GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Greetings -- so somehow my video is getting overexposed big time. I'm shooting 5.8K - with Atomos Ninja 5+ -- when I hit the shutter initially on GH-6 - for a "split second" -- I get good exposure - but within like a tenth-of-a-second -- the exposure is totally blown out - histogram shows way right side exposure - and recorded clip shows way overexposed when played back.

If I change display to allow option of touching LCD and tapping aperture settings - things get much better or more accurate exposure. What setting have I got screwed up and how do I fix it ? Going on a real big trip to Antarctica very soon -- and want to get this snafu resolved ! HELP !!

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Are you setting Shutter Speed, ISO/Gain, and Aperture manually? If so, what would be your typical settings? What method are you using to judge the exposure and determine the correct exposure settings?

Are you using ND filters outdoors during daytime to keep levels within normal ranges?

If you're not using full-manual, that is the source of the problem right there. Look no further.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Hey Doug -- Wow that was quick ! About 2005 or so you replied to some posts re using my Sony EX-3 !

I was trying to shoot full auto - just using the camera icon on the dial - to let cam figure - ISO - Shutter - etc. I was attached to my Atomos Ninja 5+ via HDMI. Initially I thought maybe - somehow - that when I disconnected the GH-6 from the Ninja - that maybe when I disconnected the HDMI cable that something got hung up and caused this overexposure thing. Am still learning the GH-6 (I did update latest firmware).

Right after the update I starting noticing this ov/exp thing - and also that a 'red" - "HDMI II" was showing on the LCD/Display on the camera. Had never seen this before when initially using Ninja.

If I can't figure out what's going on - I'll have to start using a hand held incident meter for exposure - and adjust for Antarctica snow - ice - water -- Don't know what's going on !?

Are you willing to give up your phone for conversation -- or reply to personal web site info/contact info for discussion ? I'm east coast Atlanta --

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Hi Russ,

I don't own a GH6, but I do have an S1H and I know the two are very similar. You might want to check out my 4-hour S1H master class. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/s1h

It should give you the knowledge you need to take control over the camera and not have to rely on auto-matic.
I'm not sure what you think you are gaining with the Atomos. It is not needed. i'd dump it and simplify the camera . . . and your trip.

Here's chapter 1:

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

There are lots of choices for automatic exposure metering if you are using auto. You may want to try setting "highlight" for the exposure meter if you are using auto a lot. The RED HDMI on the LCD is there if you have set HDMI output control in the menu. I agree with Doug, not sure why you would want the complication of the Ninja on your trip. Lots of cables,batteries to go wrong. You may want to take the approved Anker powerbank to supply USB C power as a better alternative in you luggage.

Steven Litton https://www.youtube.com/c/stevelitton/videos has a good series of instructions on the GH6.


I have GH6 and GH5S both with Ninja V but all my shoots are in the theatre on tripods.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Not sure how good the peaking is on the gh6 but on my s1/s5 it's unusable as it almost disappears when you hit record, a ext recorder might not be needed but a good monitor can help a lot when you want manually focus. I use a shinobi monitor and it's like day and night difference (read easier) when it comes to judging focus but it does add extra bulk.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Not sure how good the peaking is on the GH6, but on my S1H it works pretty good. I use +2 for 4K and +1 for HD.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Lot of choices, none of them good. Learn to shoot full manual if you want to get things right, and also avoid fluctuations right in the middle of your shots. Manual exposure is so easy to do there's just no reason to use auto.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

I was offering a solution for those who want to shoot auto. It is easy to constrain the range that the camera can control in auto. Fix shutter speed and gain limit for example will give reasonable results for those who want to shoot in semi auto. Yes, by the way I shoot full manual almost all the time.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

And I was offering a counterpoint solution -- not using auto at all. There's no reason for it.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

That is your choice others may not agree with that approach. It is possible to use the GH6 in auto with control over what it does. In certain circumstances that would be useful to someone who does not spend their life running cameras. For sure if you want complete control shoot manual. But I disagree with you in I do think there is a place for auto to make life easier for someone who is more interested in the situation than the video performance of what they shoot. There is no reason that one could not shoot manual for important situations and full auto in others.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

We're both entitled to our opinions, but just for the record, I totally disagree with your suggestions. Leaning to shoot 100% manual is within the grasp of anyone who has at least a third grade education. Suggesting that full manual is only attainable by people who "spend their life running cameras" is an insult to people who just need a little encouragement to learn, rather than making it seem it is outside their ability. Have some confidence in your fellow man . . . and women.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Sorry Doug. It's a bit like saying anyone can learn to drive a manual car rather than use an automatic because manual is better. How many race cars are now full manual?

