Shooting burningman type event - best settings

[MacKenzie Smith]

Shooting a burningman type event tonight. I've only got one lens (18-50). Can anyone recommend to me the best settings to try for different shots. I'm still a total n00b and am learning my camera.

Thanks

 

[Anson Fogel]

everyone *loves* this answer, but, it depends.

RED gets pretty noisy at high ISO's / in low light. Its a digital cinema camera in more ways than one - one of the analogs, it likes lots of light. The result of this personality - for low light shoots, you want FAST lenses, the fastest you can find, be prepared to set up lights if you can, and/or be prepared for a lot of post work to de-noise.

You'll want to shoot wide open if you can, at higher ISO's. In my experience, its better to expose correctly at the resultant correct high ISO than it is to underexpose severely then hope to correct in post.

There is some folks on this forum that have shown superhuman abilities when it comes to cleaning up noisy low light footage in post. Do a search for denoising service. I have had good luck cleaning up noise and underexposed footage in Color, but not superhuman luck.

Good luck.

 

[MacKenzie Smith]

Thanks for the info. Luckily the footage doesn't have to be perfect but it looks like I'll have my work cut out for me cleaning it up regardless.

One question about ISO on red... I've read that because it shoots in raw mode setting the ISO doesn't really have much of an effect and that you end up setting and balancing it all in post anyways. Is this not true?

 

[Anson Fogel]

Yes, that is true. 320 is the "native" ISO and provides the highest dynamic range. Shooting any other ISO jsut processes the native raw sensor data in camera to give you the right monitored output, but you can shoot 320 and just change it in post and get the same result. Of course, its nice to SEE what you are getting so you'll probably set it at some higher value when shooting, and you will see the noise in camera, but it helps set exposure and other factors on the shoot.

I just did a shoot in a bookstore for stock that ended up underexposed by between 1 and 2 full stops at ISO 640 - I was able to get clean final images with heavy post work in color at the expense of some detail. Not a big deal for stock maybe, but not ideal. Beyond 2 stops underexposed - you'll have a very hard time getting clean images in my experience, and even 2 stops is not great. But depending on your final output, it might not be a big deal - 1080 output with noise can look a lot like film noise if processed well, and might not be a big deal.

Here's a good post form today on the subject - and do a search - there is a LOT of discussion about this issue - by people far more skilled and experienced than I:

Stephen,
Forgive me if I'm going over well-trodden ground here.
The most important thing to remember about Red is that the sensor's dynamic range is greatest at 320 ISO. And changing the setting on the camera in no way affects the amount of light hitting the sensor and the RAW file; only the appearance on the monitor is changed.
Rating above 320 runs the risk of severe underexposure; anything in the shadow area will be difficult to pull up without increasing noise. Rating under 320 runs the risk of severe overexposure; anything near the white point will likely be clipped, with no information left to pull down.
I'm GREATLY oversimplifying here. What is the importance of this rule?
If your scene does not have any super bright or specular areas, you can safely underrate. If your scene is well lit with some serious highlights, you can feel free to overrate. Unfortunately, the scenarios are polar opposites to the action required. You'd likely NEED to overrate (pushing or higher ASA film) in a dark, lit-by-practicals night interior. And you would likely wish for a lower ISO (pulling of low ASA film) in the brightest, harshest day exteriors (as I suspect is the case in your application)
Perversely, all our training in the world of photochemical film runs counter to the laws of silicon based imagers.
And again, I'm greatly oversimplifying. There are shades of grey (pardon the pun) and you need to assess each scene by itself to achieve optimum exposure.
In your situation, I'd tape the ND filters directly on the lens... and keep in mind, modern clip-on matteboxes by Arri and Chrosziel are pretty low-profile and lightweight, perfect for Steadicam in even the most cramped quarters. But taping filters on is a well-established practice of hardcore ACs and should not be looked down on in any way.
Cheers,
Harry

 

[Zakaree Sandberg]

Yes, that is true. 320 is the "native" ISO and provides the highest dynamic range. Shooting any other ISO jsut processes the native raw sensor data in camera to give you the right monitored output, but you can shoot 320 and just change it in post and get the same result. Of course, its nice to SEE what you are getting so you'll probably set it at some higher value when shooting, and you will see the noise in camera, but it helps set exposure and other factors on the shoot.

TRUE.. but (and not that it matters when your shooting wide open, at night)
your iso will determine your exposure...so dont be shooting 100 and exposing for 100 if you want to end up at 500..(but again.. doesnt matter in your case for this event)

 

[Anson Fogel]

Absolutely, you've gotta expose for your final intended output. So you ahve to set ISO to what works, but check the histogram at RAW so you know what you are actually clipping - the histo will "lie" to you and tell you are not clipping when you in fact are.