Lights on a playing field at DVinfo.net

David Beisner · September 1st, 2008, 08:26 AM

As part of my job I'm responsible for shooting most of the home games at the college where I work. Our soccer games are played on our field under the lights.

I'm shooting with the XHA1 using the VividRGB preset. Here's where my problem is: every three-four seconds the color seems to change from accurate colors to very red and back to accurate again... It just pulsates and I'm guessing its the big sports field lights that are causing the pulsating change in color.

What's the best way to fix that? Are there any filters I can get for the camera, presets I can use, something I can do in post to fix it?

I can post a short clip on vimeo if y'all want to see what I'm talking about...

Christopher Witz · September 1st, 2008, 09:11 AM

are you using auto white balance? sounds like it's white balancing off the green grass?

try setting your white balance to a preset that looks good in the viewfinder.... but the best bet would be to get a white balance off of a white or gray card and save that.

Edward Carlson · September 1st, 2008, 09:33 AM

I've had this happen before. It's cause of the frequency of the lights. If you change the shutter speed it will get more or less noticeable. So far that's the only thing I've found that fixes it.

David Beisner · September 2nd, 2008, 05:53 AM

Interesting... I think the AWB was on, I'll have to check that. And two weeks ago when I shot a game I had the shutter at 1/60 and didn't notice it. The other night I had the shutter at 1/320 and noticed it really badly. So a slower shutter speed will remove it, huh? The problem I had with 1/60 was that it was really fast sports motion and it ended up looking really jerky (shooting 1080/60i). I'll try the manual white balance next time and see what happens...

Bill Ward · September 2nd, 2008, 11:02 AM

I've noticed the same thing with fluorescents and higher shutter speeds...wandering, pulsing color shift from normal white balance to warmer balance. This is in manual WB mode.

It's very annoying.

September 1st, 2008, 08:26 AM	#1
David Beisner Major Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Dayton, TN (USA) Posts: 219	Lights on a playing field As part of my job I'm responsible for shooting most of the home games at the college where I work. Our soccer games are played on our field under the lights. I'm shooting with the XHA1 using the VividRGB preset. Here's where my problem is: every three-four seconds the color seems to change from accurate colors to very red and back to accurate again... It just pulsates and I'm guessing its the big sports field lights that are causing the pulsating change in color. What's the best way to fix that? Are there any filters I can get for the camera, presets I can use, something I can do in post to fix it? I can post a short clip on vimeo if y'all want to see what I'm talking about... __________________ David Beisner Media Specialist, Bryan College, Dayton, TN -- www.bryan.edu

September 2nd, 2008, 05:53 AM	#4
David Beisner Major Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Dayton, TN (USA) Posts: 219	Interesting... I think the AWB was on, I'll have to check that. And two weeks ago when I shot a game I had the shutter at 1/60 and didn't notice it. The other night I had the shutter at 1/320 and noticed it really badly. So a slower shutter speed will remove it, huh? The problem I had with 1/60 was that it was really fast sports motion and it ended up looking really jerky (shooting 1080/60i). I'll try the manual white balance next time and see what happens... __________________ David Beisner Media Specialist, Bryan College, Dayton, TN -- www.bryan.edu

September 1st, 2008, 09:11 AM	#2
Christopher Witz Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 591	are you using auto white balance? sounds like it's white balancing off the green grass? try setting your white balance to a preset that looks good in the viewfinder.... but the best bet would be to get a white balance off of a white or gray card and save that.

September 1st, 2008, 09:33 AM	#3
Edward Carlson Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: North Hollywood, CA, United States Posts: 807	I've had this happen before. It's cause of the frequency of the lights. If you change the shutter speed it will get more or less noticeable. So far that's the only thing I've found that fixes it.

September 2nd, 2008, 11:02 AM	#5
Bill Ward Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 580	I've noticed the same thing with fluorescents and higher shutter speeds...wandering, pulsing color shift from normal white balance to warmer balance. This is in manual WB mode. It's very annoying.