Low light fast action

In the next week I'm shooting a pop video, Can any one advise on what is the best XL1 Pal camera settings to capture the action under low level lighting. I noticed that when i played pack some test footage on the computer there was a strobing effect on the lights that were moving. Any ideas, Any one ?

[Chris Hurd]

Try setting the gain to +12db or +18db and experiment with the slower electronic shutter speeds (on NTSC cams these are 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 -- not sure what the PAL equivalents are however).

[Adrian Douglas]

On PAL cameras the slow shutter speeds are 1/25, 1/12 and 1/6

[Chris Hurd]

Thanks -- does an Aussie working in Japan shoot PAL or NTSC? I think you told me before, but I forgot...

[Rob Lohman]

The slower the shutter speed, the more strobing you'll get.

[Adrian Douglas]

Matt,

The 1/24 setting combined with +6db gain should give you a good image without too much noise or blur. If you can talk to the lighting guy, with an extra beer, and see if he can help you.
For shooting bands, I'd also suggest using a MD recorder. Feed to the MD direct from the desk and use the camera audio only if you want crowd reaction.

Chris

My XL1 is PAL. That is why I'm always one of the first to kick into a "Should I buy PAL or NTSC thread" Luckly for me at the moment everything I'm shooting is going on the web/CDROM and QT dosen't care what format it's in.

John's XL1 is NTSC but it's an American model so we're not sure if it will work here. NTSC isn't just NTSC, it like PAL has a few different flavours. I think all PAL systems are compatible but the Japanese NTSC system is different to the American one. That is why everything bought domestically here has "For Japan use only" written on it.

I wish everyone would get togeather and sort their crap into a pile and go with one format, but I guess there's about as much chance of that as there is of stopping religous conflict. Who knows, world peace, then one world, one format.

[Ed Smith]

Welcome Matt, nice to see yet another Britt on the board, its starting to feel like home.

As Adrian said put it at 1/24 with 6db. You probably want to use movie mode, and shoot in manual.

What sort of set up are you using with the camera?

Hope this helps.

[Adrian Douglas]

Thanks Ed, I forgot to mention to shoot in manual focus as the lens will hunt badly in low light. If you can get your hands on a 3x lens or a wide angle adapter you'll be able to get in closer to the band. I found the 16x lens not quite wide enough for small stages.