[dvaughan]

Ok so this is the camcorder for me but I fear I may be wasting my money if it does not perform "well" in low light. The catalyst for this purchase is my 6 month old. I have a feeling a large part of our video recording will be in the house, in rooms with normal lighting (let's say at night). I guess this is considered "low light". So this worries me tremendously. I simply can't afford spending this amount of dough if the end result is grainy and just so so. That will no doubt leave me unsettled.


Is there anyone that could give me just some idea how good/bad the low light really is? I understand this is the downfall of most prosumer models. I would prob post some videos on a blog to share with family and then would love to watch some of it on my 50" plasma.

 

[CBKosta]

I use the HF 100 to record blues shows in a small club. There is some stage lighting, but i'd still consider it "low light"


The output from the hf100 is definitley grainy however it's also very sharp. I've found Neat Video works well for cleaning it up.


Here are the settings I've finalized on, and sone examples for you to look at.


manual focus, 24p, custom white balance,

fxp mode and apeture priority set to 2.8 or 3.4. Also make sure to have the mic attenuator turned on for both internal or external mics. Keep in mind the settings above are for 1 stage. I have the camera mounted to the ceiling in a club I mix at. Check out You Tube for some video clips.
http://www.youtube.com/user/clife95

I've put up clips from the start of my video carreer to present. The early clips have mic distortion. i used diff settings each week.(although they're not documented) All have been edited in Sony Vegas punching up the contrast and using Neat Video for noise reduction.


I know this isn't the same as your application, but hopefully gives you some more info.

 

[number.cruncher]

I've never had any real problems. Thankfully our 8 month old tends to be most active during the day, so most footage has at least some external light from windows. I have used the HF100 under just a 60W lightbulb at night and yes, you can begin to see some colour noise beginning to creep in in shadowy areas, but it's not that noticeable. Certainly wouldn't call it particularly "grainy".


At the end of the day, the sharpest, most accurate colours are achieved during daylight, but I find that if your own eyes aren't struggling, the HF100 will be fine.

 

[elifino]

an inexpensive led flashlight from a Walmart (or a camping supply store) can often throw enough cold light in the direction you are video taping. As you know, led flashlights can have several diodes in them, giving an amazing amount of 'wash' for a few feet.

It's possible you may even find one in the right dimensions, and color, to strap on the camcorder you own. Here's a good example.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1041704

 

[Luc48]

The HF100 has a built-in small video light. It's relatively strong considering it's size.


For best results:

- Use progressive mode: either 30p or 24p (to get 1/1.5 stops increased light sentitivity)

- To avoid grainy look: use spotlight or cinemode (first one is zero gain and is slightly darker).


For screenshots and video's see my earlier review: http://lucienk.spaces.live.com/blog/...6635!712.entry (scroll down to low light paragraph and you find screenshots and vimeo video links).

 

[dvaughan]

So I'm just curious are there any prosumer models that really *outshine* the others in lowlight performance? I'm guessing some are better than the HF100 but is it really that much better? There's so much I like about the HF100 that I prob wouldn't go with another camcorder unless the lowlight performace was significantly better.


Thank you all so much, very helpful. I will go ahead and place my order.

 

[russellm]

There is a review of the camera on camcorderinfo.com. The reviewer is quite pleased with the low light performance. I have not really done too much testing with mine in low light yet so can not comment. I have used it indoors under floresant lights using 30p cinemode and it worked well.


If you do not mind paying a little more, order it from costco like I did. Costco has a no questions ask return policy for 90 days on electronics. I had to return my first one because the flash did not work and they did not hassle me at all (and never do on anything I return) and even refunded my expedited shipping charges (which are only $3.50 anyway).


Russell