27th, 2009, 12:07 PM

Hi I'v got recently the Canon XHA1 and I have a little problem with the exp lock, for my lack of knowledge I supposed.

I had to record an interview with two diferent light condition faces in A -automatic-. That's why I didn't use exp lock button as it only could measure one of them.
Without exp lock the camera did some light jumps in the displacements as adjusted itself in every move.

My question is in situations like that what do you do? And the desp. AE what is for?

alioshka

Don Xaliman · May 27th, 2009, 01:08 PM

Shooting in Manual mode may be your solution. Exposure lock will be accomplished by not touching the iris wheel. Make sure auto gain is off.

Danny Winn · May 27th, 2009, 01:08 PM

I always lock my exposure once I am happy with the lighting on my subject especially in an interview situation. Mainly because if the subject brings their hands up into frame or holds up a piece of paper or something like that, the exposure lock will prevent the background appearing to go darker while trying to adjust to the hands or paper or whatever may come up.

Hope that helps in someway.

Oh, and I'm not sure what you mean by "desp"

Bill Pryor · May 29th, 2009, 07:37 PM

You're better off to turn all the auto things off except under rare circumstances. When you get the camera all the auto functions are probably on, inlcuding auto shutter, auto iris, auto gain and auto white balance. Put everything to manual. Set your exposure manually using the zebras. I believe if you want to use auto exposure, you can go to TV mode and that only affects auto iris, and you can let it set itself, then do the exposure lock to prevent it from changing during a shot, as the above post correctly said.

Basically the exposure lock works similar to the auto iris button on a professional lens, only backwards. On a professional lens, you can press the button and as long as you hold it down, the auto iris is on. Release the button after exposure is set by the camera and auto iris goes off and the exposure won't change. It's a fast way to get a good approximate exposure--let the camera set it the way it wants, and then you adjust up or down as needed by the actual shot. You can do the same thing with the TV mode and the exposure lock switch, but it is more awkward because it's backwards from the normal way. For me it's not faster than staying fully manual.

May 27th, 2009, 12:07 PM	#1
Alioshka Pakareva Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Barcelona España Posts: 32	Problems with EXP LOCK in CANON XHA1 Hi I'v got recently the Canon XHA1 and I have a little problem with the exp lock, for my lack of knowledge I supposed. I had to record an interview with two diferent light condition faces in A -automatic-. That's why I didn't use exp lock button as it only could measure one of them. Without exp lock the camera did some light jumps in the displacements as adjusted itself in every move. My question is in situations like that what do you do? And the desp. AE what is for? alioshka

May 27th, 2009, 01:08 PM	#2
Don Xaliman Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vancouver BC Posts: 96	Shooting in Manual mode may be your solution. Exposure lock will be accomplished by not touching the iris wheel. Make sure auto gain is off.

May 27th, 2009, 01:08 PM	#3
Danny Winn Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 291	I always lock my exposure once I am happy with the lighting on my subject especially in an interview situation. Mainly because if the subject brings their hands up into frame or holds up a piece of paper or something like that, the exposure lock will prevent the background appearing to go darker while trying to adjust to the hands or paper or whatever may come up. Hope that helps in someway. Oh, and I'm not sure what you mean by "desp"

May 29th, 2009, 07:37 PM	#4
Bill Pryor Contributor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 4,449	You're better off to turn all the auto things off except under rare circumstances. When you get the camera all the auto functions are probably on, inlcuding auto shutter, auto iris, auto gain and auto white balance. Put everything to manual. Set your exposure manually using the zebras. I believe if you want to use auto exposure, you can go to TV mode and that only affects auto iris, and you can let it set itself, then do the exposure lock to prevent it from changing during a shot, as the above post correctly said. Basically the exposure lock works similar to the auto iris button on a professional lens, only backwards. On a professional lens, you can press the button and as long as you hold it down, the auto iris is on. Release the button after exposure is set by the camera and auto iris goes off and the exposure won't change. It's a fast way to get a good approximate exposure--let the camera set it the way it wants, and then you adjust up or down as needed by the actual shot. You can do the same thing with the TV mode and the exposure lock switch, but it is more awkward because it's backwards from the normal way. For me it's not faster than staying fully manual.