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Activity Forums Canon Cameras XL-H1 settings for low light

  • XL-H1 settings for low light

    Posted by Dennis Vogel on December 15, 2007 at 5:41 pm

    Hi All,

    I have had my XL-H1 for a bout 3 months now. I do quite a bit of jobs video taping local community theatre’s and local high school performances. My question is what is the best settings when doing this type of work in low light? I shoot with 2 camera’s. My other camera is a Sony VX-2000. In low light conditions my XL-H1 camera looks grainy, the Sony doesn’t. I know it is just my setup.

    Thank you,

    Dennis

    Donald Berube replied 18 years, 4 months ago 4 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Spencer Hodgson

    December 16, 2007 at 6:01 pm

    What is your set up in low light?
    (FYI the 2000 is going to perform better in low light especially if your shooting in HD)
    There are many elements that can contribute to a good image in low light.
    First and most valuable is getting more light on subject.
    If low light is inevitable you need to learn how to operate in manual and find the right balance between iris, shutter and gain(more gain more grain).
    First step in balance is open iris all the way, If your shooting static elements with little to no camera movement you can afford to drop the shutter below the “rule of thumb 1/60 threshold”. mind you that will result in a shutter effect on things that move. Next if totally necessary and if acceptable you can add a lil’ gain (thats were the grain primarily comes from)
    May be obvious but make sure you dont have any ND filters on the image.

    most important on low light shots is get more light. 🙂
    P.S. HD needs more light than SD.

  • Spencer Hodgson

    December 16, 2007 at 6:22 pm

    What is your set up in low light?
    (FYI the 2000 is going to perform better in low light especially if your shooting in HD)
    There are many elements that can contribute to a good image in low light.
    First and most valuable is getting more light on subject.
    If low light is inevitable you need to learn how to operate in manual and find the right balance between iris, shutter and gain(more gain more grain).
    First step in balance is open iris all the way, If your shooting static elements with little to no camera movement you can afford to drop the shutter below the “rule of thumb 1/60 threshold”. mind you that will result in a shutter effect on things that move. Next if totally necessary and if acceptable you can add a lil’ gain (thats were the grain primarily comes from)
    May be obvious but make sure you dont have any ND filters on the image.

    most important on low light shots is get more light. 🙂
    P.S. HD needs more light than SD.

    “Each One Teach One”
    http://www.divebum.com

  • Dennis Vogel

    December 16, 2007 at 11:07 pm

    Thank you for the reply, with the jobs I do low light is envitable. I will look at the Iris, shutter speed and gain and work at perfecting it. I shoot in SD for now.

    Thanks,

    Dennis

  • Donald Berube

    January 5, 2008 at 5:38 am

    Create a Custom Preset on the XL H1 and set the following adjustments:
    BLACK LEVEL: STRETCH
    CORING: Set all the way to the right…
    NOISE REDUCTION 1: ONLY use if your shot is static with no moving objects – will add a trailing ghosting effect to any movement – (Basically leave this setting OFF)
    NOISE REDUCTION 2: Set To HIGH
    CHROMA: Set to +3 – +5 depending on the color in the frame (get a good color sample)
    If you want Cine-Gamma look, then set GAMMA to CIne 1, set KNEE to LOW

    Turn up the Video Gain Level to +6 (possibly +12) and THEN turn on the above Custom Preset and the noise reductions settings (Coring, Noise Reduction 2) will help minimize Grain…

    Good luck.

    – Don
    https://noisybrain.com
    https://www.bosfcpug.org
    https://www.fcpugnetwork.org

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