Best fireworks settings for HDR-FX7

HDR-FX1000 / HVR-Z5 (2008). HVR-Z7 / HVR-S270 (2007). HDR-FX7 / HVR-V1 (2006). HDR-FX1 / HVR-Z1 (2004).
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pyromaniac
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Joined: 11 Sep 2010 14:02
Location: The Netherlands

Best fireworks settings for HDR-FX7

Post by pyromaniac »

Hello,

i have since a couple weeks the Sony HDR-FX7 video camcorder and uhm i use it for filming fireworks displays and i have tryed many diffirent settings to capture the fireworks good on film but everytime it dissapoints me off the quality,, or the colors aren't showing correct (i.e. like green colors, orange) or theres showing up lots of noisure ? last night i tryed to film in fully automatic settings only focus manual (ofcourse) and then all colors showed up as i wanted it but only lots of noisure.

so i'm bit desperate of getting good settings? anyone has a idea of what settings would be best to film fireworks on best settings?

Regards,
Michael.
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Stephan
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Re: Best fireworks settings for HDR-FX7

Post by Stephan »

Hello Michael, welcome to our forum!

Noise is caused by gain. Gain works like some sort of digital light amplifier which is very helpful when it is too dark. But when gain is too high, it creates noise or grain in your video. When you shoot at night in auto mode, the camcorder will automatically boost gain up to the maximum, and therefore the noise in your video. The maximum acceptable gain varies from one camcorder to another, but with the FX7 you don't want to exceed 12dB. 12dB is max, 9dB is even better.

2 simple solutions:
  • If you prefer to shoot full automatic, then go to the camera menu and set AGC LIMIT to 12dB. But then, there's still a little noise at 12dB.
  • If you're okay with a little manual control, then use the GAIN button (on the back of your camcorder) to switch to manual gain. Then use the dial to decrease gain to 12dB, or better 9dB.
Another FX7 tip: make sure that you have Camera Data Display on. Go to the menu and set [CAM DATA DSP] to ON, so that you have iris, shutter speed, and gain settings displayed in the viewfinder at all times, and you can check that you're always within optimal parameters.

Regarding the other side of your question - colors, it's difficult to say. At night, I realized that Auto White Balance (AWB) is the best bet, and I never had issues (other than street lights of course).

Hope this helps!
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Doughie
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Re: Best fireworks settings for HDR-FX7

Post by Doughie »

Yes Stephan´s right. - So far you have been overexposing the image as the camera is ´seeing´all this black sky and it is using too much gain becuase of that. Shooting night time shots really its best to take control and shoot manually, OR at least dial in a good amount of less exposure than what the camera thinks it should be.

On the colors, you could try increasing color saturation. The FX7 i would think would have a setting for that. check the manual or just have a look through the menus. That will make the colors more vivid. BUT it could simply be a White'Balance issue. Try Auto White Balance, but if that doesnt work i would try fixing the White Balance on one of the PRESET´s. Pick one of the presets (there should be one for INDOOR and OUTDOOR and maybe some others) and at least that will give you consistent colors and the camera will not constantly be adjusting the White Balance as it may be doing if left in Auto. All the colors and bright lights of fireworks can cause the camera to change the White Balance if left on Auto.

As ever, with night shots (both stills and video) there are no hard and fast rules - you just need to experiment a bit and see what works. But for sure, you need to reduce exposure quite a bit - thats the most important thing. Make sure the black night sky comes out black, and not a murky grey and you will be well on the way to more pleasing images.
pyromaniac
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Joined: 11 Sep 2010 14:02
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Best fireworks settings for HDR-FX7

Post by pyromaniac »

Ok thank you for the comments.

So the colors (besides of street lights which i have problems to like: orange street lights showing up as dark red?) is mainly a white balance issue? as i have used so far mainly auto wb ill go try to play with it to get the best wb, so basicly if i get this correct if i get the right white balance colors like green which showing up as a almost white color on camera will be showing more as green then?

and exposure i didn't thought about that? thanks for telling me about that :) as i mainly shoot only night shots.

i'll go play some more with the camcorder :)

thanks for the comments helps me alot! :)
pyromaniac
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Joined: 11 Sep 2010 14:02
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Best fireworks settings for HDR-FX7

Post by pyromaniac »

I have found finaly the best fireworks settings for the HDR-FX7:

For consumer fireworks:

Iris: F2.4 (for gold effects: iris as low as possible).
Further the rest automatic except focus.

Check the result in this video: http://vimeo.com/15296087

I got now more vivid colors, made product video's to where i can see now truely the colors as i wanted to see it!
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Stephan
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Re: Best fireworks settings for HDR-FX7

Post by Stephan »

Nice show!
dantheman
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Re: Best fireworks settings for HDR-FX7

Post by dantheman »

Did you change the gain down to 9db?
Most people seem to suggest iris to f8-f11 but you say f2.4?
pyromaniac wrote:I have found finaly the best fireworks settings for the HDR-FX7:

For consumer fireworks:

Iris: F2.4 (for gold effects: iris as low as possible).
Further the rest automatic except focus.

Check the result in this video: http://vimeo.com/15296087

I got now more vivid colors, made product video's to where i can see now truely the colors as i wanted to see it!
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