PMW-150 - auto iris options

[Paul Osborne]

Hi,

I have a new to me PMW-150. I shoot live ice hockey single camera. This is my choice of camera as it has Cache plus instant 15 sec last click review. The venue has sodium lighting that is not even across the playing surface, so I reluctantly shoot in Auto Iris to cope with the extra stop I need when play ventures into the dark corners. The crowd is 3 stops darker. With the speed of working it seems auto iris is the only way to go. I add a half stop over exposure ontop of the auto to cope with the ice under-exposing the scene.

But the auto iris is very slow to respond, and ends up with blown highlights when i pan from CU crowd to the WS of play on the ice. After 2 seconds it settles to the correct exposure. Has anyone found a way to speed up the responsiveness of the auto-iris?

(TLCS does not help as that prioritises gain and shutter - 2 things I wish to have control over)

PS - don't get me started on how slow the auto-focus is on this camera. I tried manual, but this G-lens can be in focus on the CU and then you are safe on the wide, but the LUT focus system won't guarantee next time you frame up CU that it is still in focus where you left it. So as I crash in I either have to check focus in manual everytime, or stay in auto and hope it can autofocus quickly (70% of the time it can).

[Andrew Smith]

Check in the camera settings to see if there are options there for the reaction speed of the auto-iris. I'm thinking there should be (not that I use auto-iris), and it would be interesting to know if this solves your problem.

Andrew

[Paul Osborne]

Thanks Andrew. Yes I had checked both the camera and manual. There is the TCLS (total control light system) and that has a speed range from -99 to +99 (default is +50) but that does not have the desired effect. I am not even sure the TCLS is invoked.. as I need to disable the AGC and the autoshutter which both are for low light situations whilst in auto.

[Christopher Young]

I notice the Z150 doesn't have an iris speed program function for response time which is unfortunate as often that can be dialled in to increase iris speed response.

In which case I would try shooting in manual iris mode but at the same time have the iris assigned to one of the camera's assignment buttons to enable momentary iris action using the [IRIS PUSH AUTO] function.

This will generally respond much quicker than just letting the auto iris float on the exposure as you pan. It will mean pressing the [IRIS PUSH AUTO] button as you start your pan into the crowd. Once the iris responds and gives you the correct exposure on the crowd just release the button and the iris will be locked to that setting. As soon as you start, note the word start, start panning back to the brighter ice keep the assigned [IRIS PUSH AUTO] button pressed until you are back on the ice and the exposure has settled to the correct level. The iris will now be locked on the release of the button. As soon as you move to a darker corner or into the crowd again hold the button in as you pan and hopefully when you arrive on your chosen shot the iris should be at the correct setting.

I haven't done this with the Z150 but it does work reasonably well on a lot of other Sony models.

Check out the manual on page #41. If it were me I'd probably re-assign button #3 on the left side from its default S&Q setting to [IRIS PUSH AUTO] as it would be easy to get to while on the move.

"To temporarily adjust the iris automatically.

If the [IRIS PUSH AUTO] function has
been assigned to an ASSIGN button (p. 62),
press and hold the button to adjust the iris
automatically."

Seriously though there is no substitute to really learning how to be fast and accurate on using the iris manually. I've shot international zone qualification Hockey (Ice) using broadcast cameras with B4 lenses and using manual iris was by far the best way to consistently deliver spot-on exposures. Even the CCU operators couldn't respond quick enough in many cases. Ice hockey on the close camera is one of the fastest sport I've ever filmed. The players are often moving very quickly and to follow where the puck went is an art form in itself.

Some of the worst ice rinks I've shot at are darker in the corners even on the ice so manually riding the iris was the only way to go. If you are on the tight camera the move from well lit to darker areas can be very swift so so a very fast manual iris ride is the best way to nail those exposures correctly.

Good luck with it!

