? about A1 and low light at DVinfo.net

Kevin Lewis · June 1st, 2009, 10:22 AM

I've had my XHA1 for about six months now, and the past weekend was the first time I had to use it in a low light situation. I have always heard that this camera worked well with low light, however, mine did not respond well at all. I'm thinking that maybe my settings were off. The lighting was not all that low which surprised me. Here were my settings:

Gain: 12db
Shutter: back and fourth between 30 and 60
Mode: Manual

Are there any other settings that affect recording in low light situations?

Don Xaliman · June 1st, 2009, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Lewis

Are there any other setting that affect recording in low light situations?

Iris setting and distance from subject, both affect light levels. Using shutter at 30 is a brighter factor in your shoot.

Kevin Lewis · June 1st, 2009, 11:23 AM

The iris was wide open. If I had set the shutter speed any lower, I would have ot that weirf blur look when panning. ANy other thoughts?

Pavel Sedlak · June 1st, 2009, 11:49 AM

Try gam1, SHP 0, HDF M a DHV 0, NR2 L, CGN 4, gain +12dB max.

or

gam2, SHP 0, HDF M a DHV 0, NR2 0, CGN -4, gain +12dB / needs color correction.

(*you needs a right level of black too - PED and SET).

Joel Peregrine · June 1st, 2009, 01:00 PM

Hi Kevin,

Try this preset:

New preset : PFVISION (sample included) [Archive] - The Digital Video Information Network

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Lewis

I've had my XHA1 for about six months now, and the past weekend was the first time I had to use it in a low light situation. I have always heard that this camera worked well with low light, however, mine did not respond well at all. I'm thinking that maybe my settings were off. The lighting was not all that low which surprised me. Here were my settings:

Gain: 12db
Shutter: back and fourth between 30 and 60
Mode: Manual

Are there any other settings that affect recording in low light situations?

Kevin Lewis · June 1st, 2009, 02:12 PM

Joel,

That sample does'nt really show the A1 in a low light enviroment. I'm wondering if standard definition records better than HD in low light situations (I was using HD) I was also advised that the A1 may have some kind of filter setting that may need adjusting. ANy thoughts on that?

Dany Badaoui · June 1st, 2009, 03:18 PM

i use the PFVISION preset in manual mode, shutter at 50 iris roughly 2.4 also use a on camera light and have no problems low light.

Kevin Lewis · June 1st, 2009, 05:38 PM

Danny:

When I change my shutter seting it goes from 60 straight to 30. How do I get an in between setting of 50? Like I said, this is the first time i'ved shot under these conditions.

Richard Hunter · June 1st, 2009, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Lewis

Danny:

When I change my shutter seting it goes from 60 straight to 30. How do I get an in between setting of 50? .

Move to a PAL country? :)

Tripp Woelfel · June 1st, 2009, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Lewis

Gain: 12db

Never, never, never, never! Search this forum and you'll get details. Above 6dB there be dragons.

Dany Badaoui · June 1st, 2009, 08:57 PM

yeah i forgot to mention im in PAL land.

i stick to 6db gain, 12gets grainy.

make sure you have a camera light with good spread (i use the 2010 varizoom)

Noa Put · June 2nd, 2009, 10:07 AM

The canon doesn't handle low light very well, nothing much you can do about that. Ofcourse you can use 1/25th shutter and MAX 6db gain (Tripp knows what he's talking about) and a decent videolight and don't zoom, beside that you get what you see.

Presets might be an option as well but i'm no fan of them, every one I tried produced ghosting which looked ugly in my opinion, didn't hear of the PFVISION preset, might give that a try but as I said take a close look at the ghosting in moving objects.

I compared my xh-a1 with a Sony fx1000 a while ago, if you want good low light performce in HDV, get that one, it trashed my camera when it came to low light performance. Why? We took it up to 21db gain and that still looked cleaner then the canon at 12db gain. Even next to a vx2100 which was legendary for its low light capabilities it performed equally well and with much more detail when the lens was wide when you saw the end result on dvd.
Only when you started to zoom in it became dark quickly and then there was no match against the vx2100 which still performed well in that case but produced more grain.

Tom Hardwick · June 2nd, 2009, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Lewis

I'm wondering if standard definition records better than HD in low light situations?

No, not the slightest difference Kevin. Remember that your XH-A1 is an HDV camera, and those tiny 1"/3 chips have very small sensors. If you film in SD you're still filming in HDV of course - only thing is you're doing the down-conversion between chips and tape on the fly.

