Re: Z7U/ contrast issues

Lou & Michael,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Lou, although I hope you are correct in that its the camera's fault, I believe Michael is on to something as well with his "operator error" theory. It's possible that its a little or a lot of both.

Michael, after posting this message the other day, I spoke with one of my shooters and he also indicated that it may be because of the weird auto setting that the camera goes into if you can't see the gain numbers in the viewfinder. My question is, why the hell would Sony do this on such an excellent camera? If you are in manual mode, it should stay in manual mode! Anyway, it's pretty hard to think about this when you are hanging half way out of a helicopter trying to get great shots in as little time as possible. (The helo cost $900/hr....ouch!) Plus, it's hard to see grain in a small viewfinder when everything around you is super bright. Everything looked great in the air but I think a portable monitor to review the first take on would have been the smartest approach. The problem is that in 15 years of shooting, I've never had to use a monitor to come back with great looking footage from the air or from anywhere for that matter.

I've only had the camera for about a month but this was my 15th shoot day using it so I thought I had it pretty much licked. I've shot mostly outdoor stuff too and haven't had any gain issues. The only thing I did notice is that the camera appears to shoot a bit hotter than what you see in the viewfinder. I'm sure I can adjust the viewfinder to better match but anyway...

I did notice on one of our shoots that when the shutter speed wasn't visible in the viewfinder that it was automatically reducing it to 500. That has to be a glitch in the factory settings. When in the world would you need an auto setting of 500 for shutter speed?

Anyway, at this point, I'm trying to figure out the best way to minimize the grain in post at least to the point where my audience won't notice it. I think I have it almost looking like film grain and if I cut in and out of the shots at the right time, the main focal point is on the building itself instead of the dark areas of forest around it which are incredibly grainy.

Thanks again guys for your comments. I appreciate the help!

Kris

Kristopher G. Simmons

Video Business Marketing & Growth Expert

http://www.MindYourVideoBusiness.com