On the XhA1, anyone know how to access Zebra settings to perhaps set a cap on the values?

You might want to start at page 64 in your manual.

And then - whatever value you choose to work with, set that value and learn what it is it's telling you. If you flit between 85%, 100% and 70% you'll never know where you are.

So how best do you learn what each zebra pattern means? And if, say, I have my zebras set on 85... is a little bit of zebra acceptable or should I try for no zebra? Still learning here... :-)

OK - how to learn zebras and get them on your side. Switch zebras on. Choose a setting. Put the camera in full auto. Go take lots of different shots in all sorts of different conditions, and speak to the mics.

Describe what you're seeing in the v'finder. 'Zebras all over white shirt, chrome on car, sky behind house', that sort of thing. Come indoors and connect your cam to a well set up TV, and watch and listen.

Is what you see acceptable picture-wise? If you'd filmed someone against a window, many more zebras would have been acceptable, yes? If you'd filmed a white girl getting out of a white Rolls Royce in a white dress ditto, yes? And so on.

tom.

Turns out on the Canon, you can only go down to 70 IRE. I'm going to try the 75 setting and play with that a bit.

Much of my filming is girls in bikinis outdoor for a web program I do.

Turns out on the Canon, you can only go down to 70 IRE. I'm going to try the 75 setting and play with that a bit.

Much of my filming is girls in bikinis outdoor for a web program I do.

Tell me how to get that job. lol

There'll be a queue Shaun. With respect to all the good advice with which I agree.

Years ago I worked with a high profile pro who mumbled "shine the camera on white clouds at 100% back them off to about half and you'll always get your whites". Seems to work.

Cheers.

Tell me how to get that job. lol

You work for peanuts. The show, Bikini Driving School, forced me to learn editing on the fly. I still suck at it, but I'm slowly improving. I've got two guys working for me about as cheaply as you could imagine and they're both very good and very accommodating.

Thanks to advice and guidance here, I'm ramping up the learning curve.

There'll be a queue Shaun. With respect to all the good advice with which I agree.

Years ago I worked with a high profile pro who mumbled "shine the camera on white clouds at 100% back them off to about half and you'll always get your whites". Seems to work.

Cheers.

Allan,
I want to get this right. When you say "back them off to about half", what do you mean? I'm imagining clouds that only have half the surface area still in zebras. Is that right?
TIA

Ernest; yes a quick way of doing it.

Cheers.

There'll be a queue Shaun. With respect to all the good advice with which I agree.

Years ago I worked with a high profile pro who mumbled "shine the camera on white clouds at 100% back them off to about half and you'll always get your whites". Seems to work.

Cheers.

Alan,
Back the Zebra setting down to half, or the exposure...?
Must be the Zebra. I hope I have some white clouds at the time.

Exposure, that will control the zebra.

Cheers.

Don't forget that most cameras have a hysteresis loop to the arrival and departure of the zebras. This means if you have them set at 75% (say) and you start opening the iris from f/11, then f/8 and so on, the zebras will appear at f/4 and be gone again at f.2.

And if you close your iris blades from f/2 to f/4 the zebras might appear at f/5.6. So it's worth remembering which 'way' you approach the zebras, and remember too that they may not be on screen simply because you've passed through them.

Experiment and take careful note. It's an incredibly useful tool, but you do need to know how to use it.

tom.

Don't forget that most cameras have a hysteresis loop to the arrival and departure of the zebras. This means if you have them set at 75% (say) and you start opening the iris from f/11, then f/8 and so on, the zebras will appear at f/4 and be gone again at f.2.

And if you close your iris blades from f/2 to f/4 the zebras might appear at f/5.6. So it's worth remembering which 'way' you approach the zebras, and remember too that they may not be on screen simply because you've passed through them.

Experiment and take careful note. It's an incredibly useful tool, but you do need to know how to use it.

tom.

Hi Tom!

I've never heard about this - i use zebras all the time to judge exposure and never really have a problem. Could you point me to a link where i can read more about this?

Cheers! Jo

Thanks Tom, very interesting, I'd like to know more too.

Cheers.

I have no links Allan and Jo - it's just what I've taught myself. And it's so easy to experimentally verify. Camera on tripod, pointing out into the garden. Connect to a big, well set up TV and use this in combination with the camera's v'finders. Set zebras on.

I use 100% for no good reason other than I've grown up with them at this setting and know what they mean and what they're telling me. I take it that zebras starting to appear will mean burn-out to pure white on the final DVD (not necessarily the TV monitor of your timeline, note).

Record footage as you open the iris blades, talking to those mics all the time - describe accurately when the zebras appear, where they occur and when they leave the scene. Replay this tape and take note.

Once you've done this you'll know how you camera behaves. And it's this that makes me wary of people who hire a camera for an event, because all cameras have their foibles.

tom.

Tom 'open the blades' you say there. Post 14 was intriguing in that you mentioned 'most cameras have a hysteresis loop' I assume this applies to vid cams.

And you'd select one or the other, either open or close the iris for a particular cam to run your test and stay with it?

Cheers.

Yes, I've only ever seen this zebra this hysteresis loop on video cameras I've known. Your mileage may vary. And yes again - always approach your zebras from the same way and you'll always be told the same info.

I understand your method of testing - it makes sense to know at which point you want your zebras to appear. I personally use 75, but that's just what i've always been used to.

I was more interested about what you were saying about the hysteresis loop - and how zebras can appear and then dissappear again. I've never seen this, but would be interested to hear more.

As I say Jo - so easy to test for yourself. What camera do you have? If it's a Canon it may not be so - I haven't checked, but my Sonys have always shown this loop. Even at the 100% setting I can see the zebras come in at f/8 on a highlight and leave by f/4. But you say you've not had problems so fine - carry on shooting.

I've got an XH-A1 and before that used and XL2. I'll have to have a play see if I can find anything!