PP for low light Fluorescents? at DVinfo.net

Mark Weisen · February 28th, 2012, 04:05 PM

Shooting B roll in hospital hallways...Shooting with kit lens (although I have several Canon FDs) - First try came out very yellow....Any advice/suggestions on white balancing or a picture profile for these conditions?

John Mastrogiacomo · February 28th, 2012, 08:43 PM

How did you white balance?

Mark Weisen · February 28th, 2012, 10:34 PM

Used 18% gray card or the indoor preset -

Oren Arieli · February 28th, 2012, 11:00 PM

You might be best off shooting it flat, especially if there is a strong color cast. If you 'bake in' a highly saturated image and the colors are off, you'll be fighting an uphill battle in post. If you have access to a pop-up or solid black/white/grey chart, I would suggest using it.

Doug Jensen · February 29th, 2012, 05:24 AM

Personally, I would never shoot under any man-made lighting using Preset (no matter what value it is set for) because there's no way to tell if the lights you're working under just happen to be exactly the same temperature as the value of the Preset. The odds of the two being the same are pretty low, and if you're working with fluorescent lighting, there's almost no chance preset it is going to be correct. Using Preset indoors is just asking for problems.

Under man-made lighting I always set a manual white balance. I find a white card works better than a gray card even though technically they should both be the same. Under ugly greenish fluorescent hospital lighting I'd almost always go with a Minus Green card from my set of WarmCards. That's exactly the kind of shooting situation it is made for.

WarmCards - White Balance Reference System

If I can get the WB correct at the time of shooting, then I can save myself a whole lot of grief color correcting in post -- and by taking a couple of seconds to set a proper manual white balance -- it is pretty simple to accomplish. White balancing an FS100 is no different that white balancing any of the other cameras I've used in the past 30 years, but you have to stay on top of it and re-white balance anytime the lighting has changed even a little bit. "Fixing it in post" is not my preferred way of working.

February 28th, 2012, 04:05 PM	#1
Mark Weisen Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 26	PP for low light Fluorescents? Shooting B roll in hospital hallways...Shooting with kit lens (although I have several Canon FDs) - First try came out very yellow....Any advice/suggestions on white balancing or a picture profile for these conditions?

February 28th, 2012, 08:43 PM	#2
John Mastrogiacomo Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 85	Re: PP for low light Fluorescents? How did you white balance?

February 28th, 2012, 10:34 PM	#3
Mark Weisen Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 26	Re: PP for low light Fluorescents? Used 18% gray card or the indoor preset -

February 28th, 2012, 11:00 PM	#4
Oren Arieli Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: San Jose, California Posts: 919	Re: PP for low light Fluorescents? You might be best off shooting it flat, especially if there is a strong color cast. If you 'bake in' a highly saturated image and the colors are off, you'll be fighting an uphill battle in post. If you have access to a pop-up or solid black/white/grey chart, I would suggest using it.

February 29th, 2012, 05:24 AM	#5
Doug Jensen Vortex Media Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 3,442	Re: PP for low light Fluorescents? Personally, I would never shoot under any man-made lighting using Preset (no matter what value it is set for) because there's no way to tell if the lights you're working under just happen to be exactly the same temperature as the value of the Preset. The odds of the two being the same are pretty low, and if you're working with fluorescent lighting, there's almost no chance preset it is going to be correct. Using Preset indoors is just asking for problems. Under man-made lighting I always set a manual white balance. I find a white card works better than a gray card even though technically they should both be the same. Under ugly greenish fluorescent hospital lighting I'd almost always go with a Minus Green card from my set of WarmCards. That's exactly the kind of shooting situation it is made for. WarmCards - White Balance Reference System If I can get the WB correct at the time of shooting, then I can save myself a whole lot of grief color correcting in post -- and by taking a couple of seconds to set a proper manual white balance -- it is pretty simple to accomplish. White balancing an FS100 is no different that white balancing any of the other cameras I've used in the past 30 years, but you have to stay on top of it and re-white balance anytime the lighting has changed even a little bit. "Fixing it in post" is not my preferred way of working. __________________ Vortex Media http://www.vortexmedia.com/ Sony FS7, F55, and XDCAM training videos, field guides, and other production tools Last edited by Doug Jensen; February 29th, 2012 at 06:24 AM. Reason: fix typos