As with most things these days the computer(s) actual controls the device. The user tells it what to do. Either precisely (apparent manual control ) or by some other inference. Full auto, semi auto or manual. It's the same computer doing the control. Before you answer. Yes there are vintage manual lens but most lenses people buy today for their camera are full computer control with firmware that can be updated. When you press a button on a cameras you are telling the computer to do something. Lots of buttons, especially on Panasonic can be reprogrammed to do many things.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

That is a a completely false analogy. Besides, I never said I was against everything automatic. Auto-focus, for example, is definitely good enough to use on some cameras and can even exceed the performance of people who do "spend their life running cameras". Good AF performance is a big deal because focusing manually is an actual skill that must be learned and practiced.

On the other hand, there are no video cameras that offer acceptable auto-exposure performance. They either get the exposure wrong or they allow the exposure to fluctuate in the middle of a shot -- or both. Not every shot, of course, but often enough that it must be avoided if people don't want to settle for amateur-looking results. The good news is that setting exposure manually is not really a skill. It is just a matter of choosing the right settings before you press record. A monkey could do it. Send me a monkey and I will train him.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Depends on circumstances. AF for me is not viable in the theatre. For however good it may be it will not manage wild light swings. Frantically searching for focus until the lights stabilize again. That really will look very amateur. Yes that same situation will send the auto exposure off too depending on camera but most of the time the exposure response is much faster than AF so you can see I always manual focus as well as exposure.

For me someone who is on holiday and more interested in the situation than the video just wants to point and shoot. Auto everything is valid but that still means knowing how to set up the camera for that situation to stop the camera doing crazy things. The GH6 has custom settings on the dial that can be programmed for different situations limiting the amount of needed interaction.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

I never said AF was good on all cameras and all situations, so I'm not sure what your point is. In fact, for 95% of all video cameras/lenses AF is not good enough. And even on cameras where it does work well, it still depends on having the right settings and techniques. Focus is definitely a skill that must be learned and practiced. But it is a viable alternative now and getting better all the time.

But exposure is completely different because there are no video cameras that can perform better than manual. If you don't get my point by now, there is nothing I can say that will get through to you, so you are welcome to have the final word. Please, go ahead and tell newbies they are too stupid, lazy, or ignorant to learn something. I guess only those people who "spend their life running cameras" are capable of setting exposure.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

As you know I mainly shoot weddings, 17 years already and counting :) and I always have managed my camera's manually. Multicam ceremonies consist out of 4 to sometimes 5 camera's that I operate alone, every camera gets whitebalanced, has a fixed focus, shutter and exposure.

Most ceremonies are under controlled light and then having all camera's in manual is crucial to prevent extra work in post, shooting outside on a windy and partially cloudy day however is as bad as it gets, the sun appearing and disappearing all the time gives huge exposure differences, the way I have dealt with these situations in the past is to slightly overexpose all my camera's when the sun is out and deal with the under exposure in post. Only the camera I operate myself gets adjusted accordingly, the other 3 or 4 run unmanned once they have been set up.

This year however I tried a wedding with my unmanned camera's set to autoexposure and with the ev button adjusted so shots did not overexpose when the sun was out and the results turned out much better then I expected, not only did the camera's smoothly adjusted the exposure to sometimes wildly different fluctuations in light, I could also use such a shot when the sun came out of went to hide in post without having to make any adjustment.

Is it perfect? No, but neither is a unmanned camera that has been set up with a fixed exposure in such a situation, I will continue to run my camera's fully manual when I can but there certainly is a time for auto-exposure, you just need to know when to use it.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Yes Noa very similar to how I shoot in the theatre. I then have the choice for particular scene and very often the auto camera is quicker to adjust as expected. Like you said it is not perfect but most of the time great. But you do need to set up correctly with fixed gain limit, fixed shutter speed, AE shift, exposure sensing range etc so it is certainly not switch on and shoot. Using the highlight exposure setting on the GH6 or GH5S will stop the over overexposure as it will set exposure based on the peak. In my case it will ensure faces of actors are not washed out when on a black stage in spotlight. It is very impressive. The camera is controlling lens and gain really in my implementation and of course the camera has finer gain control than can be achieved manually. The GH6 has lots of controls for doing this. Essentially constraining the auto operation to a range. Even autofocus range if you need to use that.


