Hi guys, quick question as the topic says, what is the best Hi-def semi pro camera in low light? I currently have a Sony VX2100, but we really need another camera thats as good or very nearly as good in low light. Would ideally like an HD camera too, so whats best for low light situations?
Thanks.
Nick.
Have a look at my post in this thread here: http://forums.dvdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=45342
(It's actually the one below yours!)
Thanks for that, seems the Canon works the best in low light then, although they are about £500 more expencive than a Sony FX1, but I guess you get what you pay for!
You don't say if it's for Wedding use or other.
The sony A1E has 'night mode' and 'super night mode' which record via infra red in dark.
So if it's for ghosts, wildlife etc worth considering.
The green tint nightmode couldn't be used for weddings, unless it's goths with a vampire.;)
It would be for weddings occasionally, but mainly stock car racing and some of the tracks have very poor lighting, so the 'night mode' wouldnt really be much use - just want good low light quality like my VX2100. I could buy another one so we have two the same, but would really like to future proof and have a HD one.
I recently moved from PD150 and VX2100 to the XH-A1. Up to about 12db gain it's acceptable. Above that it's awful. Whereas the VX2100 is OKish at 18db. I'd place the XH-A1 as 'about' the same as a PD150 in low light. Of course, if grainy images are OK with you, you'll see far more detail with the XH-A1 36db of gain. :eek:
Have a look at this: http://www.joesimonproductions.com/shootout/downtown.mov
Gives you a good idea of the XH-A1 in a nightime shoot.
The only camera to equal the VX2100's low light capabilities is the Sony EX1 (and 3). All the others try and cram 4x as many pixels onto the same chip dimensions (and the V1 tries to do this on even smaller chips) so the laws of light deem them to doom.
The VX also has a surprisingly fast zoom too, and few cameras since have equalled it's f/2.4 max aperture. Every little helps.
tom.
Actually Tom, that's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while. Any idea why my XH-A1s max aperture changes? Sometimes it's F/1.6 another it's F/1.8 and another it's F/2.2
Some kind of 'protection' do you think?
No, not protection Arthur. Your zoom varies its maximum aperture depending on the focal length you've set it at. It's at its fastest at the wide-angle end, but as soon as you zoom towards telephoto - even a little bit - the lens will start to lose speed, such that at full telephoto it's a good 2 stops down. So if you're shooting at 0dB of gain and max aperture you'll need to dial in +12dB of gain at full tele for the same exposure.
Very nearly all modern zooms behave like this - the design keeps the cost, size and weight down, yet the lens can still be truthfully sold as a 20x f/1.6.
tom.
Cheers Tom.
I just got my Z7 and the low light seems to live upto the hype so far. Only done a few simple tests against my DVX100. At full zoom the Z7 appears to as bright at -6db as the DVX is at 0db. So that's a one stop advantage.
Saying that, the DVX stops down to 2.8 at full zoom where the Z7 stops down to 2.0. But as I do mainly weddings that is good news as I was at full zoom with the DVX a lot of the time.
But a one stop advantage over an SD cam is pretty impressive.....comes at a price though.