Gain +6dB???
Gain is to be used only in case of live murders, accidents and explosions footages to be sold to CNN !!!

GAIN IS DEVIL!

My advice / opinion : don't get paranoid about gain.

If you need to use it, use it. Manage it carefully, in conjunction with aperture and appropriate shutter speed (consider dropping shutter speed first) and it'll be fine.

In the end, its all about content rather than obsessing with a magnifying glass that you can see a small amount of image noise. Forget that, concentrate on content & your technique, image composition etc.

Finally, there are well-regarded and easily available noise-reduction software that are inexpensive and work well and you can use these to reduce image noise if its absolutely still a prob.

Remember, the client only sees the shot, not the noise and other minor issues professionals lie awake at night worrying about!

Steven, can I ask what some of your settings are? Your blacks look amazing and mine are much more "greyish". Any cine?

- Ray

Raymond, I actually posted my settings with the original post. Here it is again:

EX1 Low light frame grab
1920x1080 24P
0dB

PP:

HiSat
Cine3
Detail at -15, Freq = +5


If there are others, I'll update this post. I believe I adjusted Black to with the Cine3. I'll let you know.

Hm, than it seems theres quite a jump between Cine3 and Cine4. So no changes to the two different black settings (cant remember the exact terminology on the EX1)?

- Ray