Questions regarding nighttime shooting with Scarlet

[Isaiah Corey]

Hello RED users!

I'm brand new to the world of shooting on RED, and I was wondering if any of you have any tips or tricks for shooting at night using only available street lights. This is for a music video, and 90% of the shooting will take place around the city at night in a run and gun fashion. We will be using road flares and sparklers as dual purpose lighting/props, we will also have a small LED panel. I am shooting with 3 lenses at T1.5, F1.4, and F1.8. Are there any specific settings I should turn on or off? What is your experience increasing shadows in post when they've been underexposed? What is the highest ISO with decent IQ?

Thank you for any help you can give me.

- Isaiah

 

[Mike P.]

Make sure the lenses perform decently wide open because you'll be using that.

ISO800 will likely be your limit (and even then you'll have to crush shadows to wrangle noise.) Problems occur when you try boosting shadows via ISO... you're essentially amplifying a signal that isn't there, which leads to lots of noise. In fact, I'd argue for using ISO320-500 just to get an extra bit of cleanliness... Honestly, ISO wont really matter since you'll be wide-open anyway.

Lastly, what kind of street lights are they? Gas stations tend to use neon/fourescent, parking lots sometimes use those phosphate ones, and street lights are often sodium vapor... All have a different colour cast and some of them look worse than others on MX.

Can you test before hand?

 

[Isaiah Corey]

Thank you for the info! I do not know what kind of lights they are, but I am receiving the camera at 9pm the night before the shoot so I will be able to do some testing on location. I'll definitely look at the kind of color casts I'm getting at each location.

 

[Eric Santiago]

Isiah how did this shoot go?

Care to share BTS with us?

I am prepping for the same and running around trying to fulfill a non-budget short with decent lighting/grip.

Worse for us, only one big outdoor dock light, yellow glow hell here

 

[Isaiah Corey]

Hello Eric, the shoot had ups and downs. I shot only in places with an abundance of street lights in a desirable color temperature, and it still took quite a bit of work to get the shots looking good. It was also pouring rain which was very limiting in a run and gun style shoot as I had to have a PA hold an umbrella the entire time.

However, it turned out pretty well for my first time working with the MX sensor:

Shot with a Sigma 18-35mm 1.8 (life-saver) and a 50mm 1.4 wide open at 320 ISO.
Exposure was boosted 1 to 2 stops in post and blacks were crushed. Some shots I used NeatVideo to clean up.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know!

- Isaiah

 

[Eric Santiago]

wow great frames Isaiah!

you had some choice moments in that video

it looks like you guys had fun doing it too.

that Sigma is enticing

 

[Isaiah Corey]

Thanks a bunch! It was a blast making it, despite the weather.

I would suggest either renting or buying the Sigma. I place it in the same league as Canon L glass. Keep in mind it does not cover FF.