For Doug " Please, go ahead and tell newbies they are too stupid, lazy, or ignorant to learn something. I guess only those people who "spend their life running cameras" are capable of setting exposure. " your words not mine. How to use a tool is up to the owner of the tool.

My comment about cars was real as I have friends who think the same way as you about people who drive automatic trans cars. So most people in North America fall into this category. Also, I think in the world at the moment, most video is shot full auto, from smart phones. There is a big difference between people who want to record an event for their own use and someone who shoots to sell the output. As technology improves it becomes harder to tell the difference.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

I guess you are referring to the clips recorded on the Ninja being over exposed? You don't say if you are shooting V-LOG OR 709? Are you viewing your video in an NLE? It sounds like you might be. If so, make sure you aren't falling into the following problem. The Ninja recorders have no idea what levels are coming in, VIDEO or FULL as there is no metadata in the video stream coming into the Ninja regarding levels.

I do a fair bit of post for various clients, and the problems outlined in these following video are something I am seeing again and again when people bring me footage recorded on Ninja 5 recorders, well all Atomos recorders. Whether it has been recorded off a Sony, Panasonic or Nikon camera makes no difference as the problem lies within the Ninja based on how the Ninja is interpreting the incoming video stream and recording it. Hope this may be the reason for your problems because if it is, the problem is easily resolved. The old adage of "If you understand the problem, you know the answer." is so true if this is your problem.

A quick way to find out is to record a wide dynamic range scene, white highlights to black shadows on the camera card and the Ninja simultaneously and then compare the Waveform levels on both clips in your NLE using its scopes. If the levels are different between the supposedly identical clips, then the levels interpretation by the Ninja of the stream from your camera is the issue. In which case, the NLE has to be set to interpret your footage correctly.

Chris Young

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Oh, come on. Now you're comparing apples and oranges. Nobody is talking about unmanned cameras. I have no doubt that putting your unmanned cameras on auto would provide better results then just setting them on manual and walking away. Duh! I find it surprising you even tried manual in that situation.

But that is totally different from running a camera on automatic exposure while you actually have your hands on it. Surely you must concede that in THAT situation the OP would be better off making a little effort to learn to shoot with manual. It ain't that hard. And you guys are doing a disservice to newbies my acting like using manual exposure is beyond their abilities. Send me that monkey.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Actually, it is my summation of your opinion, based on the things you have said. I just crystalized into a nice neat statement.

I feel just the opposite. Anyone can learn to shoot with manual exposure -- including the stupid, lazy, and ignorant.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Thanks for all the input -- BUT -- I still can't understand -- or figure out why when the shutter is partly depressed to set focus or view the shot -- the view looks great - but instantaneously like a tenth of a second -- the lcd view is blown out and clip (if record button is pushed) clip is fully blown out. ISO is set to 800 - lowest I can get camera to go -

Prior to setting up/attaching Ninja 5+ -- this was not happening - the shutter/lcd blow out of image -- is something "stuck" ? Sorry I'm "brain ded" on this happening - just would like to get back to normal - even without the Ninja !

Walk me thru the settings somebody !?

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Calm down and take a chill pill Doug, how am I doing anyone a disservice when I replied to Ron what the rare occasions are when I use auto exposure, I didn't reply to you and I didn't suggest to Russ he might be better of using auto exposure or that using manual is beyond his abilities, that's something you are implying now, isn't it?

In my example I could even have my own camera that I operate deal with the exposure automatically as it could handle large and frequent light changes faster and better then I could manually, so here's another example when auto-exposure might be useful but I still prefer to do that manual though.

In any other situation I always control my exposure manually and I suggest Russ to start to learn to do the same, knowing how to control your camera manually is important for the best results, once you master that you still can decide when auto-anything could be useful for those rare occasions. (see what I did here Doug?), a quick tip, youtube is full of good and free tutorials how to set up and use your camera so you don't need to waste any money on a paid masterclass.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

I would help if you would take a picture of your lcd screen to see how your camera has been set up currently. I don't have a gh6 but a gh5 and gh5s so there should be a few similarities, when you use the "disp" button you should be able to get to a screen that displays all your current settings. What settings have you changed on the camera right after you first used it?

