What settings for Fireworks shoot

[Michael Ferreira]

Originally Posted by Tom Roper

1.) Lay on ground
2.) Light fuse
3.) Get away!

LOL nice one

[Rick Underwood]

Hello,

I am wondering what you recommend for settings when recording firework displays?

Are there any presets to use?

I have shoot next week with the A1 and its hard to really do testings when the show is only a one time gig. This is also the first show in the area so will really not be able to test it but still was asked to shoot it.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated..

Thanks

[Daniel Browning]

Originally Posted by Rick Underwood

I am wondering what you recommend for settings when recording firework displays?

Fort Vancouver has an excellent display that I'm going to shoot with my new XH A1 this year. I've only ever done still fireworks photos, so I'll be learning along with you come July 4th.

Right now my plan is -3db, 30F, noise reduction on, and crush the blacks. Hopefully that will make the sky inky black.

[Maksim Yankovskiy]

I am planning to play with shutter speed on July 4th to see if I can get any comet-looking trails.

Originally Posted by Daniel Browning

Right now my plan is -3db, 30F, noise reduction on, and crush the blacks. Hopefully that will make the sky inky black.

[Daniel Browning]

Originally Posted by Daniel Browning

Fort Vancouver has an excellent display that I'm going to shoot with my new XH A1 this year. I've only ever done still fireworks photos, so I'll be learning along with you come July 4th.

Right now my plan is -3db, 30F, noise reduction on, and crush the blacks. Hopefully that will make the sky inky black.

I had an opportuntity to shoot a really impressive fireworks show on June 30th. (Sorry, no downloads yet. Maybe I'll put something up in a week or two.)

I used f/1.6, 1/30, -3 Db, NR1 low, press blacks, and manual focus. I tried 1/15 and lower for a few shots, but I didn't like them. Noise was uncharacteristically high, even for -3 Db, so I couldn't try turning off the NR. The cause for this was that it was hot out, and I was running the camera for two and half hours, so the sensor got too hot. The worst side effect was a vertical low-contrast line that constantly strobed from right to left. Next time I need to have a fresh, cold camera on standby for high-noise situations.

Aside from the noise reduction and vertical strobing line, the footage was beautiful. It was like being there. The angle was wide enough to capture even the biggest fireworks.

[Kevin Bowling]

I'm still living in the SD world with my VX2000 but looking to move to HD. One of my customers is a fireworks company, so I'd like to know if the fireworks footage will be at least as good I had with the VX2000. When I purchased that camera, I A/B'd it with the XL1 to find the best for fireworks. The VX2000 was the winner hands down.

Now I'm looking to move up to HD, and the XH A1 looks to be the best choice for general purpose shooting. Does anybody know how well it does shooting fireworks?

[Daniel Browning]

Originally Posted by Kevin Bowling

I'm still living in the SD world with my VX2000 but looking to move to HD. One of my customers is a fireworks company, so I'd like to know if the fireworks footage will be at least as good I had with the VX2000. When I purchased that camera, I A/B'd it with the XL1 to find the best for fireworks. The VX2000 was the winner hands down.

Now I'm looking to move up to HD, and the XH A1 looks to be the best choice for general purpose shooting. Does anybody know how well it does shooting fireworks?

It does very well. Here's a related thread about settings. I shot some XH A1 fireworks footage this year. It appears at the end of this "Celebration of Freedom" video:

720p30 h264 3Mbps, 100 MB

720p30 Quicktime HD, 200 MB

[Chris Hurd]

See also this Fireworks sample videos thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=98179

[Kevin Bowling]

Thanks.

I had looked at the sample videos and at some other footage I found on the web, but they were all shot from too far away for me to really see what I was looking for. This Celebration of Freedom video is perfect. It shows good detail in the breaks that I was looking for.

Looks like I'll be joining the club soon.

[Eric Weiss]

These started going off while we were eating dinner. and yes, I actually bring the camera and tripod with me to dinner.

http://www.mediafire.com/?5m2kmcy1kjb

HDV to SD to MPG2

[Kristjan Kruus]

I am using Panasonic NV-GS 180 3CCD camcorder and i planning to shoot fireworks tonight. I shoot my town sky from my house roof. That camcorder got 37mm lens and i dont have wideangle yet so Is the 16:9 and manual setup good?

Regards, Kristjan.