What are the best settings to use for low light on the HMC40?

[Marc S. Brown]

Hi folks!

Just got my HMC 40 and shot my first wedding with it. The low light is appalling, though I'm impressed with the gain. My question is, what are the best settings to use in low light to get the best quality picture with the least amount of noise? My footage was all grainy (I did use 24db of gain so I'm not surprised), unlike lots of the low light videos I've seen from ya'll.

Thanks for your input!

[Bob Diaz]

In general I don't like to go above +18dB of gain due to the high level of noise in the image.

There is no one best low light setting, because it's subject to taste. So, here is a starting point that you should play around with to see what works for you...

DETAIL CORING: 7
This does soften the image some, but helps to reduce the impact of the noise.

DETAIL LEVEL: -1 ---> -4 (Try this range)
By lowering the detail level, the noise is reduced. HOWEVER, this comes as a price and the sharpness goes down.

CHROMA LEVEL: -1 ---> -4 (Try this range)
I've found that by reducing the color saturation level, the color noise also goes down. The down side is that the colors aren't as rich, but you can't have low light AND rich colors.

MASTER PED: -1 ---> -4 (Try this range)
The more negative the number, the more contrast, and the more blacks are crushed. This darkens the level for the blacks which have a lot of noise, BUT you loose the detail in the blacks.

GAMMA: B. PRESS or CINE LIKE V
This also helps to darken the blacks and cover up the noise in that area, but you'll also loose the detail in the dark areas.

KNEE: High

SKIN TONE DTL: ON
This softens the detail in the skin levels and reduces the noise.


Where you see a range, "-1 ---> -4 (Try this range)" you could start with all set at -1 and pick each parameter, trying -1 and -4. Record a bit at each end, compare the two on the screen to see what looks the best for you view.

After that, move to the next parameter trying both -1 and -4 settings...

This would take several recordings to find what looks the best for your use, but would help you to see what works for you. IF -1 is not enough and -4 is too much, you may have to try -2 and -3 to see is the middle ground is better for you.


Bob Diaz

[Marc S. Brown]

Hey Bob,

I appreciate you taking the time to answer! Lots of great info for me to print off & experiment with. I'm shooting an outdoor wedding in July, with an outdoor evening reception, so I'm looking to really bone up on my HMC 40 skills.


Best!