Auto Gain Or No Auto Gain?? at DVinfo.net

Matthew Jackson · February 27th, 2007, 06:28 AM

I recently read on a thread never to have the gain set on auto when shooting in manual mode. So I shoot on the ocean in daylight with zero cloud cover 99% of the time... I've tried it set on -3 and +-0... and the one thing that I've noticed big time is that my aperture swings a lot more to extremes... for example if I'm shooting at the surface at the water and a fish breaks the surface producing white water it blows it out fast and I have to correct with 5 or 6 clicks of the iris dial to adjust... with the gain set to auto I may have to give it one or two clicks to correct....

Also the manual give so real indication on whether to use -3 (no noise for indoor use...) and or 0 (low light/night apps...) so I'm not sure where to put it.... maybe that's the problem....

Any thoughts? thanks! Matt

Kevin Randolph · February 27th, 2007, 06:12 PM

Setting the gain dial to -3 effectively makes your ccds less sensitive to light. It does have the added benifit of making the image slightly sharper though. If I was going to manually shoot on the beach on a sunny day, I would set the gain to -3. This should give a better image.

I think the reason why you have to click the iris less when you have the gain set to auto is that the camera is going from 0 to -3, taking care of some of the exposure issue for you, leaving you just a little bit to deal with. In this case (where you're expecting to have to change exposure) I'd let the camera deal with part of it to make the iris changes less noticable.

Maybe someday we'll both upgrade to HD and have the stepless iris control afforded by the 6x wide angle lens...

Kevin

Greg Boston · February 27th, 2007, 06:24 PM

Leave it on -3 in bright sun to reduce blowout. Also remember that you can shoot in Tv mode so that you set the shutter and the camera will ride the iris for you. Keep your left hand ready to add or subtract ND to help keep the iris swings to a minimum. It's far better to have something on the darker side, than to blow it out. You can often pull some detail out of the shadow in post, but blown highlights are detail that's gone forever.

-gb-

Charles Hurley · March 2nd, 2007, 02:45 AM

Adjust for the money shot and leave it there. Who cares about the water? It's the FISH man. Get it?

Tony Davies-Patrick · March 2nd, 2007, 03:32 AM

Matthew - another option to Manual or TV, is to just set it to -3, screw on that circular polariser (or slot in a 4X4 PL), set the dial to AV, adjust aperture to your preffered setting (slot in an extra ND filter if shutter is still too high due to bright light), and then once everything is looking good, simply press the Exposure Lock button on the side of the lens and continue shooting your whole sequence of the fight.

Still leave the Exp.Lock button in its locked position if the fish is going to be tagged in the water and released - this will prevent the exposure from jumping during wightwater foam and dark blue sea/sky and white/dark sides of flashing fish etc.

You may need to unlock the Exp.Lock button and re-adjust exposure settings if the fish is pulled onboard to film any trophy shots etc inside the boat, due to shadows/sunlight etc, with different refelective backgrounds compared to the blue-water.

Matthew Jackson · March 4th, 2007, 08:01 AM

Thanks Tony, that's extremely helpful... I'll give that a shot tomorrow when I'm back on the boat. I've been using the Tv mode some this week with the gain at either -3 or 0, and that's been helping some as well... and I've also been playing with the ND filter... so I will definitely try using the exp. lock.

thanks!

February 27th, 2007, 06:28 AM	#1
Matthew Jackson Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 92	Auto Gain Or No Auto Gain?? I recently read on a thread never to have the gain set on auto when shooting in manual mode. So I shoot on the ocean in daylight with zero cloud cover 99% of the time... I've tried it set on -3 and +-0... and the one thing that I've noticed big time is that my aperture swings a lot more to extremes... for example if I'm shooting at the surface at the water and a fish breaks the surface producing white water it blows it out fast and I have to correct with 5 or 6 clicks of the iris dial to adjust... with the gain set to auto I may have to give it one or two clicks to correct.... Also the manual give so real indication on whether to use -3 (no noise for indoor use...) and or 0 (low light/night apps...) so I'm not sure where to put it.... maybe that's the problem.... Any thoughts? thanks! Matt

February 27th, 2007, 06:12 PM	#2
Kevin Randolph Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 423	Setting the gain dial to -3 effectively makes your ccds less sensitive to light. It does have the added benifit of making the image slightly sharper though. If I was going to manually shoot on the beach on a sunny day, I would set the gain to -3. This should give a better image. I think the reason why you have to click the iris less when you have the gain set to auto is that the camera is going from 0 to -3, taking care of some of the exposure issue for you, leaving you just a little bit to deal with. In this case (where you're expecting to have to change exposure) I'd let the camera deal with part of it to make the iris changes less noticable. Maybe someday we'll both upgrade to HD and have the stepless iris control afforded by the 6x wide angle lens... Kevin __________________ "... the drama is on your doorstep..." - John Grierson www.grvideo.net

March 2nd, 2007, 03:32 AM	#5
Tony Davies-Patrick Trustee Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Worldwide Posts: 1,589	Matthew - another option to Manual or TV, is to just set it to -3, screw on that circular polariser (or slot in a 4X4 PL), set the dial to AV, adjust aperture to your preffered setting (slot in an extra ND filter if shutter is still too high due to bright light), and then once everything is looking good, simply press the Exposure Lock button on the side of the lens and continue shooting your whole sequence of the fight. Still leave the Exp.Lock button in its locked position if the fish is going to be tagged in the water and released - this will prevent the exposure from jumping during wightwater foam and dark blue sea/sky and white/dark sides of flashing fish etc. You may need to unlock the Exp.Lock button and re-adjust exposure settings if the fish is pulled onboard to film any trophy shots etc inside the boat, due to shadows/sunlight etc, with different refelective backgrounds compared to the blue-water. __________________ www.WILDCARP.com www.NIKON.me.uk

February 27th, 2007, 06:24 PM	#3
Greg Boston Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DFW area, TX Posts: 6,117 Images: 1	Leave it on -3 in bright sun to reduce blowout. Also remember that you can shoot in Tv mode so that you set the shutter and the camera will ride the iris for you. Keep your left hand ready to add or subtract ND to help keep the iris swings to a minimum. It's far better to have something on the darker side, than to blow it out. You can often pull some detail out of the shadow in post, but blown highlights are detail that's gone forever. -gb-

March 2nd, 2007, 02:45 AM	#4
Charles Hurley Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Brooklyn NY Posts: 128	Adjust for the money shot and leave it there. Who cares about the water? It's the FISH man. Get it?

March 4th, 2007, 08:01 AM	#6
Matthew Jackson Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 92	Thanks Tony, that's extremely helpful... I'll give that a shot tomorrow when I'm back on the boat. I've been using the Tv mode some this week with the gain at either -3 or 0, and that's been helping some as well... and I've also been playing with the ND filter... so I will definitely try using the exp. lock. thanks!