Dealing with Clipping??

[John Whiteway]

Sometimes a shot I'm taking clips when the camera is set on automatic. If this were a GH4 I'd have the option of “Exposure Compensation”, a setting that allows you to overrule the camera's automatic exposure setting, either brightening or darkening it. That's a great feature. I've asked on this page, and it seems there is no equivalent “Exposure Compensation” override on the CH-X1 (thanks Eric).

So how to deal with clipping? Seems the only way is to change the camera's setting from Automatic to Manual on the switch on the side of the camera. After doing that depress both “Iris” and “Shutter” buttons and take f-stop and shutter speed off automatic. Now one is free to change the exposure manually. Not nearly as nice as the GH4, as here one is starting from scratch, rather than fine tuning the automatic exposure.

Now how to assess one's changes in exposure? Well, first it seemed I'd figured that out too. Turn on the Wave Form Monitor and with it one can visually assure yourself that the shot no longer clips. Seemed a fine, albeit clumsy way of dealing with the problem. But as I find out, the WFM is not visible in the EVF, and with this camera and its highly reflective viewing screen that's inevitably what I'm using to compose the shoot.

So where does that leave me? The Zebra I guess, for that remains visible in the EVF. But the Zebra is such a crude measure compared to the Waveform.

So that's where my figuring has taken me. Hope I've got it right, but so often when I think I have someone comes along and shows me other options. That said, does anyone reading this have other ideas on the best way to override automatic exposure settings and how to assess the changes you make?

Thanks.

John

[Doug Jensen]

I don't know anything about that particular camera model but I can tell you that you have gotten things flipped 180 degrees. The camera's little Waveform Monitor is the crude way of setting exposure and Zebra is absolutely the best way to set exposure on any video camera. Learn to use zebra correctly and you'll never wonder about exposure again. One more tip -- simply avoiding clipping is not how you should be setting exposure. That approach can work for still photos that are being shot as RAW, but it does not work for video.

[John Whiteway]

Hi Doug.

Thanks for the reply. I think we've had very different experiences. For years I've used the histogram on the GH4 and I've been able to get much more information from it than I would from watching the zebra. Not only can I look for clipping at both ends but I can see exactly how close to clipping I've brought up or reduced the whites. To me the zebra can only tell you one thing.

[Doug Jensen]

Yes, very different experiences. Even if you said I could use my my $7K Leader LV-5330 waveform monitor to set exposure I would still choose zebras every time. Zebras are a far more convenient and accurate tool for setting exposure than WFM and I think if you knew how to use them correctly you wouldn't have even started this thread.

[John Whiteway]

Thank you again for your thoughts but at this point I have no interest in arguing with you. All the best.

[Doug Jensen]

I agree, if you think this is an argument then I will be happy to back off. Good luck to you.