Chris Young

[Paul Osborne]

Hi Chris,

I am shooting single camera - and replaying instant replays live in-camera, and live streaming, so it is predominantly wide and MS with occasional crash in to CUs. All adjustments to exposure and focus are live on screen. It would be nice to shoot it on a B4 lens but that is not viable in this workflow. I have been shooting it with manual iris (iris ring is continuous rotate variety), but it is just too much to ask to open up iris every time whilst also multi tasking the other stuff - (crash zooms also require re-focus as the auto-focus is not reliable enough and the G-Lens does not hold focus throughout the zoom range). The other wild card is that the Sony G-Lens does not stay wide aperture throughout the zoom range, so I have to ensure exposure is always above F3.4 - other wise if I am in wide at f1.8 and then crash zoom in I will also have to compensate for the aperture auto-closing down to F3.4. These are all compromises I have to make for this specific camera as it can do the cache instant replay where other cameras can not.

Push auto iris does work, but I'd still need to rack focus and add a compensation for where ice dominates the frame.

So for the moment, continuous auto iris with + half stop adjustment, with a gamma for ice and players appears the best way to go. I assign buttons to Cache, last clip review, and crash zoom, and use the direct menu to +half stop over-expose.

For the future I may well swap the 150 for a 200 which has a "proper lens" similar to the EX3 (constant aperture, proper focus, zoom, iris barrel ) but less telephoto reach. Over the 13 years we have been shooting this hockey on limited choice of cameras the Z7 was the best feature fit. The 150 is not quite good enough.

[Christopher Young]

Understand what you are saying, Paul.

Though if changing cameras give some thought to the PMW-300. Having used the PMW-200 and the PMW-300 the 300 kills the 200 in operator-friendliness and ergonomics. Also, it has a "real" viewfinder. Hi-res 3.5" with the same spec as the Sony F5 VF.

The 200 and 300 share the same guts. Both have cache up to 14 seconds. "Rec Review" can be set to 3sec/10sec or whole clip. Usually, the 10 seconds does well for instant replay. The only issue is a momentary blanking out as the camera switches back from review back to live. The latest upgrade late last year really polished the performance of the 300. If the camera has had its firmware upgraded it can now record both XAVC-I and XAVC-L as well as the good old XDcam 422 50M-bit codec. All HD of course no UHD/4K. If media cost is an issue you can record using SD cards with readily available SxS to SD adapters. I still keep a 300 as it is a pleasure to use and it surprises me with its results every time I use it. I won't let it go.

If it's a PMW-300K2 it comes with the longer 16 x lens. Failing that using an ACM-18 lens adapter, you can run, like on the EX3 any 1/2" hot-shoe B4 lens. Or even a 2/3" B4 12pin cable lenses if you use the ACM-21 adapter. I've successfully run a PMW-300 with the ACM-21 with a really high-end end Fujinon 2/3" SD lens and clients have been more than happy with the results. For live TV even.

A 2/3" lens introduces a crop factor 1.375. I've found running a 18x7.6 2/3" lens ends up delivering you a 24.75 x lens. A pretty capable length for most sports. Parfocal and basically constant aperture until the very last 10% of the zoom, like most B4s. Plus you have the added benefit of a real lens to operate with. A 300 with decent broadcast B4 with a very good responsive servo zoom just makes life so much easier and delivers a much more polished looking performance on screen.

With regards to low light performance and noise, both the 200 and 300 kill the 1" Z150/ Z90 (Z90 same chip as 150 but 2nd gen) Like 0dB on the 300 vs 12-dB on the Z150/Z90 cameras. No comparison in my opinion. The 300 also kills the FS7 family for image gain at 0 and 6dB. I know as I own all these cameras.

With the BBC's Alan Roberts settings with a couple of additional tweaks, the 200/300 PMW cameras deliver some quite amazing results for the price you pay for them today.

Look at this on eBay. Great value for what this camera can deliver.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174830869...UAAOSwFz1g5WW1

Check out this package. Exceptional value!
https://www.bblist.co.uk/item.php?item=72765

I run the 300 with one of these. Becomes nicely balanced for shoulder work with V-Mout batteries.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193351978...oAAOSwlPFeTow3

Some of the older cameras can hold up very well against their modern yet less user-friendly cousins.

Chris Young

[Andrew Smith]

I for one am not letting go f my PMW300. <u>Not ever.</u>

I mean, just look at the absolutely gorgeous colours you get out of it.

Andrew

TPR legal counsel, discusses potential private prosecutions - Sep 2021 - YouTube

[Christopher Young]

+1, agreed on that!

Chris Young