Seeking Advice on Camera Settings for Low-Light Shooting

[Mitchel Johnsons]

Hello everyone,

I am relatively new to cinematography and would appreciate some guidance on camera settings for shooting in low light conditions. I am using Sony Alpha a7S III and primarily work on short films.

Could anyone with experience in low light shooting share their recommended camera settings ? Specifically, I am curious about-

• ISO settings for minimal noise.
• Aperture settings for depth of field.
• Shutter speed for motion blur control.

Any additional tips or tricks for capturing quality footage in low-light environments would be incredibly helpful. I already went through this: https://www.teds.com.au/blog/low-light-photography-tips-cissp/ it contains more helpful information about this but I want to know more tips and tricks on it.

Thank you in advance for your insights.

Mitchel

[videosoul]

There are several factors to consider:

Are you using log, or a baked in picture profile?

I would suggest avoiding log, unless the scenes your are filming have both lots of stuff in the shadows AND highlights that you also need to preserve. If however pretty much everything in the scenes is in the dark, then sticking with a standard gamma might be best as you don't actually need to capture such an extreme dynamic range. It means more data is concentrated on a limited dynamic range — fine, as your scene doesn't have much dynamic range anyway.

The camera has a "high ISO noise reduction" setting. You need to test for yourself if you like the effect this has on the images. You may prefer to leave it off and apply different (perhaps better) noise reduction in post (Resolve, Baselight, Topaz).

You can let more light into the camera by using a slow shutter speed IF your scene doesn't have much movement in it. If there isn't anything moving much, then you are less likely to notice motion blur from a slow shutter.

[DougJensen]

On 6/22/2024 at 3:20 PM, Mitchel Johnsons said:

• ISO settings for minimal noise.
• Aperture settings for depth of field.
• Shutter speed for motion blur control.

Mitchel,

1) Always shoot with the lowest ISO the camera offers and never raise it unless there isn't enough light. And then only raise it as far as you have to to get your exposure, and not a bit more.  Using a higher ISO than is necessary is never a good idea due to increased noise.  Even a very clean camera like the A7s will perform better at lower ISOs.

2) Aperture is a creative setting that should be chosen to achieve the depth-of-field you want.  Personally, I shoot wide open on all my cameras nearly 100% of the time for maximum shallowness and other reasons I won't go into now, but other people prefer a deeper depth-of-field.  There is no right or wrong aperture and you may find yourself changing it often.

3) Shutter speed is dictated by your frame rate, and should never be changed for purposes of exposure.  Yes, changing the shutter speed affects exposure, but that should be viewed as a side-effect and not the reason for changing the the shutter speed in the first place.  Unless you change your frame rate, the shutter speed should never be changed.

4) You have overlooked ND filters, which are the primary way exposure should be adjusted when shooting video.  Not coming equipped with built-in ND filters is one of the main shortcomings of shooting video with a mirrorless camera like the A7s.  I use the K2 variable ND system on my Sony A1 mirrorless camera and highly recommend it.  Its not as good or convenient as the built-in electronic variable ND on my FX6, but it is a pretty good alternative.  99% of all my exposure adjustments are made with K2 filters.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1770883-REG/freewell_fw_k2_vndkit_k2_versatile_magnetic_filter.html

Edited July 26 by DougJensen