Low light testing

Steven Dempsey · June 12th, 2006, 12:55 PM

I couldn't resist shooting these beautiful scenes on Saturday night up near Snoqualmie here in Washington. It's always a challenge trying to get a shot like this because you have to make a decision whether to expose the foreground or background. In this case it was a choice to expose for the moon or the landscape. The compromise was pretty good.

Also, this is as low light as it's going to get and you can see that the camera did a fine job under the circumstances. The noise in the picture is fine and looks like film grain rather than colored mosquitoes jumping around.

http://media.dvinfo.net/xlh1/moon1.m2t
http://media.dvinfo.net/xlh1/moon2.m2t
http://media.dvinfo.net/xlh1/moon3.m2t

Chris Barcellos · June 12th, 2006, 01:36 PM

Could not download third one.

I just shot this one with FX1 and 1.7 Sony Extender.

http://www.makeyourfilm.net/downloads/moonshort.m2t

Not really excited with the results.

Questions: Couldn't get color of moon and sky without washing out moon detail. How did you handle that. I suspect one reason is that it is near moonrise or set, where mine is taken directly overhead in the moon arc across the sky.

Did you use post color correction. Any extenders, and what lens.

Steven Dempsey · June 12th, 2006, 01:43 PM

guess the third one didn't get uploaded. I'm uploading it again now.

I just used the stock Canon 20x lens for these shots. It was pretty dark but there was enough brightness in the sky to take down the exposure just enough to get some detail in the moon. No color correction, this is just straight out of the camera and, yes, the moon really was that color.

Haven't looked at your file yet. Downloading.

Paul Chiappini · June 12th, 2006, 03:10 PM

I've downloaded the first clip. When I play it back I notice some small white squares pop up occasionally. Are these dropouts? I've seen them before on other H1 clips.

Steven Dempsey · June 12th, 2006, 03:12 PM

Depends on what program you are playing them on. VLC and Windows Media Player Classic both like to do this with m2t files but they are not in the original. Also, you may notice that if you play the file a second time, the artifacts appear either differently or through a different frame.

Bottom line, it's the player not the footage.

Paul Chiappini · June 12th, 2006, 03:18 PM

Thanks for the quick response. I'm using VLC and am relieved that it's the player's fault.

One other quickt question: how's the tape transport -- any problems with dropouts, etc? I used to have a Sony VX2000, and I'd get dropouts occasionaly.

Steven Dempsey · June 12th, 2006, 03:23 PM

I've shot about 10 hours (edit) on the camera and have not used a tape cleaner yet. Have not experienced a single drop out. Tape transport is very solid in my experience.

I use Panasonic MQ tapes.

June 12th, 2006, 12:55 PM	#1
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Low light testing - Moon shots I couldn't resist shooting these beautiful scenes on Saturday night up near Snoqualmie here in Washington. It's always a challenge trying to get a shot like this because you have to make a decision whether to expose the foreground or background. In this case it was a choice to expose for the moon or the landscape. The compromise was pretty good. Also, this is as low light as it's going to get and you can see that the camera did a fine job under the circumstances. The noise in the picture is fine and looks like film grain rather than colored mosquitoes jumping around. http://media.dvinfo.net/xlh1/moon1.m2t http://media.dvinfo.net/xlh1/moon2.m2t http://media.dvinfo.net/xlh1/moon3.m2t __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

June 12th, 2006, 01:36 PM	#2
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Could not download third one. I just shot this one with FX1 and 1.7 Sony Extender. http://www.makeyourfilm.net/downloads/moonshort.m2t Not really excited with the results. Questions: Couldn't get color of moon and sky without washing out moon detail. How did you handle that. I suspect one reason is that it is near moonrise or set, where mine is taken directly overhead in the moon arc across the sky. Did you use post color correction. Any extenders, and what lens. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

June 12th, 2006, 01:43 PM	#3
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	guess the third one didn't get uploaded. I'm uploading it again now. I just used the stock Canon 20x lens for these shots. It was pretty dark but there was enough brightness in the sky to take down the exposure just enough to get some detail in the moon. No color correction, this is just straight out of the camera and, yes, the moon really was that color. Haven't looked at your file yet. Downloading. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

June 12th, 2006, 03:12 PM	#5
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Depends on what program you are playing them on. VLC and Windows Media Player Classic both like to do this with m2t files but they are not in the original. Also, you may notice that if you play the file a second time, the artifacts appear either differently or through a different frame. Bottom line, it's the player not the footage. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

June 12th, 2006, 03:23 PM	#7
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	I've shot about 10 hours (edit) on the camera and have not used a tape cleaner yet. Have not experienced a single drop out. Tape transport is very solid in my experience. I use Panasonic MQ tapes. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

June 12th, 2006, 03:10 PM	#4
Paul Chiappini Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Idaho Posts: 89	I've downloaded the first clip. When I play it back I notice some small white squares pop up occasionally. Are these dropouts? I've seen them before on other H1 clips.

June 12th, 2006, 03:18 PM	#6
Paul Chiappini Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Idaho Posts: 89	Thanks for the quick response. I'm using VLC and am relieved that it's the player's fault. One other quickt question: how's the tape transport -- any problems with dropouts, etc? I used to have a Sony VX2000, and I'd get dropouts occasionaly.