Zebra's and White Balance, Oh my!

jsteehl wrote on 12/10/2003, 6:59 AM

I'm capturing some film (using my Workprinter XP) and the whites (example white title on black background) look blown out. I set the white balance on the camera and the overall quality of the capture improved but the whites are still not as crisp as they could be.

My camera (Sony TRV900) has a Zebra setting. I read the manual, turned it on and did see “Zebra” stripes on the white parts of the screen. But the manual stops there and I don’t really know how or what to adjust. It did mention setting the exposure (the camera has manual options) but how does this (or does it) relate to the White balance setting?

Obviously, it there is a tutorial for this that would help cut down on my stupid questions :)

Thanks!

-Jason S.

Comments

Randy Brown wrote on 12/10/2003, 7:42 AM

Someone will probably come along with a better answer but:
If the zebra setting is at 100% (and I think it's the only setting on that cam) and you see stripes, it's telling you that you should close the iris more (exposure) or those areas will be blown out. The white balance shows the cam what white is supposed to look like so that it can better determine all other colors. Your manual should explain this better.
Good luck,
Randy

Jay Gladwell wrote on 12/10/2003, 7:43 AM

Read this:

http://www.greatdv.com/cameras/Zebra.htm

(Edit)
My method is to adjust the aperture to the point the zebra pattern disappears in the hottest areas.

rextilleon wrote on 12/10/2003, 7:56 AM

But remember---you must chose what you want properly exposed before you start manipulating f stops---there will be times where some burnout is necessary in order to properly expose whats important in the scene.

Jay Gladwell wrote on 12/10/2003, 8:28 AM

Absolutely, Dave, I agree with you.

Having said that, allow me to add this caveat. It's taught in art and photography classes that the brightest area of a composition with draw the eye of the viewer automatically. Under most circumstances that may not be what the "artist" wants to have happen (I know you know this, but I'm leading up to something).

While watching The Discovery Channel about three years ago I saw a beautiful doc about the geysers of Yellowstone National Park. The videography was astoundingly breathtaking (no, it wasn't shot on film). What the videographer had done was to expose for the brightest area of the composition--the brilliant white water and steam of the geysers. He was able to maintain the detail and texture of the water and steam and that's what made this video so darn beautiful. In exposing for the water and steam, he allowed the shadows to fall where they may.

That caused me to go back and watch several videos and films. I watched them alone and with family and friends. Then I shot some scenes and showed them to family and friends. What I determined, based on my limited "experiment," was that most of time most of us will accept shadows without detail far more readily than we will highlight areas without detail. The bright, textureless white is simply too overpowering. It's almost like trying to look up at the sun.

Armed with that information I started to adjust my video exposures based on this new "philosophy," and, I can say without equivocation, my videoography has improved dramatically.

Still, you're right. There are those rare exceptions where it simply can't be helped, and I hate those situations with a passion. Such is life!

J--

BrianStanding wrote on 12/10/2003, 8:36 AM

What's the old (film) photographer's adage?
"Expose for the highlights, develop for the shadows."

Of course that's for a chemical process, not a digital one, but I think the same general principle applies.

Grazie wrote on 12/10/2003, 11:16 AM

Try a person with a very, very dark skin, in a Wedding dress, filmed against a South Facing window which has white nets, at say 2:00pm [ this is for those who live in the Northern hemisphere ] . Now try and not bring the iris open! The background blows - but you've got the face of the subject and the detail correct. That's showbiz! - If I can get around it I will. If I can't, Life's a Beach - yeah?

Grazie