Should I play it Safe? Or gamble with Custom Presets?
 

Obviously Im late to the game with my Canon XHA1- but I bought this camera second hand for less than 1,500 and I was taking it out of the packaging.

I will be using this camera at a wedding this weekend...

Should I sample some custom presets as found on this forum?

Or is it safer to just white balance and use the true color, and do any color correcting in post?

I really want to make the colors pop!


Any advice, or any veteran who's had this camera for a few years feel like sending me some advice?

Jay,

I've had my XH A1 for a couple of years now. There are some nice custom presets for this camera. However, in my experience, they can be a bit unpredictable.

Lately, I've been going more to white balancing when shooting places I haven't shot in the past.

Best of luck.

When you say "at a wedding" do you mean as the contracted videographer or as a guest?

I'd say keep clear of the custom presets on paying gigs until you've had a chance to really play about with them and see what they look like. You can really mess things up if you get it wrong (been there, done that!)

On the other hand, if you are shooting for your own insterest, then it's a great opportunity to experiment. Remember to keep a note of everything your try, though, or you'll be thoroughly confused when you come to play it back ;-)

Personally, I just use Cine Gamma 1 outdoors, maybe with Black Stretch if I need a bit more detail in shadows, etc. Indoors or under streetlights, I use the standard gamma and maybe a little noise reduction, if I have to turn the gain up a little: +3db, or +6db at most. Beware of the gain on this camera - it's not nice at higher levels, and I only use it as the last resort.

Yep I don't like the XHs gain either.

I've had my A1 for a few years and now an A1s. Jay I'd recommend you load the PFVision custom preset for low light asap.

After that in both cameras .. I settled on, and in this order VIVIDRGB, PANALOOK, PANAVISION and PANALOOK2 then PFVISION. To get to know them I wrote those titles on a small piece of paper and taped it to the back edge of the battery for the A1. The A1s displays each CP title.

imo getting the correct white balance is essential, so I use a neutral ExpoDisc. Great for mixed light, gives you confidence and save hours in post. Stay away from cheap Ebay ones.

Cheers.

Hi, Jay................
 

Well, the presets have their place, no doubt, but they're still to be given a healthy dose of "I don't think so" in practice, in my experience.

I've had the A1 for 4 years now and have tried all the presets ever published, none of them suited my eye and were abandoned in pretty short order, primarilly because, once used, getting completely rid of their taint was nigh on impossible in post.

Shoot flat, keep -.5 exposure below what the camera wants to shoot at and it should look fantastic.

If you want to do a "Miami Vice" on it from there, go for it in post.

Just my HO.


CS

Hi

Chris, by shooting flat, do you mean the factory default setting ( no Custom Profile activated) or do you mean for example the BBC custom profile setting or the TRUCOLOR custom profile setting?

I've also tried to use the TRUCOLOR and from there do CC in post.


Regards,

/Bo

I am new to the A1 also...and I need to reset to factory presets....how do I do that? I want to shoot flat also and CC in post.
What "factory" preset is best for shooting flat outdoors and what is best for indoor.

Thanks,
Jeff

Get more familiar with the camera before messing around with the presets. but I think the TRUCOLOR preset is worth using. You'll get more bang for your buck of you bring a couple of battery operated lights on stands, a polarizer, some ND filters and maybe a reflector. A good assistant wouldn't be a bad idea either, all that will go much farther towards getting images that "pop".