Shutter Speed / Exposure

[Damian Grady]

Hi all,

Is it me or did the EPIC DRAGON used to reduce exposure when you increased the shutter speed?

I haven't messed with the shutter speed for ages and I would have thought that increase the number would decrease the light in the preview on the Touch Screen but it doesn't seem to do that any more.

Was this in a software update or is something wrong with my EPIC DRAGON?

 

[Chris McKechnie]

Increasing the shutter speed should decrease exposure. Are you adjusting by shutter angle or speed? Increasing it by the shutter angle means "decreasing" the angle number, which in turn, decreases exposure. If you're adjusting it by the shutter speed, increasing that number decreases exposure. You could have something wrong with your camera. Try holding down the power button (with the camera off) for 20 seconds or so. That will refresh the settings to default, then try it to see if it works. IF not, reflash the latest firmware.

As an FYI, typically you don't really want to adjust your exposure by increasing the shutter speed, as that slowly gets rid of motion blur which our eyes are used to seeing. Saving Private Ryan shot with a higher shutter speed because they were going for that particular effect, but more often than not, you should be using ND's and your F-stop to adjust exposure.

 

[Damian Grady]

Thanks for that.

Unfortunately, that hasn't made any difference. I have the latest firmware and did the 20 seconds thing but I still see no difference in the image when I adjust the shutter speed. None whatsoever.

I'll try and upload a video.

 

[Chris McKechnie]

Thanks for that.

Unfortunately, that hasn't made any difference. I have the latest firmware and did the 20 seconds thing but I still see no difference in the image when I adjust the shutter speed. None whatsoever.

I'll try and upload a video.

How are you adjusting/controlling the camera? Via the RED Touch? Sidehandle? Whatever you're trying to adjust the shutter speed by, clean the contact points of either the touch or the side handle and re-attach. Also, re-install the latest release firmware.

 

[Damian Grady]

How are you adjusting/controlling the camera? Via the RED Touch? Sidehandle? Whatever you're trying to adjust the shutter speed by, clean the contact points of either the touch or the side handle and re-attach. Also, re-install the latest release firmware.

Hi Chris,

I'm adjusting the shutter speed via the touch screen.

I seem to recall getting the same result with the side handle too.

 

[Michael Tiemann]

Hi all,

Is it me or did the EPIC DRAGON used to reduce exposure when you increased the shutter speed?

I haven't messed with the shutter speed for ages and I would have thought that increase the number would decrease the light in the preview on the Touch Screen but it doesn't seem to do that any more.

Was this in a software update or is something wrong with my EPIC DRAGON?

It's a sucker's game to judge exposure looking at the light in the preview screen. If you don't see a change to the HISTOGRAM, then something is definitely off. But it's perfectly normal for your vision system to constantly fool you into believing "yup, everything looks peachy" even when you are off by 3 or more stops. It's one reason why so many new RED users have such frustrating first experiences with RED: they believe the preview monitor, which should only be used to judge framing and focus, rather than the histogram, goalposts, and stoplights, which are supposed to give you information about exposure.

If you switch to false color mode (Video, Exposure, or GIO Scope) then you should also see changes when you change the shutter speed.

 

[Guy Staley]

Are you referring to "shutter speed", or "frame rate"? If you are confusing the two, then that might clarify the issue. Increasing "frame rate" with the shutter in "speed" mode (as opposed to "angle" mode) will not change exposure until the frame rate equals shutter speed (i.e. - 48 fps at 1/48 shutter speed), after which point the camera will force the shutter speed into a "legal" combination. Hope that makes sense.

Not trying to imply you don't know what your talking about, just making sure we're all talking about the same thing.