Sony VX2100 Pros - Help Please!
 

I'm a little embarressed admiting I need help with this to my peers, because I've been in this way too long to not know the answer. So :1orglaugh as you may, be I could really use some help.

I use to shoot with the TRV900 with everything auto. I'd set white balance, start shooting and hoped for the best. Always shot indoors with pro lighting.

Now I've got the VX2100, and I'm shooting outside more. I want to take my shooting to the next level, but still want to use auto mode as much as possible. I know that's a very small level jump. Here's the problem. I now have the Zebra Stripes at my disposal. I set it to 100. I'm getting heavy stripes sometimes on the models face (noticed it outside alot). So, here goes.........

How do I still shoot in auto mode, but lower the exposure (if that's even what I want to do) enough to make the zebra stripes go away? Is that even possible? If there's anyway to explain it as "push this button" instead of "you want an f stop of..." that would be right up my alley. I've googled it but it instantly starts taking about shooting in complete manual settings.

Thanks in advance, and feel free to chuckle at the village vx2100 idiot. :)

bump for me!

Ok before I answer this question I'm going to suggest you learn to take the camera off of auto mode. The best auto mode in the world does not compensate for a shooter that knows what he is doing and you will never get the full dynamic abilities out of the machine.

Second natural lighting is best lighting but it is alot different and not as easy to control how it hits your model. And to be honest no two model faces are alike. A pale pasty natural red head doesn't look or reflect light the same as a tanned brunette. Get em naked and put them together and it can be a whole lot of fun for the shooter.

(Auto mode just can't cut it in these cases.....

Unless your just really trying to make amature feel content in which case don't forget to over use your zoom button too.

But you know, it's porn.... It's all shit and people tend to buy it more if it looks like crap. "OOOOH this has to be real!! The photos look like shit and the girl did her make up like a clown. Man that makes me sooo horny!")

Third, the sony 2100 is slightly more light sensitive than the absolete 1000 or 2000. The chips are programed to see a broader specturm light and to admit more to the camera. This makes the camera much more versitle in a broader range of places. Personally I prefer the sony 2100 over most canon camcorders.

The "zebra stripes" you are noticing from the camera are in response to areas that may be a hot zone. It is getting a refracted light directly at the lens and triggering a warning to the operator. You can dial down the f-stop. (little wheel on the left? side of the camera near the lens)

But I recomend you get familiar with the area and different conditions you are likely to be rolling in. It may not be necessary at all to do anything. Shoot some stuff, review the tapes and experiment a little.

Thanks for answering!

Yes, I'm thinking I need to finally learn manual mode shooting. Until this year I wasn't happy with my basic filming, but now I'm rock solid, so now that I've got the operater of the camera working right I should probably get the camera working right too. For the next couple months I'm so damn busy though that I need to stay on auto for at least then.

I agree - nothing worse than a tan model and a pasty model together. Make's em both look like crap.

I've been over the zoom button for years! I set my scene, and I shoot it. If I want closer I'll pause, reset myself, then continue shooting. Although the slow toggle on the VX2100 handle does very nice slow zooms. I do want my models to look amateur (minimal makeup, ect) BUT I want my videos to be high quality (steady camera. good lighting, nice edits. good sets. good wardrobe), and they are.

It's just when I get outside. I set the zebra stripes, so I could see when I was over exposed. I saw them, but didn't know what to do next. Of course the manual didn't say either. Figured, I'm not doing The Titanic here just some simple single girl video, so I continued and checked it on Premiere afterwards... yep, it's over exposed. I can still use it, but now my footage isn't top notch anymore. damn.

Ok, so what I think you're saying is that I can just dial down the Fstop, and everything else will stay in auto mode? Am I correct? I'll be playing around this weekend with it.