So: Keep to wide-angle, max aperture, 1/30th sec if you must, and don't be afraid of gain up. Don't stop at +9dB if that's going to under-expose your footage. Correction in post is far more damaging than upping the gain on the front line.

tom.

Joel Peregrine · June 2nd, 2009, 04:08 PM

Hi Kevin

The important thing is to try the preset. Its made an incredible difference for me.

EventVideographer.com ~ XHA1 PRESETS

I shoot at 24fps / 1/24th / and 6db at the reception with two remote control low-wattage lights on 13' stands and get great results.

The only filter setting that will darken the image iis if you inadvertently have the neutral density filter switch on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Lewis

Joel,

That sample does'nt really show the A1 in a low light enviroment. I'm wondering if standard definition records better than HD in low light situations (I was using HD) I was also advised that the A1 may have some kind of filter setting that may need adjusting. ANy thoughts on that?

Noa Put · June 2nd, 2009, 05:53 PM

Joel, does the PFVISION preset produce ghosting on moving objects?

June 1st, 2009, 10:22 AM	#1
Kevin Lewis Major Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Philadelphia, pa Posts: 705	? about A1 and low light I've had my XHA1 for about six months now, and the past weekend was the first time I had to use it in a low light situation. I have always heard that this camera worked well with low light, however, mine did not respond well at all. I'm thinking that maybe my settings were off. The lighting was not all that low which surprised me. Here were my settings: Gain: 12db Shutter: back and fourth between 30 and 60 Mode: Manual Are there any other settings that affect recording in low light situations? Last edited by Kevin Lewis; June 1st, 2009 at 11:22 AM.

June 1st, 2009, 11:49 AM	#4
Pavel Sedlak Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Prague Czech Republic Posts: 263	re Try gam1, SHP 0, HDF M a DHV 0, NR2 L, CGN 4, gain +12dB max. or gam2, SHP 0, HDF M a DHV 0, NR2 0, CGN -4, gain +12dB / needs color correction. (you needs a right level of black too - PED and SET). Last edited by Pavel Sedlak; June 1st, 2009 at 11:54 AM. Reason: refine*

June 1st, 2009, 11:23 AM	#3
Kevin Lewis Major Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Philadelphia, pa Posts: 705	The iris was wide open. If I had set the shutter speed any lower, I would have ot that weirf blur look when panning. ANy other thoughts?

June 1st, 2009, 02:12 PM	#6
Kevin Lewis Major Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Philadelphia, pa Posts: 705	Joel, That sample does'nt really show the A1 in a low light enviroment. I'm wondering if standard definition records better than HD in low light situations (I was using HD) I was also advised that the A1 may have some kind of filter setting that may need adjusting. ANy thoughts on that?

June 1st, 2009, 03:18 PM	#7
Dany Badaoui Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 40	i use the PFVISION preset in manual mode, shutter at 50 iris roughly 2.4 also use a on camera light and have no problems low light.

June 1st, 2009, 05:38 PM	#8
Kevin Lewis Major Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Philadelphia, pa Posts: 705	Danny: When I change my shutter seting it goes from 60 straight to 30. How do I get an in between setting of 50? Like I said, this is the first time i'ved shot under these conditions.

June 1st, 2009, 08:57 PM	#11
Dany Badaoui Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 40	yeah i forgot to mention im in PAL land. i stick to 6db gain, 12gets grainy. make sure you have a camera light with good spread (i use the 2010 varizoom)

June 2nd, 2009, 10:07 AM	#12
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	The canon doesn't handle low light very well, nothing much you can do about that. Ofcourse you can use 1/25th shutter and MAX 6db gain (Tripp knows what he's talking about) and a decent videolight and don't zoom, beside that you get what you see. Presets might be an option as well but i'm no fan of them, every one I tried produced ghosting which looked ugly in my opinion, didn't hear of the PFVISION preset, might give that a try but as I said take a close look at the ghosting in moving objects. I compared my xh-a1 with a Sony fx1000 a while ago, if you want good low light performce in HDV, get that one, it trashed my camera when it came to low light performance. Why? We took it up to 21db gain and that still looked cleaner then the canon at 12db gain. Even next to a vx2100 which was legendary for its low light capabilities it performed equally well and with much more detail when the lens was wide when you saw the end result on dvd. Only when you started to zoom in it became dark quickly and then there was no match against the vx2100 which still performed well in that case but produced more grain.

June 2nd, 2009, 05:53 PM	#15
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Joel, does the PFVISION preset produce ghosting on moving objects?