Steve Brady |
October 12th, 2007 01:53 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tip McPartland
(Post 757042)
I didn't like my new HV20 much because of terrible grain in even moderate low light conditions. But when I tried Cinemode, the grain was so much improved that I now love the camera. I've been watching this thread to see what the tradeoff is under close evaluation, but to my reasonably experienced eye, if Cinemode gives greatly reduced noise and only slightly reduced resolution, I'm fine with that.
The question becomes: Is there a way to get the better resolution of TV mode and the noise reduction of Cinemode for the best of both worlds?
Tip McPartland
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If the light levels are low enough that you're seeing excessive noise in Tv mode, then it's highly likely that one of the reasons that you're seeing less noise in Cine mode is because Cine mode has lowered the shutter speed. If you're happy with the motion signature of your Cine mode footage, then lowering the shutter speed in Tv mode will reduce the amount of gain that the camera applies, and therefore reduce noise.
As some of the other posters in this thread have implied, it's not entirely clear how much of the extra sharpness in Tv mode is due to actual sharpening in the camera, and how much of it is due to Tv mode's higher contrast (because, that's all that sharpening is, really - an increase in local contrast). Regardless of the cause, the extra sharpness of Tv mode will naturally make the noise more visible, so even with gain, aperture and shutter at the same settings, Tv mode will always exhibit at least a little more noise than Cine mode under low light conditions.
Additionally, if you don't have the camera locked down and pointed at a stationary subject, then, in low light conditions, Cine mode's lower shutter speed will naturally increase the amount of motion blur, making the image look softer.
For me, personally, Cine mode is plenty sharp enough, and even if it was a little softer than I'd like, the increased dynamic range is a major benefit; I'd probably still use Cine mode. The only time I'd use Tv mode is when I need a faster shutter speed and a wide aperture.
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