Video exposure settings

What should I use for ISO, and shutter speed for video of bands on stage in relatively poor light? Still photos on the stage I will be shooting require as high as ISO 3200. I've been switching to video from Av mode in the past. Should I shoot the video with manual settings?

When I'm shooting bands I'm in Manual Mode for sure, shooting 1/30s, wide open (usually f/2, sometimes /2.8), and whatever ISO I need for the exposure I want. In clubs it tends to be ISO 1600-6400 depending on lighting and my desired shot. If I've got better light and I want more in focus in the shot I'll use a smaller aperture of /5.6 or /8 and adjust my ISO as necessary.

jkdwings wrote in post #17961614
When I'm shooting bands I'm in Manual Mode for sure, shooting 1/30s, wide open (usually f/2, sometimes /2.8), and whatever ISO I need for the exposure I want. In clubs it tends to be ISO 1600-6400 depending on lighting and my desired shot. If I've got better light and I want more in focus in the shot I'll use a smaller aperture of /5.6 or /8 and adjust my ISO as necessary.

Thanks jkdwings! That's pretty much what I was guessing, except shutter speed for video confuses me somewhat. I try to keep it at least 1/80 for still photos on stage to avoid blur from subjects moving.

I'll be using multiple cameras, with some at an angle from the side, so I will need a smaller aperture for them, and will have to increase the ISO.

Thanks again!

KatManDEW wrote in post #17962141
Thanks jkdwings! That's pretty much what I was guessing, except shutter speed for video confuses me somewhat. I try to keep it at least 1/80 for still photos on stage to avoid blur from subjects moving.

I'll be using multiple cameras, with some at an angle from the side, so I will need a smaller aperture for them, and will have to increase the ISO.

Thanks again!

Yeah - often you can take a still from a low-light video and it looks terrible, but when you play the video, the noise evens out and the brain doesn't see it as so blurry. - the brain averages over time. The 1/30 is based on the frame rate and allows the most light in for each frame

I don't do much low-light video, but I've arrived at: Manual, 1/30, wide open, auto-iso as the best settings for this. Stills would look like crap. Video works. Set Custom WB before starting.

Bassat wrote in post #17962536
I don't do much low-light video, but I've arrived at: Manual, 1/30, wide open, auto-iso as the best settings for this. Stills would look like crap. Video works. Set Custom WB before starting.

I've totally comfortable with the exposure triangle and shooting still photos in manual mode, but I haven't totally wrapped my arms around video. I think I read a few place that said the shutter speed should be twice the video frame rate, so 29.97 FPS would be 1/60 second shutter? IF 1/30 is good enough for musicians who aren't running around on stage, that would be great because it would allow lower ISO.

The color of the stage lights changes, so would custom WB still be a good idea?

When shooting 30 frames per second the traditional exposure time is 1/60 s. This is due to the fact that a film camera exposed half of the time, then transported the film itself the other half of the time.
But in an electronic video camera, like we have here, it's possible to use 1/30 s when recording 30 frames/s.

The 2x rule orginated in the mechanical days of film where the film had to be advanced one whole frame while the shutter was closed, so the max exposure time was 1/2 cycle time for the rotating shutter. (hence the name 180 degree rule). These days it is not important that the shutter speed be any particular multiple/fraction of the frame rate for mechanical reasons but the issue of how motion is rendered remains. Fast shutter and the motion can create staccato and sampling artifacts that make wheels look like they are going backwards (this illustration helps). You just need to make sure that there is enough blur in each frame to suppress such effects (unless you wish to take advantage of them) . People from the film era praise the "filmic" look, derived largely from the choice of 24 fps and 1/48 sec from a balance between film expense and perceived jerkiness. 30 fps at 1/60 would have been fine too as would 60 fps at 1/120. In fact, if film is used to "record reality", higher fps does better as Imax and Showscan showed. However, for some artistic effects, that "fidelity" is undesirable and filmmakers got used to the 24 fps "film effect" and disparage the "video" look from higher fps/shutter.
In your case, the dominant issue is available light, so you are right that where motion is not much of an issue, the "shutter angle" is not that critical.
If the lighting is constant and uniform, then custom WB is a good idea - if not, it's probably a good idea to set WB and then have fun grading the footage later to deal with variations (hope you can find something white or gray in the scene to guide you)

Andy

Cross-posted with Anders who was much more succinct and faster

White balance for stage events: I balance according to the nature of the lights. If the lights are tungsten, I set tungsten. If the set designer is throwing gels on the lights, I let that happen--that's the look intended.

As has been mentioned, with video the eye is a lot less fussy about noise, so I raise the ISO as necessary to get workable apertures. But in post, resist the attempt to pull up shadows that don't really have detail in them. Let those go black, which is another thing that is much more acceptable in video than it might be in a still image. The primary direction of the main light is a factor you want to consider when you set your camera position.

With the frame rate at 29.97fps, I keep the shutter speed at either 60 (preferred) or 30. The shutter speed factors (such as the 180 degree rule) have been noted, but I'd add that in my experience viewers are comfortable with shutter speeds between 1/30 and 1/90.

Slower than 1/30 and the blur become noticeable to most people.; faster than 1/90, that "staccato" look starts to become noticeable to most people. Of course, either may be your preference for a particular effect. In general, though, you're okay varying shutter speed between 1/30 and 1/90, IMO.

Shoot in manual for both exposure and white balance. The primary reason is that in auto, the camera will adjust as it thinks necessary according to what's in the frame composition even when the actual light has not changed. So, for instance, the spotlight on the main singer may be constant, but the lights on the background or the rest of the band dim or change color...and the camera adjusts to the background changes, which you would not want.