We like to film a lot of indoor videos of school plays / parties , when the general lights may be low and disco lights may be flashing ! I have a Canon MV700 which is excellent in good light , but seems to struggle when in a darker environment. I have tried the night scene , but this improves the picture only slightly , but has the effect of making it into slow motion. It seems as if the camera is struggling to know what to focus on initially but is ok when fixed on the subject. Any tips for improving the quality ? Thanks in advance.
When shooting in the dark you should turn your autofocus off, because it does not work properly in low light situations. If the light conditions really get low, you have no other choice than using Nightshot (with all of it's disadvantages) or buy yourself a decent video light.
Thanks TP. We like to take video footage of some of evening acts at our social club. They dont usually mind us filming, but I dont want to push it buy having a light on my camera ! I will try and take off the manual focus to see if that helps. Is there any paticular type of tape that is more suited to low/indoor shooting ?
I couldn't find much information on your camcorder, but if it does has adjustable shutter speed or exposure controls, you might want to check those out. Increasing exposure or shutter speed might help brighten the video up. However, be aware that if you are lowering shutter speed, you will experience motion blur.
And the brand or type of tape does not make much of a difference in this matter. It is the amount of kight you can get to your CCD and the light sensitivity of the CCD that determines the result.
Cheers guys . There is a night mode, but it then makes everybody go in sloooowww motion ! I guess I should practice in house as much as possible so Im ready for the real shooting.
