Manual EXP: Always setting to negative numbers
 

Hey everyone, as is with most of us, always trying to better understand this HV20 and determine the best setting combinations. But I have to comment here that regardless of most other settings, I find that I almost always need to manually back off on the EXP to an average setting of -3. Lower than this seems like too much and higher than this appears too much as well.

It seems like this HV20 wants to blow out anything that's bright, light, and white. Perhaps I'm still not getting some of the other settings set at their optimized best, but are any of you running into a similar issue of having to consistently/always turn down the EXP a couple notches?

How are you determining whether or not it's blown out? Is the LCD display properly calibrated on your HV20, and are you using the zebra function, and if so, at which IRE setting?

Nathan, I always have my finger over the EXP button ready to manually decease it but find that it's usually pretty much on the money already when in CINE mode.

I use the zebra bar function as to be able to tell what's blowing out, or close to it, in the field.

This said, I usually only go '3' settings or so down or up if need be. Usually down as I trust the footage that the Canon produces in CINE mode and I know I can urge out proper contrast in post.

Rather than using Exp lock (which is fixed for the current scene and doesn't relatively adjust if you point elsewhere),
per recommendation here I tend to use the Av Aperture priority mode and close down the iris several steps. This reduces brightness/contrast a good amount and I get much less zebra blowouts. Occasionally I will then pull down exposure a bit as well if needed. This is on the HV10, which doesn't have Cine mode, that seems to help well too but also reduces sharpness a bit.

I should probably get a ND neutral density filter for bright outdoor stuff as well, the real solution, but I'm a vacation/kids point&shoot more than pro so :)

I also turned down brightness in the advanced picture settings menu, but that doesn't seem to help much.

Well, I don't know if blown out is the proper term to use, but I've got the camera hooked up to my TV and using the zebra set to 100. What I see using the LCD and zebra is only confirmed on the TV, so I find that I back off the EXP to an average of -3. Now this is indoors in a very well lit room, but I also found that when I was outdoors I had to back off on the EXP as well.

It seems like the overall range between the dark and light that the camera is seeing is too wide, with the camera wanting to make the highlights on the edges of things just blown out looking white without any detail.

I can see where Cine Mode makes a difference in that. But outside of using Cine Mode, I'm trying to find the right combination of settings to have the picture look as good as possible when capturing.

Try the zebra at 70 IRE, that should make a significant difference.

Okay, I think I'm getting down to the bottom of this issue for this particular room indoors...it's the dang window!!! Live and learn obviously. If the window is completely behind the camera, pointing towards the rest of the room, everything seems to be good. But as soon as I start to pan the camera more towards the window, it starts really messing with things since there are no curtains but just white horizontal mini-blinds. I've gotta get some curtains to cover this window, not realizing just how much havoc a window can be to the camera.

I think I'm finally starting to understand why you would want a camera that allows complete and full control over all the settings, rather than having automatic or partial-automatic like takes place in the HV20.

Plus a ND 8 filter in combo with the below suggestion on BRIGHT days.