Zebras
 

When setting zebras, is the second bar permanently set to 100 by sony?

Or, can it be adjusted?

Unadjustable, set to 100.

Paul.

One is adjustable, the other is fixed at 100%. Basically, the fixed one gives you over exposure beyond which you will tend to clip the whites. The adjustable one can be set from around 55 to 70 for exposing facial skin (the subject).

-gb-

Also, as I understand it, setting the first zebra sets it at +-10 the setting. So if you set it at 70, your zebra range is actually 65-75.

I'm curious, where did you hear that? A ten-point spread could really screw things up!

It's in the manual. The manual is a little confusing. It says plus or minus 10%. On my camera it's actually plus or minus 5%, for a total range of 10%.

It shouldn't be a problem. The zebras give you an idea what areas are at, or very near, the exposure you are monitoring.

Pete

Interesting. That's not how I intrepreted that, originally.

Yep, in the manual. I'd be curious to hear what people are using for their setting. We had it at 80, then put it at 70.

It is in the manual but it shouldn't be thought of as error but "latitude". If you are trying to bang out the fleshtones at 70IRE you don't want the zebras to disappear as you move the iris and flash by the 70 point in the zebras with only +/-1 degree of latitude on the zebra setting. Otherwise you would be chasing the zebras like a mad fool making huge mistakes in your shooting as you obsess over hitting the zebra point. All not good.

The manual could do a lot better at explaining things so we don't have to meditate over their shorthand.

Brian, I have my zebra set at 95 (for brightest highlights). So far it has yielded wonderful images/exposures. Others use different settings and get equally beautiful images.

Sony has for a long time provided two zebra settings on many of their cameras. The slice of 10% for the zebra range is nice because you don't have to look at zebras from the initial setting all the way up to 100% like you do with my Panasonic SDX-900. Just remember some of the other camera settings like cine gamma and knee may make you question where to put the zebras for proper exposure as you may already be compressing highlights before Zebras even come on.