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White Balance issues
Hello to all,
I am currently in Thailand shooting a documentary – first time with a Sony XDCAM EX
I am having trouble setting my white balance correctly, I seem to be always peaking, in full daylight the skin tone of my host is off the charts and looks fluorescent pink, so does his white t shirt in full sunshine
Also, at night, my footage is grainy, i have tried fixing it but seem to be turning around in circle
If anybody has a few minutes to give me a 101 on white balance, peaking and zebra I would be ever so grateful. I understand I should have maybe figure that out before leaving but I have not had a minute to myself fin the last ten days.many Thanks
K
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4 Replies
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On reading this I have the suspicion that you have somehow managed to have set the gain very high. This would distort the image and be the cause of the grain. You have the gain switch on the side, make sure it is set to L and in the camera Set menu set the gain for Low at -3. I then have my M set at 0 and my H at 9 but the important thing is to always shoot with the lowest gain that the light allows.
As to white balance, make sure you are not using the auto setting. I presume, in the bright Thai sunshine that you are using the built in ND filter in order to control your exposure at sensible settings.
Sorry if all this is elementary to you but you do say you are new to this camera so this may be a help.
Michael Slowe
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I will repeat the previous post. Use the ND filters for shooting in the sunlight. And, remember to turn them off for night shooting. I use my manual iris to adjust for night shooting.
Even though it is great in low light, you need some lighting for night time shooting.
Are you using warm / cool cards to set your white balance?
I sometimes use 75% zebra…if you see a lot of zebra, you are blowing out your whites, so dial down your iris, turn on your ND filters.
Some people use the histogram. When you see peaking at the tops, your whites are blowing out.
Use your eye finder for outside shooting, you can’t see your LCD that well in bright sunlight.
Brent Dunn
Owner / Director / Editor
DunnRight Films
DunnRight Video.com
Video Marketing Toolbox.netSony EX-1,
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 7D
Mac Pro Tower, Quad Core,
with Final Cut StudioHP i7 Quad laptop
Adobe CS-5 Production Suite -
Thank you Michael, “Kakumkap” as they say over here 😉 for your advice , it is very much appreciated. I have been experimenting with the ND filters but not with the manual iris, I shall do that today. I am shooting in the midday sun and the skin tone of my guy is fully contrasted orange, very annoying but will work it out. Merci!
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Thanks Brent, I will use the eye finder as it is true the lcd in full brightness is hard to judge. Thanks for your answers, they have been very helpful. Merci!
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