Testing my CX520V at Disney World next week



Quote:
Originally Posted by astrogate /forum/post/18267399



If anyone has some suggestions feel free to let me know.


Thanks!


Chris

Click to expand...

I posted some suggestions re low light experimentation in another thread.


Just one note here re the wide angle converter. I have filmed the Epcot Illuminations show multiple times over my last two trips to WDW. All but one clip was without the wide angle lens. While I really liked a CX12 clip where the finale almost whited out the video, I decided to take a wide angle lens the next time, and did.


To get all of the fireworks going off, you need that wide angle lens with the CX500V and thus with the 520 (same optics). Even then, there are a couple of times where the highest fireworks will be just barely in or out of frame. Unfortunately for framing, the show sometimes includes fireworks at water level just as they're going off at their highest point, too.


Anyway, I suspect mine is the only clip of this show using wide angle. I filmed it multiple times to experiment- it's my favorite fireworks at Disney World. I also watched without filming one night . If you decide to go and film it, you might want to check these clips in advance to help you decide what you want to capture.


1. This one was the CX12 with kind of normal filming and zoom and me not very aware of what was going to happen when. I tried to zoom in and follow the fireworks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66-BIP6J9hM


I love the end of this but have come to realize that at some level it doesn't do justice to the fireworks. The last scene overloads the cam's ability to show the separate points of light.


2. This is with the wide angle lens mounted and at its widest setting the whole way if I remember correctly. Watching this later was the first time I really realized there is a ring of launchers all the way around the globe. In this video, you can clearly see launches going in a circle around the globe at one point. The key thing here is to resist the temptation to zoom in and track fireworks as they move around in the sky. If you want to do that, there's probably no point in using the wide angle lens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIWGVbcqIAs


3. This is another night zoomed in so I could see later on TV what was on the globe. From where I was, I could sometimes make things out fine, but had other times where I was just too far away for my naked eyes to see details. A nice side effect of being zoomed in is that fireworks shooting up from around the globe look kind of cool even though you never see them explode higher. Those start to kick in about halfway through the clip (say 4:00 and later).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qDv20DUxnE

I watched clip 2 (not zoomed in). A great video. But two comments:


1. All of the exploding fireworks were overexposed, no? That is, we see bright white rather than any deep colors. Weren't the explosiions in different colors like red and blue, etc? I think one needs to underexposure more to bring out the colors.


2. I assume that the music was just from the speakers surrounding everyone. Very nice sound, but every time there was a fireworks "explosion" the music died down, very annoying. Thus, it sounds like the the audio automatic gain control was operating, lowering the gain every time there was a loud explosion and thus lowering the music too. This should be turned off. Just as for the light, the sound needs to be set so the loudest crack does not overload. Otherwise one gets distortion or limiting.


These are minor comments/questions; I really enjoyed the video, as it very well recreated the experience.



Quote:
Originally Posted by markr041 /forum/post/18268598


I watched clip 2 (not zoomed in). A great video. But two comments:


1. All of the exploding fireworks were overexposed, no? That is, we see bright white rather than any deep colors. Weren't the explosiions in different colors like red and blue, etc? I think one needs to underexposure more to bring out the colors.


2. I assume that the music was just from the speakers surrounding everyone. Very nice sound, but every time there was a fireworks "explosion" the music died down, very annoying. Thus, it sounds like the the audio automatic gain control was operating, lowering the gain every time there was a loud explosion and thus lowering the music too. This should be turned off. Just as for the light, the sound needs to be set so the loudest crack does not overload. Otherwise one gets distortion or limiting.


These are minor comments/questions; I really enjoyed the video, as it very well recreated the experience.

Click to expand...

1. Hard to tell about the exposure. I'd have to experiment across multiple evenings with it. Since I only expected to be there one evening, I just put the camera into its Fireworks scenario mode and filmed away. Maybe I can try a lower setting next trip! There's no way to play with exposure in advance based on what's out there - it would totally be guesswork since everything is dark until the show starts.


Dave Blackhurst thinks the CX500V default exposure is a couple of notches brighter than the XR500, for example. But I think certain kinds of lighting just don't capture one particular part of the spectrum that well (not enough red or rose?). In this show, there are a lot of pure white fireworks. Only some of the traditional starbursts might have more color than is shown here.


2. There's one place in particular where the music tones down and the fireworks are louder than usual. That's probably the gain control kicking in big time right there, and presumably it does the same elsewhere. There are only two Mic Ref modes - normal and low. I normally use zoom mic "on" and ref "normal". I turned off the zoom mic for this show and my reading of the description of "Low" a few minutes ago makes me think I should have enabled that mode to solve the gain control issue you mention. My intuitive understanding of "low" means I never really read the manual about it. But it looks to be designed for loud sounds such as you might experience in a concert hall. It was probably the right mode for this as well.