frame mode and 1/30
 

I am shooting a singer/guitarist this weekend as he performs live. I am (of course) hoping to make it look as much like film as possible. I read, online, someome's shooting journal that mentioned shooting a band perfom with the shutter speed at 1/30 "for a film look". Would this be compatible with frame mode, or is frame mode most effective at 1/60? I will be cutting on AVID express DV. Any input would be helpful and appreciated.

_steven

Steve,

Unfortunately, the digital slow shutter speeds are not available in frmae mode. This kinda bites the big one and will hopefully they will be available on the XL2.

For you shoot, I'd go with frame mode and 1/60. You didn't mention if you will have control over the lighting. If you do, I'd shoot at -3dB on the gain and light for the correct exposure. I've shot bands like that before and the results are quite nice. Especially if you set your white balance a little warm.

You could shoot in interlaced, and with a warming filter like a Tiffen Black Pro Mist 3. If the lighting is poor, set the shutter at 1/60 or even 1/30---but use a tripod and don't pan, tilt or zoom, or do it very slowly, if you must. That's what I would do. Perhaps use some creative angles. This, along with a warming filter will give you "the look."

Are you saying you can't actually set the shutter to 1/30 in Frame mode, or that it doesn't actually do anything if you do? I've shot in frame mode at 1/30 back when I thought that was the standard video shutter speed.

Josh,

You can't set the shutter speed to 1/30 in Frame Mode. In Auto[A], the digital shutter speed flashes in the view finder as [SLOW.S] but cannot be selected. In the other modes it doesn't even show in the view finder. The only digital effects available in Frame Mode are the fade trigger [FADE-T] and the digital zoom [D.ZOOM].

If you want to use the digital slow shutter effects the you have to use Normal movie mode. The use of a softening filter, as suggested by Frank, is good for producing a film-like look, but they take a bit of getting used to.

Are you using the older XL1 or the newer XL1S?

With the XL1S, I often times shoot at 1/30th sec in Frame Mode, for example when I want to gain a stop or so in exposure.

I will also typically create a custom preset and boost the chroma a tad, goose down the sharpness slightly and crush the blacks a wee bit.

You can do this with the GL2 as well.

- don

I'm using the original XL1. I didn't know the slower shutter speeds were available on the XL1s. I guess I will stand corrected.

I shot it over the weekend and I am very pleased with the results. I actually used one XL1S and two XL1's. I shot in frame mode, 1/60, and took some good advice and white balanced slightly warm. The only difficulty was the audio, and not too bad, at that. Thank you all again.

_steven

I'd like to see clips of this.

<<<-- Originally posted by Adrian Douglas : I'm using the original XL1. I didn't know the slower shutter speeds were available on the XL1s. I guess I will stand corrected. -->>>

Adrian, I successfully used 1/30 in frame mode on my XL1S this past weekend. 1/15 and 1/8 are also available in Frame mode. Mine works perfectly well at slow shutter speeds, though I have not yet found a practical use for them! :) In time!