Shot in the dark

schmoo

Forgive me for the total n00b question but I hit an unexpected roadblock tonight trying to shoot clips for a project. I don't know anything at all really about video, but hey! it's fun.

I've got the 5D and never really shot videos in anything darker than sunset light. Tonight I tried to shoot curtains of fog blowing over Twin Peaks at 9 PM and was having a terrible time getting this to work.

I tried two things: Pushing the lens to the max aperture (in this case f2.8) and pushing the ISO all the way to 6400 (I don't know if anything over that amount would be even usable). Neither resulted in anything but the barest shadows.

Am I screwed in this case due to the limitations of the equipment? Or is there something else out there that I can try? I would hate to see this project go down the pooper so I'd appreciate any advice at all, no matter how basic. :ear

Awais Yaqub

What about shooting lots of long exposures and putting them together in movie maker ?

I think its impossible to capture lots of light in video without losing quality as we still photographers can do in long exposures technique, because video is 30 pictures per second. But i don't know anything about movie cameras.. so wait for expert advise

Here is video i made using lots of long exposures..

DavidTO

First thing I would try is a different picture style. Try the one in post 15 in that thread.

LiquidAir

When shooting video, your effective shutter speed can't be slower than 1/30. If you are in a situation where 1/30 at f/2.8 and ISO 6400 doesn't cut it for a still image, you won't be able to shoot video. Awais' suggestion of doing assemling a time-lapse from a series of longer exposures is probably your best bet.

THX1965

schmoo wrote:

I've got the 5D and never really shot videos in anything darker than sunset light. Tonight I tried to shoot curtains of fog blowing over Twin Peaks at 9 PM and was having a terrible time getting this to work.

I tried two things: Pushing the lens to the max aperture (in this case f2.8) and pushing the ISO all the way to 6400 (I don't know if anything over that amount would be even usable). Neither resulted in anything but the barest shadows.

Am I screwed in this case due to the limitations of the equipment? Or is there something else out there that I can try? I would hate to see this project go down the pooper so I'd appreciate any advice at all, no matter how basic.

Sounds like it was really dark. With video you pretty much depend on the maximum aperture of your lens. Your shutter speed won't go below 30 (and even 30 is only recommendable when there isn't much movement in the shot), ISO on the 5D shouldn't be pushed past 3200 for video (I'd even try to stay below that, just as I try to stay below 1600 on my 7D). So you're left with your choice of lenses. That's why cinematographers recommend very fast prime lenses (1.4 - 1.2) for shooting video in low light with these cameras. But in your case even that would not have been enough.

So yes, shooting stills and stringing them together as an image sequence is the way to go. If you have a Mac, this can easily be done with Quicktime Player. But make sure you shoot small JPEGs. They will still be larger than a 1080p video frame. Final Cut Pro for example freaks out if the size of your movie images is larger than 4000 x something pixels. Again - for Mac users, here's a great tutorial on how to do time lapse movies with a 5D/7D and Final Cut Pro: http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/10/18/tutorial-on-how-to-turn-your-dslrs-stills-timelapse-into-video/

DavidTO

You'd get the added benefit of time-lapse of the fog, which would be cool.

Marc Muench

Ok, I too own a Canon but..........
I read somewhere that Nikon is now offering 100,000 ISO

My Sony EX1 has a mode where it shoots at shutter speeds slower than 30th but it looks kinda funky, not quite a timelaps and not video.

Have you tried the CIA or FBI:D

schmoo

LiquidAir wrote:

When shooting video, your effective shutter speed can't be slower than 1/30. If you are in a situation where 1/30 at f/2.8 and ISO 6400 doesn't cut it for a still image, you won't be able to shoot video. Awais' suggestion of doing assemling a time-lapse from a series of longer exposures is probably your best bet.

Hey Ken, long time no see! Yeah I was running into the problem of not being able to go slower than 1/30, but the full moon was so cool on the pouring fog. It was a shame I couldn't get the motion in there, too.

Markus I was a little surprised that 6400 was even an option in the 5D, but heck they allow 240000000 or something crazy like that which is unusable for stills, so I guess there's always someone who'll use that. Thanks for the tip!

Thanks so much, guys. I was really, really hoping that "picture styles" wasn't the answer because I did peek in to that thread first and closed it quickly. *dusts off stunt brain*

I think for some of the other things I had in mind to shoot, the time-lapse idea would be great. Not sure when the fog will come back but I may end up having to try something like stop-motion photography, which I really, really don't want to do. But oh well, no pain no gain.

(Slight OT there was this very awesome stop-motion SF fog video on Laughing Squid/Vimeo several months ago but I can't find it now. )

THX1965

schmoo wrote:

Thanks so much, guys. I was really, really hoping that "picture styles" wasn't the answer because I did peek in to that thread first and closed it quickly. *dusts off stunt brain*

No need to be afraid of picture styles. They are your friend...


--- Markus ---