White Balance; Timecode - Sony Z1 User Manual

-Having said that, if you do need to use it, you can keep it under manual control by using the gain switch.
This switch has presets of High, Medium and Low gain. Low should always be zero, high can be 12dB or
18dB and usually Medium is 9dB.
Shutter Speed: Shutter speed controls how quickly the camera gathers the light. The default setting is 50,
and you should really try to stick to that because the picture is the most normal in this setting. However,
there are reasons to alter the shutter speed in some situations.
-If there is a lot of light the shutter speed can be fast. The faster it is, the less light can get in, but if the scene
is bright enough the iris can be adjusted for that.
-The shutter speeds on the Z1 will go up into the thousands if you want.
-Very fast shutter speeds can be very useful for sports documentaries or any situation where you need to film
something that moves at high speed and possibly slow it down later. High shutter speeds avoid the fast-
moving object turning into a blur.
-However, the trade-off is that the colours can look dull and at normal speed movements can look jerky and
somehow clinical. It lacks the more 'natural', softer impression of a little motion blur.
- Shutter speeds slower than 50 will give you very vibrant colours and bring lots more light into the shot.
However, as soon as you go below 50 you will get a lot of motion blur.
-Try not to use slower speeds unless: You are doing it for an effect; OR: Nothing in the
shot is going to move.
You can control the shutter speed manually using the 'Sel/ push exec' scroll wheel
you use to navigate the menu. Don't leave it on auto.
White balance: Light comes in many different colours. The two light sources we mostly see by (and film
by) are the sun and man-made lightbulbs. These two light sources are very different in colour and strength.
Daylight comes from such an incredibly hot source that instead of 'red-hot' it is 'blue-hot'. So in comparison
to a lightbulb daylight looks very blue.
Lightbulbs (called 'tungsten' lights in film speak) are nowhere near as hot of course. Think of them as the
dying embers of a fire. Their colour in relation to daylight is very orange or yellow.
Our eyes adjust very quickly to these differences and our brains compensate, using what we 'know' about
what colour an object is to keep our impression of it consistent as different lights fall on it. This knowledge
overrides the fact that objects can appear to be any number of different colours depending on the light.
Cameras have no brain as such. That's why we have to 'tell' them what colour things are supposed to be.
White balance is our method of doing that.
Again, if you cannot see a symbol where the white balance is normally displayed, the camera is performing
this function automatically.
Unlike the iris, you cannot 'lock' the camera's auto white balance by pressing the button twice.
You can set a number of presets for the white balance and page through them quickly using the white
balance switch:
-The camera has ready-made presets for daylight and tungsten but these may not always
be suitable. I recommend you either leave it on Auto or set it manually.
-To set the white balance manually, set the switch to A or B, find something white (not
off white or cream- you should bring some plain white paper if in doubt) and zoom in so
that it fills the screen. Then press the button above the switch and hold it down. The
white balance symbol on the LCD screen should flash.
-Hold the button until the symbol stops flashing. When it stops the white balance is set.
-If the white balance can't settle or the picture still looks strange, you might not have enough light in the
scene or you may be getting a mixture of light.
-When daylight and tungsten mix in a scene it often looks strange. Picking one light source and sticking to it
is ideal.
-If that's not possible you may need to try a few different settings before finding a white balance that works
for you.

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