Sony Z7 Cam Settings in changing light etc.

VideJoe wrote on 11/26/2008, 12:25 AM

Hi, I will get my Sony Z7 this week and will use it mostly under far from perfect conditions.
I usually shoot classical concerts in churches, where daylight comes in through the windows but slowely fading out in favor of artificial light.
That means huge WB issues. My camera position is some 25 meters (yes I am in PAL country) from the orchestra.
Should I trust the automatic WB setting? Is the Z7 WB sensor in the lens or on the camera body?

Besides the WB issue, I wonder which Cine settings would work best in these circumstances. There are so many.
I ordered Spots DVD on the Z7 but doubt if thisquestion will be answered in his instruction DVD.

Final question, is the quality of the MIC inputs good enough to record music with or should I better go for a separate mic amp?

Anyway, setting suggestions appreciated.

Thanks, Dries.

Comments

farss wrote on 11/26/2008, 2:55 AM

For classical music the issue is not so much the mic preamps as the way the audio gets compressed with HDV. Depending on how serious you are about the audio a separate recorder would be a good investment. If you haven't already discovered this a decent stereo mic with correct placement i.e. the right mic stand should make a big difference to the sound you get.

Lighting in those places I know is a nightmare unless you can get a lot of artifical light onto the orchestra to mitigate the changing amount of light coming in through the windows.
In general in my opinion chasing changing WB is counter productive. Set WB to the highest color temperature around i.e. daylight. If you can add more daylight light of your own.

One thought, put some of those giant candles they love in churches into the shot. If the lighting does go a bit orange thanks to the sun going down or behind a cloud the candles justify the shift it WB.

Bob.

jeff-beardall wrote on 11/26/2008, 8:23 AM

the z7 mic pres are ok, but if it's serious classical recording they are not up to scratch...then again, serious classical recording requires pretty decent mics and pres...the pres do matter as do the mics...but remember the pres in most of the mobile recorders (marantz, etc.) are not up to scratch either. maybe good enough for your purpose. as farss says, no matter what pres you use if you record the signal into the camera as your sole audio source you are dealing with the HDV audio compression which is good but not great.

concerning white balance...get to know your camera and how accurately the viewfinder presents colour and then ride the white balance on manual if needed. for your cine settings...i'm loving shooting 1080 30p (true progressive) with 'pro-color' settings...maybe boost the colour 1 or 2. I shoot a lot of dance, event, interviews and my Z7 always seems to stay on 30p unless the client specifies differently. that is personal preference.

VideJoe wrote on 11/26/2008, 9:00 AM

Thanks for your suggestions so far.

As far as the audio is concerned. My choice for the Z7 is to leave my laptop behind and record on CF instead. I like to travel as light as possible, hehe, but don't mind tagging a mic-amp along if that makes an audible difference.
I use Rode NT2A's in ZY configuration if possible, meaning not too visible for the camera and posible for placement. I don't want the conductor to trip over them when he decends still full of adrenaline after the final beat. Not for his sake, but for mine of course.

For WB, if the Z7 measures the light through the lens I might go for the automatic setting, otherwise I have to go for the manual adjustment as suggested.

Of course, getting to learn the Z7 is a must, but there are sooo many settings to fiddle with I guess it takes a lifetime to learn/try them all.
I hope Spot's DVD will speed up the learning curve drastically.

Thanks, Dries.

UlfLaursen wrote on 11/26/2008, 11:06 AM

This is a good thread indeed.

I have the same problem reg. WB in the church with my small HF100's. I have tried auto WB, but at least theese small babies does not give that good an auto WB. The manual WB is much better, have not tried with my XHa1 yet - might be different with bigger more pro cams.

I have learned to live with smaller differences I sometimes get over the ½ hour I do every sunday. I am doing a gospelconcert next month, but lucky for me it's in the evening - no light comming in through the windows. :-)

/Ulf

Laurence wrote on 11/27/2008, 11:34 AM

The data compression on the audio portion of the HDV clips sounds quite transparent. If the idea of compressing your audio is abhorrent to you however, you can do the following trick:

Record simultaneous HDV to tape and SD to the CF card. The audio portion of the SD clips recorded to the CF card will be free of any data compression.

VideJoe wrote on 11/27/2008, 2:18 PM

Nice trick Laurence, but my concert takes last well over 60 minutes.