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Manual ou Auto mode on cameras ?
Hi guys,
I’ve been heard and read many, many times, the statment: “A Pro never use the camera in auto mode”
Sorry for a newbie thought but, if I’m, for example, shooting an event or wedding where lights, “balanced white” and exposure aren’t able to be the same accross the whole scenario, shouldn’t I shoot with auto “on” and fixed the necessary clips in post production ?
Thanks in advance.
Fredy.MacBook Pro 17″
2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
(2) External HD LaCieMac (400/800 FW and USB)with 500GB -(2) USB External HD Western Digital (in cases) with 750GB
OS X 10.6.5
Final Cut Studio “3” -
6 Replies
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Simple answer, no. That is why people hire professionals.
It will never get it right, or stay that way long if it accidentally does, which will make the inevitable post-production color correction a thousand times harder.
If getting professional results was as simple as walking in with a point and shoot set to auto-everything, you could let your 14 year old neighbor shoot your event, and edit it in iMovie for 50 bucks.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
Thank you.
MacBook Pro 17″
2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
(2) External HD LaCieMac (400/800 FW and USB)with 500GB -(2) USB External HD Western Digital (in cases) with 750GB
OS X 10.6.5
Final Cut Studio “3” -
A wrong, but consistent color balance is a lot less work to deal with in post, than an ever changing wrong color balance.
And in mixed lighting if you go with a manual balance towards the most dominant color temp, and don’t try to ‘split the difference’, the other color temps can ad a nice look to your shots. This most often works out best with a daylight (5-6K) setting and letting tungsten lights add some warmth.
When you balance for tungsten, any daylight in the shot will seem rather blue or cool looking. This is all based on the assumption that your mixed lighting is a mixture of incandescent and daylight. When you throw fluorescent lights into the mix since their color spectrum is all over the place, but leaning towards a daylight balance will usually get you close in most cases.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
Most camcorder manufacturers now simplify matters by giving you daylight and tungsten light presets that you can use–and even customize. I find these work better than “auto” white balance which isn’t accurate under low-light or mixed light conditions.
Jayasri (Joyce) Hart
Los Angeles, USA
htp://home.earthlink.net/~hartfilms -
[Jayasri (Joyce) Hart] “Most camcorder manufacturers now simplify matters by giving you daylight and tungsten light presets that you can use–and even customize. I find these work better than “auto” white balance which isn’t accurate under low-light or mixed light conditions.”
I agree. Unless you’re shooting under some odd lighting like an industrial setting where the lights are an odd but consistent color temp, the presets are the way to go. Too often people re-white balance the camera in the middle of a shoot and make post coloring more work.
I was thinking Fredy was referring to continuous automatic white balance, which should be avoided like the plague.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
You are right Scott.But unless we have a pre arranged shot list and a visit in advance to the place to be shout and lit the way it will be, those presets mentioned by Jayasri are a good help and I have them on my HDV camera.
I’ve asked that question because I will drop like a parachute on a wedding to be shout with no time to know the place in advance. I’m more used to do studio work where I have much more control of everything that happens and moreover, usually everything is pretty well organized weeks before.
But, thanks for your explanations.
Fredy.iMac 2.7 GHz Intel 4 Core i5
16 GB memoryMacBook Pro 17″
2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAMOWC RAID 5 with 3TB
(2) External HD LaCieMac (400/800 FW and USB)with 500GB -(2) USB External HD Western Digital (in cases) with 750GB
OS X 10.6.5
Final Cut Studio “3”
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