Settings for widest dynamic range....

[Michael Krumlauf]

What are some good settings so i can get the widest latitude/dynamic range from the XL2?

I want the cleanest image possible with as much detail in the shadows, etc

Mike

[Michael Krumlauf]

Bump*

Does anyone out there have any settings that could help me get the most latitude out of the camera?

[Josh Bass]

I"ll take a stab.


I would set the knee to "low"--this'll allow you to retain the most information in the highlights (point your cam out a window on a sunny day, get everything outside to blow out, and then cycle from "low" to "high", and you should be able to watch the dynamic range change).

As for the shadows/blacks, you have several parameters you can adjust. . .gamma, blacks , master pedestal, and setup.

normal gamma will give you more dynamic range

black stretch will give you more dynmic range

setting master ped and setup to +7 (or whatever the highest to the right you can move the slider) will give you the most detail in dark areas, though at a certain point you won't gain any more detail and will just wash out the picture. You'll have to do some tests to see at what point this happens.

I wanted to note that with some of these settings, though you increase your dynamic range, you do get a weirdness in the darkest parts of the picture, where, even though a certain region may be visible, it won't really have much, if any, color info, but instead will be kind of a grey blue. Almost like it's black and white, except it's got a bluish tinge. This happens when something is way underexposed, but the camera is still trying to give you detail in those areas. I personally find it unattractive (I would rather see the detail fall off to blackness/nothing at that point instead), but to each his own.

[Jack Barker]

Originally Posted by Josh Bass

I wanted to note that with some of these settings, though you increase your dynamic range, you do get a weirdness in the darkest parts of the picture, where, even though a certain region may be visible, it won't really have much, if any, color info, but instead will be kind of a grey blue. Almost like it's black and white, except it's got a bluish tinge. This happens when something is way underexposed, but the camera is still trying to give you detail in those areas. I personally find it unattractive (I would rather see the detail fall off to blackness/nothing at that point instead), but to each his own.

I'm with you, Josh. I like my blacks, black.

[Josh Bass]

Though, depending on your post process (are you shooting footage that you will edit or handing the tape off to someone else?), you can shoot with the weird looking blacks and crush them later, give yourself more playing room.

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Josh Bass

more playing room.

I guess "playing room" is what Michael refers to as dynamic range. By the way, this is also how we do it when recording music -- make sure to use the entire dynamic range and then, later, adjust the levels for each track in post.

-- peer

[Jack Barker]

Yeah, thanks. I understand what "playing room" means.

[Michael Krumlauf]

Very Cool, thanks for the advice guys :)

You RULE!

Mike~