Re: Lighting Difference in Two Cameras?

Correct. On both the pd150 and pd170: IRIS, GAIN, and SHUTTER speed work this way. As does white balance. The camera defaults to auto when you “turn off” these manual controls.

Pat,
If you have a black b.g. and moving, colorful, hard-lit subjects, the auto sensors will be taking an erratically changing average. The camera might capture the black curtain, for example, with as much detail as possible and the costumes and faces will be blown out, just the opposite of the desired result. The ND filter works pretty well under these circumstances. If you find that you now do not have enough light, you can add about as much as 6db of gain without noticeable noise.

AE shift, if employed, will also make two identical cams no longer match.

If you do not have experience in a particular light, and you have no way to properly monitor the image, you can use the cameras’ meters. Zoom in on the part of the image that you care most about. Faces, for example. Put the camera on auto then back to manual. Take note of the settings. Turn on 70 zebra. The faces should show the stripes. Go wide, turn on 100 zebra—how much of the image is blown out?

The talent, here, is moving into radically different amounts of light. The camera operator needs to ride the iris control to compensate.


OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.