Picture Profile Settings for High Action Sport: Advice Needed

[Miggy Sanchez]

Hi

I shoot Australian Rules football games and then produce DVDs for player/coaching analysis. Games typically require a lot of panning, moderate tilting and extensive use of the zoom.

I would like to get your advice/suggestions on experimenting with/creating a customised picture profile for shooting high action sport with my Z5P.

Cheers.

[Adam Gold]

Honestly, none. Just leave it in Auto.

You can make it look different with PPs, but there isn't much you can or should do to make it look better.

I know this notion drives some people crazy, but after years of shooting soccer I discovered that the cam is much smarter than I am and I couldn't improve on near-perfection, especially if your goal is analytics. If you want to get all artsy, you can try one of the Cinema profiles, but that's an artistic choice, not a technical one.

[Leslie Wand]

+1 all adam says... and DON'T shoot 25p

[Miggy Sanchez]

Thanks AG and Leslie for your input. Always, always appreciated.

Originally Posted by Adam Gold

You can make it look different with PPs, but there isn't much you can or should do to make it look better.

I know this notion drives some people crazy...

For me the notion goes someway in clearing things up and keeping me sane :-) Business has been much slower than anticipated, so I am trying to learn as much as I can/chip away at weaknesses etc.

Adam, when you say leave it alone/on automatic, are you saying that during a shoot the camera tweaks and adjusts all the elements that make up a picture profile?

[Adam Gold]

No, in fact the stuff in the PP isn't handled by auto, only that it's all at the default values. But they're fine and usually result in the clearest, sharpest most natural pic the cam can deliver.

Auto really refers mostly to exposure. But for a well-lit outdoor sporting event, those manual tweaks are largely unnecessary.

Not that there aren't situations that you would want to use PP (or Camera Profiles, which are different). But I don't think this is one of them, in my experience.

[Leslie Wand]

i prefer shooting the best 'clean' pic avaiable and then do any cc'ing or arty=farty stuff in post....

you can always add fx to a camera original, but you can't remove them....

[Adam Gold]

Exactly. I consider any in-cam tweaking to be like salt in a dish. You can add it but you can't take it out if it's baked in.

PPs can in fact help you get a better image under some circumstances, perhaps by improving the dynamic range or latitude, or by avoiding backlit situations or something like that. But in this case I'm guessing none of that is necessary. Most of the settings in the PP area have to do with color and Black Level and such.

Note that the CAMERA PROFILE is different and may come in handy if you have made lots of changes to other items in the menus and want to be able to recall them later, assuming you shoot different kinds of things requiring different kinds of menu customization. I have different CPs for SPORTS, STUDIO and THEATER. I will admit to having a PP for THEATER as well, as the lighting and contrast conditions are somewhat challenging and I always want everything to match.

[Sam Renkin]

I'll toss in one recommendation - run your shutter speed faster than 25/50 - for fast action, you'll want to see detail in the movement and a slow shutter speed will just give you blur. Try 100.

Sam

[Adam Gold]

I'd recommend experimenting with this before a big shoot. You may not like the results. Too fast a shutter speed can result in the "Saving Private Ryan" look.

I would personally never change the default shutter speed. It would be absolutely the last thing I'd change if no other choices were available.

[Leslie Wand]

+1 adam (yet again - beginning to sound like a chorus;-))