Expodisc and WB

Terence Murphy · January 14th, 2012, 07:36 PM

I shoot with a CX700v, and setting the 'exposure' manually as described above is definitely the way to go. One location I shoot at frequently has soda machines in the background, so locking down exposure is a must to keep the action from going dark. Manual WB is also essential if the light source is different from the rest of the room.

The exposure setting is a bit of a mystery. I assume it biases towards 1/60th shutter and mostly adjusts gain and shutter, but have no way to tell for sure. It will adjust to keep exposure constant as you zoom, so that's no problem. Only annoying thing is the trick spot focus option (don't know if your camera has that), where you can pick the subject to keep in focus, doesn't work unless the camera is on full auto. Otherwise it might help you.

I routinely use 60p and it's great. I have occasional focus problems, but probably no more than once an hour, with somewhat similar subject material. Try to keep other high contrast objects in the foreground/background out of frame, or at least don't stop a pan with them still in frame. That's probably what is briefly grabbing the camera's attention. I would expect shooting down from the bleachers and having the high contrast stripes on the floor would work well for the auto focus, but a person in the background with a "go wildcats" sign could distract the logic if you stop a pan with it near center frame. At least that's what I try to do, and it seems to help. Looking at your frame grabs, the red shirt #44 might suck the focus to the foreground. And remember that you have more depth of field with less zoom, so you're more likely to have focus problems on tighter shots.

Terence

Richard Davidson · January 15th, 2012, 08:50 AM

Here are some stills from a night and day game, overall a huge improvement. The gym has skylights so the day game lighting is much better than the night game. When in the center of the court the light from the sign will always be an issue but the action on both ends of the court is much better. Still having little issues with focus searching but I believe the lighting is just so bad the camera is having issues finding something lock onto.

The first 3 stills are from the night game and the next 3 from the morning game.

Gints Klimanis · January 19th, 2012, 03:40 PM

Even for low indoor gym lighting, everything should be on manual : WB, aperture/iris, shutter speed . Since the gym is lighted fairly evenly except for the glare, you don't want your exposure changing when clusters of light-colored uniforms enter and exit the frame.

At your distance, focus should also be on manual.

January 14th, 2012, 07:36 PM	#16
Terence Murphy Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 161	Re: Expodisc and WB I shoot with a CX700v, and setting the 'exposure' manually as described above is definitely the way to go. One location I shoot at frequently has soda machines in the background, so locking down exposure is a must to keep the action from going dark. Manual WB is also essential if the light source is different from the rest of the room. The exposure setting is a bit of a mystery. I assume it biases towards 1/60th shutter and mostly adjusts gain and shutter, but have no way to tell for sure. It will adjust to keep exposure constant as you zoom, so that's no problem. Only annoying thing is the trick spot focus option (don't know if your camera has that), where you can pick the subject to keep in focus, doesn't work unless the camera is on full auto. Otherwise it might help you. I routinely use 60p and it's great. I have occasional focus problems, but probably no more than once an hour, with somewhat similar subject material. Try to keep other high contrast objects in the foreground/background out of frame, or at least don't stop a pan with them still in frame. That's probably what is briefly grabbing the camera's attention. I would expect shooting down from the bleachers and having the high contrast stripes on the floor would work well for the auto focus, but a person in the background with a "go wildcats" sign could distract the logic if you stop a pan with it near center frame. At least that's what I try to do, and it seems to help. Looking at your frame grabs, the red shirt #44 might suck the focus to the foreground. And remember that you have more depth of field with less zoom, so you're more likely to have focus problems on tighter shots. Terence

January 15th, 2012, 08:50 AM	#17
Richard Davidson Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: McAllen Texas Posts: 85	Re: Expodisc and WB Here are some stills from a night and day game, overall a huge improvement. The gym has skylights so the day game lighting is much better than the night game. When in the center of the court the light from the sign will always be an issue but the action on both ends of the court is much better. Still having little issues with focus searching but I believe the lighting is just so bad the camera is having issues finding something lock onto. The first 3 stills are from the night game and the next 3 from the morning game. Attached Thumbnails

January 19th, 2012, 03:40 PM	#18
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	Re: Expodisc and WB Even for low indoor gym lighting, everything should be on manual : WB, aperture/iris, shutter speed . Since the gym is lighted fairly evenly except for the glare, you don't want your exposure changing when clusters of light-colored uniforms enter and exit the frame. At your distance, focus should also be on manual.