range 1/50 - 1/250

netkoala wrote on 1/11/2004, 3:35 AM

My lowly cheap cam shoots at 1/50 by default and is no doubt optimised for this (shutter?) speed.

More expensive cameras have heaps of extras but does anyone know if a good camera does good 1/125 or 1/250 ?

With my camera under 250w globe there is alot of niose even at 1/125 and very noticable at 1/180 & 1/250.

I plan to use the camera under well light conditions, 2x500W, so in theory the darkness introduce will be offset by the high F-stop and white balance setting, but i may only be able to get away with 1/125 as an improvement because there is grain introduced.

As tje VX2000 / XV2100 is great in low light perhaps it has the edge. Perhaps the grain is minimal and the track can be lightened in the video editor.

Any opinions.

I have to admit sometimes it just is not worth the effort to push the camera out of it optimised boundaries.

Any experiences ?
It would be nice to have a speed better than 1/50.

Comments

farss wrote on 1/11/2004, 3:53 AM

I think you may find that 1/50 is the default manual shutter speed but I could be wrong. For low light in any case you want the slowest shutter speed possible, going faster makes the problem worse.
My lowly D8 camera has a slow shutter mode for low light. It does give jerky movement but if you hold the camera very still and nothing moves quickly in the shot it can be useful to reduce the noise.

What introduces the noise is the gain the camera needs to bring the level up. Bigger lenses bring in more light and bigger CCD elements collect more light so all these things mean less noise and more latitude.
If you've got 2x500W lights you should be fine, depends how much they have to light of coarse. The other thing is to get the lighting even. Having only 2 lights can make it a bit hard depending on what's being lit and they'll probably be very directional so you may get strong shadows which don't help at all. Try looking at how the news studios are lit. Even with the cheapest camera under those lighting conditions you should be able to get good video.

If you've only got a smaller area to light try bouncing them off a white ceiling or a sheet of styrofoam.

netkoala wrote on 1/11/2004, 6:35 AM

This is very much CAMERA orientated but who cares , right ?
VV has the ability to lighten a picture so there is always a fall back.

Suppose the only issue is to not overexpose or get too grainy at higher speeds.

I was after a quality difference and the speed seems to be a safe way to do things, and cheaper than HD.

Imagine a model train on a track under good lighting. Some shots with zoom and panning. Faster speed will give a clearer shot.

So I'm thinking even as high as 1/250 is good if lighting is good enough.

In manual mode the Fstop is adjusted up and down according to light, so is like shutter priority, and so, as long as the minimum lighting is met it works.

Bear in mind that in AUTO mode and in good light the speed will change from 1/50 to 1/100 anyway.
So in most cases AUTO is best.
Bit if in strong lighting and clarity of shots is needed then a manual setting may help. my 2c.

BD wrote on 1/11/2004, 3:08 PM

My VX2000 is a superb camera in low light. I never see any gain noise.

I never use its slow shutter speeds (below 1/50 PAL, or 1/60 NTSC) although they would capture more light, because I have read that this camera cuts its resolution in half at slow speeds. My Sony TRV900 also does this.

Its shorter speeds are fine, when needed in bright light. They allow normal resolution, unlike the slow speeds.

(www.bealecorner.com is an excellent source of information on these Sony prosumer camcorders.)

Brandon's Dad