Topic: Best settings for a Canon Optura 50 (bar video recording content)

[Tony B]

...just picked up a Canon Optura 50 Mini DV cam, and was wondering if anyone had any insight on what shutter speed I should set it at when I tape in a dark bar. The cam in question has a "Night" setting, but I can also set the shutter speed manually (1/8, 1/15 and 1/30, whatever those mean). Should I just go with the Night setting, and forget messing with shutter speed? Should I do both?

I've never attempted video, but have taped in the club in question many times...it's kind of a hole...really dark, save for a row of stage lights (maybe two rows, but no more).

If someone uses this cam, or can give me any general pointes, I'd love to hear em.

thank ya

tb

[sabre]

I'm not familiar with the "Night" setting but if your camera has an "Spotlight" AE setting, then use that. I've used a number of Sony cameras with that setting it minimizes the grain present in your video footage.

[firmdragon]

I'm not familiar with the "Night" setting but if your camera has an "Spotlight" AE setting, then use that. I've used a number of Sony cameras with that setting it minimizes the grain present in your video footage.

i've never actually tried playing w/ the shutter speed.  the way i understood it was, (and i'm making a real guess here so someone correct me if it's wrong) when you lower the shutter speed you let in more light, but it gives you a weird effect, like everything is in slow motion.

i'll paste a something someone else told me a while back:

A typical film camera has a shutter speed of 1/48. If you can get
it down to that, you'll get a more film-like motion blur, but most
cameras only go as low as 1/60.

Higher shutter speeds are good for certain high-speed sports and
activities, to reduce motion blur and get crisper images even at fast
speeds.

What else? Lower shutter speeds means more light can gather in the
camera, so they are better for low-light situations. If you are
filming bands in dark clubs, the lower the better. If you went from
60 to 1/100 or faster, you'll notice a big reduction in the light,
not good.

there's something you have to understand about video taping.  you're basically at the complete mercy of the room lights.  if you don't like the amount of grain that's being outputed from upping the exposure to compensate for lack of lighting the by all means go for the night setting.  it's really a personal choice.  generally, unless you don't plan on being near your camera, i'd use manual exposure and set it yourself, contrary to punani's suggestion.  you can eliminate any unneccessary grain altogethor by lowering the exposure.