Video Noise/Grain on the 2100 at DVinfo.net

Michael Gilbert · May 24th, 2007, 05:16 PM

Hey all, Ive been shooting a narrative music video for the past few days. Im shooting on the vx2100 and its the first time ive really used it with controlled lighting and not run and gun doc style. But heres the deal, I dont know if its just the downside to dv and whatnot because I notice this on dvx 100s also, but there is video noise/grain in the image. Even when we would pump the light up we still had noise. Was using ND filters indoors with lighting and some shutter speed adjusting to keep me between open and 4 or so. Now im not on auto iris, all controls are on manual. is there some hidden in menu auto gain setting or is it just a downside to dv. Just seems like where i want black i get noise. Blues seem to make this noise come out even more. I dunno. It was kind of bugging me. No matter what we did with the lights it was still there. Lemme know if you have any suggestions.

Mike

Marco Wagner · May 24th, 2007, 06:14 PM

Sharpness too high?
Aperature too far open? Not open enough?

This sounds like one of the above...

Bryan Wilkat · May 24th, 2007, 08:51 PM

thats a bit strange...what are you color levels at? sometimes boosting the color too high can have a negative result on the image...and like was said above, sharpness could definitely be a possibility. i'm not too familiar with all the settings on the vx's but you might have a setting to limit the gain, even though you said everythings on manual i would (as a precaution) set the max. gain limit to about 6, anything higher than that will produce noticeable noise.

Michael Gilbert · May 25th, 2007, 07:40 PM

so if im wide open it would introduce grain? not sure about where my sharpness is. To be honest with you, i wasnt able to find the in camera color correction settings and picture settings. all i could find was lcd color and brightness.

Don Bloom · May 25th, 2007, 09:13 PM

If its anything like the 150/170/250 there is a Custom Preset menu or button-thats where you can adjust color levels, saturation, set a differnt level for WB and preset a gain level if on auto.
Again this is IF it's like the 150/170
On thse 2 cams its a button on the back of the top handle that says CP.

Don

Chris Barcellos · May 25th, 2007, 09:33 PM

Actually, if it is like the 2000 which should be like 150, if you are shooting in full manual (by sliding the auto lock to the middle selection), you can display the gain status on the display screen and see what is going on. I set shutter speed first. The I press the exposure button activating the wheel, the wheel takes you down through the fstops. At full open, there is no gain. Then as you turn the wheel more, gain is added... If you are shooting in automatic, you gain will be added automatically. But you can limit it in the CP setting, which is what Don is referring to. You push the tiny button behind the handle to access the menu. Once you have set the CP to what you want, you then have to be sure you enable it for the changes to take effect.

Michael Gilbert · May 25th, 2007, 09:51 PM

Was shooting at open and 0db gain.....just seemed like some spots with lower light the camera was searching for info.....i forgot all about the button on the back of the handle.

May 24th, 2007, 05:16 PM	#1
Michael Gilbert Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Orleans, La Posts: 47	Video Noise/Grain on the 2100 Hey all, Ive been shooting a narrative music video for the past few days. Im shooting on the vx2100 and its the first time ive really used it with controlled lighting and not run and gun doc style. But heres the deal, I dont know if its just the downside to dv and whatnot because I notice this on dvx 100s also, but there is video noise/grain in the image. Even when we would pump the light up we still had noise. Was using ND filters indoors with lighting and some shutter speed adjusting to keep me between open and 4 or so. Now im not on auto iris, all controls are on manual. is there some hidden in menu auto gain setting or is it just a downside to dv. Just seems like where i want black i get noise. Blues seem to make this noise come out even more. I dunno. It was kind of bugging me. No matter what we did with the lights it was still there. Lemme know if you have any suggestions. Mike

May 24th, 2007, 06:14 PM	#2
Marco Wagner Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Saint Cloud, Florida Posts: 1,043	Sharpness too high? Aperature too far open? Not open enough? This sounds like one of the above... __________________ www.facebook.com/projectspecto

May 25th, 2007, 09:33 PM	#6
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Actually, if it is like the 2000 which should be like 150, if you are shooting in full manual (by sliding the auto lock to the middle selection), you can display the gain status on the display screen and see what is going on. I set shutter speed first. The I press the exposure button activating the wheel, the wheel takes you down through the fstops. At full open, there is no gain. Then as you turn the wheel more, gain is added... If you are shooting in automatic, you gain will be added automatically. But you can limit it in the CP setting, which is what Don is referring to. You push the tiny button behind the handle to access the menu. Once you have set the CP to what you want, you then have to be sure you enable it for the changes to take effect. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

May 24th, 2007, 08:51 PM	#3
Bryan Wilkat Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 171	thats a bit strange...what are you color levels at? sometimes boosting the color too high can have a negative result on the image...and like was said above, sharpness could definitely be a possibility. i'm not too familiar with all the settings on the vx's but you might have a setting to limit the gain, even though you said everythings on manual i would (as a precaution) set the max. gain limit to about 6, anything higher than that will produce noticeable noise.

May 25th, 2007, 07:40 PM	#4
Michael Gilbert Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Orleans, La Posts: 47	so if im wide open it would introduce grain? not sure about where my sharpness is. To be honest with you, i wasnt able to find the in camera color correction settings and picture settings. all i could find was lcd color and brightness.

May 25th, 2007, 09:13 PM	#5
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	If its anything like the 150/170/250 there is a Custom Preset menu or button-thats where you can adjust color levels, saturation, set a differnt level for WB and preset a gain level if on auto. Again this is IF it's like the 150/170 On thse 2 cams its a button on the back of the top handle that says CP. Don

May 25th, 2007, 09:51 PM	#7
Michael Gilbert Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Orleans, La Posts: 47	Was shooting at open and 0db gain.....just seemed like some spots with lower light the camera was searching for info.....i forgot all about the button on the back of the handle.