Color Saturation? at DVinfo.net

Chris Korrow · May 29th, 2003, 11:41 AM

It of course took me years to get used to different lighting, shutter speeds and aerture settings and how that affected film. Seems like none of that is really applicable with DV, i.e. slow shutter with high f stop + cloudy weather = great color.

Seems like colors are much more muted on cloudy days with DV. Are adjustments to this done solely by tweaking the camera settings or do the lens setting make a noticeable difference in color saturation?

Any info would help. Thanks,
Chris

Rick Spilman · May 29th, 2003, 04:05 PM

Very broad question. Depends in part on the camera that you are shooting with. Some cameras are highly tweekable, others less so. There are a number of filters which can "enhance" saturation. You can also color correction post.

In general, shutter speed and aperture don't really do much to saturation (unless you are wildly under or over exposing teh shot.)

I am sure if I am missing something others wiser that I will enlighten me.

Boyd Ostroff · May 29th, 2003, 05:44 PM

Well I'm certainly no wiser ;-) but a couple things come to mind. Are you using automatic exposure or manual? Personally I find cloudy days easier to handle than bright sun; high contrast seems more of a problem with DV. If you overexpose you can burn in the highlights and then the color information is lost forever. When in doubt I try to err on the side of underexposure. I am gradually getting used to learning what to expect when using 100 IRE zebra.

Given a choice, I like shooting in the early morning or late afternoon outside when the sky isn't so bright. This seems to give better results if you want a blue sky instead of white. On the VX-2000/PD-150/PDX-10 you can use the "custom preset" feature to increase color saturation. Other cameras have similar controls. When in doubt I often punch this up several notches. I figure it will be much easier to desaturate in post thant to create color that isn't originally there. I also sometimes kick the white balance towards either cool or warm also, depending on the kind of effect I want.

I find this all to be quite a trial and error process since the little LCD screen gives a pretty poor idea of what you'll see on a real monitor, especially if it's bright outside. I guess the ideal would be to bring a monitor on your shoots, but that's a lot of trouble for the sort of stuff I do.

Chris Korrow · May 30th, 2003, 08:52 AM

I'm doing mostly wildlife on an XL1s. It's harder to adjust the camera settings than the lens settings when your trying to follow the action (I almost always shoot manual). The posts on keeping the lens in the middle f-stops help, though with the stuff I'm shooting I often need the extra DOF.

My real question was if the f-stop & shutter speed have an effect on color saturation in DV or not (given that the exposures are about the same)?

Boyd I agree, I usually err on the under exposed rather than over, though then there is the whole computer monitor/TV setting thing that I haven't quite figured out yet either.

May 29th, 2003, 11:41 AM	#1
Chris Korrow Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Whidbey Is, WA Posts: 326	Color Saturation? It of course took me years to get used to different lighting, shutter speeds and aerture settings and how that affected film. Seems like none of that is really applicable with DV, i.e. slow shutter with high f stop + cloudy weather = great color. Seems like colors are much more muted on cloudy days with DV. Are adjustments to this done solely by tweaking the camera settings or do the lens setting make a noticeable difference in color saturation? Any info would help. Thanks, Chris

May 29th, 2003, 04:05 PM	#2
Rick Spilman Major Player Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Jersey City, NJ Posts: 366	Very broad question. Depends in part on the camera that you are shooting with. Some cameras are highly tweekable, others less so. There are a number of filters which can "enhance" saturation. You can also color correction post. In general, shutter speed and aperture don't really do much to saturation (unless you are wildly under or over exposing teh shot.) I am sure if I am missing something others wiser that I will enlighten me.

May 29th, 2003, 05:44 PM	#3
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Well I'm certainly no wiser ;-) but a couple things come to mind. Are you using automatic exposure or manual? Personally I find cloudy days easier to handle than bright sun; high contrast seems more of a problem with DV. If you overexpose you can burn in the highlights and then the color information is lost forever. When in doubt I try to err on the side of underexposure. I am gradually getting used to learning what to expect when using 100 IRE zebra. Given a choice, I like shooting in the early morning or late afternoon outside when the sky isn't so bright. This seems to give better results if you want a blue sky instead of white. On the VX-2000/PD-150/PDX-10 you can use the "custom preset" feature to increase color saturation. Other cameras have similar controls. When in doubt I often punch this up several notches. I figure it will be much easier to desaturate in post thant to create color that isn't originally there. I also sometimes kick the white balance towards either cool or warm also, depending on the kind of effect I want. I find this all to be quite a trial and error process since the little LCD screen gives a pretty poor idea of what you'll see on a real monitor, especially if it's bright outside. I guess the ideal would be to bring a monitor on your shoots, but that's a lot of trouble for the sort of stuff I do.

May 30th, 2003, 08:52 AM	#4
Chris Korrow Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Whidbey Is, WA Posts: 326	I'm doing mostly wildlife on an XL1s. It's harder to adjust the camera settings than the lens settings when your trying to follow the action (I almost always shoot manual). The posts on keeping the lens in the middle f-stops help, though with the stuff I'm shooting I often need the extra DOF. My real question was if the f-stop & shutter speed have an effect on color saturation in DV or not (given that the exposures are about the same)? Boyd I agree, I usually err on the under exposed rather than over, though then there is the whole computer monitor/TV setting thing that I haven't quite figured out yet either.