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Also, have you followed Christopher Young suggestion to see if that is the problem? If that's not it then maybe a short video taken with a phone to show what is happening is also useful to determine what the problem might be.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

The GH series have a feature called Constant Preview. IF this is set to ON in the menu you get a view of how the settings are affecting the image. That way you can make adjustments and see the effect. So you can see the effects of manual or automatic exposure. IF this is OFF then you just get a reasonable image on the LCD. However in this case when you press the shutter the camera then shows how the camera is set up to take the image. That is what I think is happening in your case. This is on the monitor/display page of the cog menu. As I am sure Doug will tell you ISO is not the only thing to control. You need to set your frame rate, shutter speed and iris as well. If you set the dial to P the camera controls most of these.

Also on this same cog menu, further down you will see a page that has HDMI record control. Under this setting you can switch OFF HDMI record control and then get rid of the RED HDMI you see on the LCD. However if you want the NINJA V to record when you press record on the GH6 you will need this set to ON and set Ninja V to accept HDMI record trigger. That is why the RED HDMI indication is there to tell you that record control is setup.

The GH6 is a very adjustable camera but needs some work to understand. Not a simple point and shoot camera. It requires some effort to learn. There are lots of instructions on YOUTUBE both from Panasonic in the LUMIX channel and others one of which I referenced before.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Not sure how you do it Ron, providing a possible solution without insult, belittling or trying to sell your knowledge. I"m pretty sure with your patience you would manage to even teach a monkey how to operate this camera. It's always good to have people like you on board who are willing to help without asking anything in return.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Good one! You might have nailed it.

Chris Young

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Wow -- didn't think I'd start so much controversy ! Even without the Ninja attached -- just shooting with camera - my video is still blown out - and it wasn't before. Clips/clips looked great thru LCD - and even when played back on computer. I just can't seem to grasp what setting I've "jimmied" that results in what I'm seeing ?

The only way a clip looks OK thru the LCD is when I hit the display button and shutter, aperture, ISO, etc, are shown and I tap the aperture from among all settings and get a decently exposed "view" of what was just recorded.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Anybody in the U.S. good with sending a PM/email - and willing to talk me thru my set up via phone ??

All contact info would be kept private ! (phone number, etc)

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Did Ron's advice not help? Why don't you shoot a video with your phone to show what the problem is or show how your camera is set-up, as I said it will help to solve your issue.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

First did you set constant preview to ON.

Move the dial to movie mode M

Press menu button. The first menu, at the top left is a red camera icon. Choose that one. first menu to the right is exposure mode click and choose P ( that will give you full auto mode ). Next is photo style click and choose Like709, next is metering mode choose highlight. Select dynamic range OFF.

If this all works you can go back and set mode to manual and start to learn how to set parameters separately.

If you are in photo mode and press the red record button it will shoot in auto for video.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

The other thing you may want to take note of is focusing is not like the other GH series. Touch focus does not work the same way as the GH5. Selection is by touch but you will still need to touch the AF button to actual initiate quick auto focus at that point and it will then go back to manual focus. Focus selection dial does not work the same way either so that is something else to learn if you come from a GH5. From your comments I expect you are new to these cameras anyway.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

It's difficult to help someone when they don't answer your questions but just keep repeating what the problem is, looks like Russ is only willing to discuss this over the phone?

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Specifically this is Steven view of constant preview described for photo shooting but approach is similar for video.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

You may also want to look at this channel as she has some good input to using GH6



As with all these you need to spend some time working through the menus.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Another one to look at.

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Maybe resetting the camera could solve the current issue? It's for the GH5 but basically the same for the GH6:

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

I guess if all else fails, just try doing a complete factory reset. After all, cameras these days are just computers with light sensitive sensors and can sometimes end up having software/firmware glitches. You never know, do you :)

Re: GH 6 Users - Settings Causing OverExposure
 

Geez! Just saw your post hit a couple of moments before I posted. What's the saying? "Great minds think alike... and small ones seldom differ." LOL :)

Chris Young