HDX 900 menu

[Ernie Santella]

First, I have not tried setting it to ‘dark’ and have always left it in ‘Normal.’

From my manual, it says: “This is enabled when the recording format is set to 720p”

Normal: Normal shooting shall be executed in this mode.

Dark: Distortion of compressed video images that may occur at dark parts of the video image can be suppressed in this mode.
Distortion of compressed video images on other parts may increase.

Ernie Santella
Santella Film/Video Productions
http://www.santellaproductions.com

[Robin Probyn]

Ok thanks for the info… looks like normal is the way to go!

Thanks again

[Robin Probyn]

Have you ever changed the master ped setting to make the dark area,s of the frame darker?I couldnt find a seperate Black level like Sony have.?

Thanks

[John Sharaf]

Redflag,

There are several methods to get a “crunchier” picture, namely

Black stretch (-1, -2, -3)
Crush the Gamma (from .45 to .50, .55, .60, all the way to .75, although that much is not usually advised)
Crush the ped, but I usually reserve this for bringing the black back down when using a filter like promist

Be careful of crushing the ped, especiually without a waveform to monitor, as you’ll get super blacks that can never be recovered.

JS

[Robin Probyn]

Thanks again John.

So you would advise the Gamma as first line of attack,before the master ped? I used the master ped,didnt have wave form,but very good monitor,by eye.Was this treading on thin ice????

Thanks

[John Sharaf]

Very good monitor? Setup properly? Can’t trust LCD for this purpose as blacks are not correct. What about viewing conditions. Bottom line, for master ped, you better have waveform.

Gamma is best first line of offense for getting “gutsier” picture. Controls are predictable with digital cameras, namely .45, .50, etc.

[Ernie Santella]

I 2nd the don’t go too far. It’s much safer to paint in post than to attempt this while shooting on location unless you do have accurate monitoring/waveform.

Ernie Santella
Santella Film/Video Productions
http://www.santellaproductions.com

[Robin Probyn]

Thanks again John,will follow your advise.