"Guy"
<nospam@thanks.com> wrote in message
news:JY0%a.3748$z7.631087@wards.force9.net...
>
"David Ruether" <rpn1@no-junk.cornell.edu> wrote in message
>
news:bhg4av$m8r$1@news01.cit.cornell.edu...
>
> "Guy" <nospam@thanks.com> wrote in message
>
news:FxI_a.3389$z7.557531@wards.force9.net...
>
> > > I color balance almost everything in post. It is rare to get the
WB
>
> > > just right in the type of work I do while shooting, using the
gear
>
> > > I use - and it can be done so easily and so much more precisely
>
> > > in post, with so few ill effects (assuming that it is close in
the first
>
> > > place...;-) that I see no reason not to shoot more freely,
>
> > > correcting that last bit of error later. If the image is far off
color
>
> > > (as in, nearly monochrome), good correction is not possible,
>
> > > and it will show ill
effects from the effort (like increased "grain").
>
> > > --
>
> > > David Ruether
>
> > I thought you used Sony VX2000s or PD150s. Why can you not WB
>
> > correctly?
>
> >
>
> > You don't shoot on auto do you?
>
> Yes - this is the only practical method for quick-shooting in
>
> multi-colored environments (and the results are close to correct
>
> most of the time, with the hue bias used [most would call them
>
> "good enough" - but some of us are particular, so we do some
>
> correction in post to make a better product...;-]). BTW, I've
>
> rarely been happy with MWB results (unless using a decent
>
> monitor) - the AWB (or DWB) is generally better with these
>
> cameras. The recent exception: shooting in a large church with
>
> a combination of daylight, tungsten, florescent, and (as the primary
>
> source[!]), sodium-vapor. Here the blue-green biased MWB of
>
> these cameras with a white sheet helped to get good color when
>
> the AWB gave me strongly red results. With dimmed tungsten
>
> plus candles, AWB or TWB with strong hue bias gets me close
>
> enough to balance well in post. When you are moving fast past
>
> open doorways (blue), stained glass windows (red/blue),
>
> tungsten-lit (orange) or florescent-lit areas (green), or moving
>
> into and out of daylight (afternoon, evening, or dusk - or even
>
> night), using MWB makes no sense, and will guarantee more
>
> off-color footage than using AWB will... For some idea of the
>
> range of lighting challenges a wedding can present, see:
>
> http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/wedding9.html
>
> http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/wedding10.html
>
> http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/wedding11.html
>
> for about 50 frame-grabs from one of my wedding videos.
>
> I would have spent much of my time white-balancing, instead
>
> of shooting what I would have missed...;-)
>
> DR
> I
disagree. I shoot documentaries and
would throw any camera operator off
>
the shoot that dared to use any auto control on the camera. Hunting beit
>
exposure, focus or WB is totally unacceptable and looks at best (IMHO)
>
amateurish.
I agree
with the last, but not your assumption that the VX2000 auto
controls
cannot outperform even a good camera operator using
the
same camera. The neat thing about this camera (a bit more so
than
the similar PD150) is that its auto controls ARE good, and
can
also be biased when this is needed. If you have not considered
this, I
would consider you a tad "stick-in-the-mud" for not being
able to
consider new ways of working that may prove superior to the
old
with particular gear. Also, different types of work do require
different
approaches... Do read again (carefully, this time...;-) my
first
post above...;-)
>Editors
I know would be horrified at being asked to colour
>
correct auto WB footage (if they ever needed to). It takes no time at all
> to
manually set WB even on a PD150.
Not
true in many different situations - and I find I must bias the
150/2000's
MWB in any case (during WBing, or during post)
to get
the color just right...
> At
the end of the day if it acceptable to your clients then fair enough, it
>
would not be for mine.
You
might be surprised how good the auto results (biased as
required
by the particulars of the environment) can be with these
cameras.
They are designed for use this way, unlike the manual
operation
orientation of the big shoulder-mounts, which generally
do have
poor auto controls (but much better manual controls).
And,
BTW, I can do a major 2+ hour video with this small
gear,
including a 4-8 camera shoot of the ceremony, in "real-time",
with no
retakes, and produce a result that is consistently in focus,
with correct
focus and color balance (and good sound), as a
single
person (setting up and operating all cameras and doing
the
editing - which does include WB touch-ups). I suspect that
you
cannot say the same, using only manual controls on these
same
cameras...;-)
--
David Ruether
d_ruether@hotmail.com
http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com