zebras

[Marty Hamrick]

I shoot with a Sony BNW-7 and the manual says that I can set the zebra function to a dual reading.One showing 70 % IRE and 100%( actually it says that you can set them at whatever you want).I've been through it and I haven't found such yet.All I've found was a way to turn the zebras on and off, although why anyone would shut the zebras off is beyond me, especially in the news and doc stuff I shoot.

Ideally I would like to set my zebras for 70 and 100 for skin tone and background,particularly for stand ups and live shots where it's important to see the talent and the background.We have a lot of African American and other dark talent and many times it's challenging to put compromise the subject and BG.

Marty

[Michael Nash]

I'm not familiar with the BNW-7, but with recent-generation Sony cameras there is a special way to access additional menus in the camera. There should be either a thumbwheel or up/down buttons for making selections in the menu. With the camera powered down, depress and continue to hold the menu button (thumbweel or "up" button) and power up the camera -- with the button still depressed. When the camera turns on you should see the user-programmable menu pages in the viewfinder. You can then let go of the button. If it doesn't work at first, you may need to let the camera power down for a few more seconds before trying it again.

 

I believe zebra #1 is programmable, while zebra #2 usually only lets you select 100%. There will be a menu line for zebra 1, 2, or 1/2. I believe the zebra 1 value is programmed on another line on the same page.

 

At the bottom of each menu page is an option to exit the menu, and clear the pages from the viewfinder. To access them again you have to use the same startup procedure.

[Marty Hamrick]

Thanks,that's the trick the book doesn't tell you.Hold button down before turning the camera on.Is there a certain way I should hold my mouth?Maybe stand on one foot and face the full Moon?Geez,multi function buttons,gotta love 'em..NOT!

While I got you here on menu functions,is there a way to shut off the edge enhacement?

The book mentions a "user mode" and an "engineer mode" but doesn't tell you how to change the setting.You know anything about it?

Marty

[Michael Nash]

Thanks,that's the trick the book doesn't tell you.Hold button down before turning the camera on.Is there a certain way I should hold my mouth?Maybe stand on one foot and face the full Moon?Geez,multi function buttons,gotta love 'em..NOT!

What do you mean? I'm sure it's right there in the manual in plain Japanenglish. If that doesn't work, I'm sure you can find the info easily on the Sony website :P

 

Okay, now that I've had a minute to stop laughing (ahem). Let me see if I remember how to access the engineering menu. When you power up the camera in the method I described, it should take you to the "top" menu, giving you the choices of "operation," "paint," and "engineering." Take a look in each menu until you find what you're looking for.

 

If the menus aren't laid out that way, ther may be another trick. On the D-35 I often shoot with, there's a little switch on the side of the camea (behind a sliding door) that says "standard" or "file." When you slide the switch up to "file" while in the menus, it opens up several more pages of menus that let you program custom looks. Detail enhancement may be in there.

 

Trouble is all the Sony cameras are similar, but not EXACTLY the same. And as you've found, the manuals are all but useless :(

 

When you DO find the detail, you'll probaly find that you don't want to turn it completely off; instead you can dial it down quite a bit to minimize the ugly outline but still get a little bit of sharpening. On the DSR-500 for example, I've found a value of -50 (out of +/- 99) looks about right. If you have time, you might also play with turning the detail FREQUENCY up while leaving the level alone. This makes the enhanced outline thinner but still functioning the same amount.

[Lucita Jones]

BACK TO ZEBRAS....

 

I will start working with the DSR500 which has the options of setting Zebra 1, 2 and 1 / 2 which you mentioned earlier. I would rather work with 1 / 2 to judge the areas with correct exposure (70IRE) and those with over-exposure (100IRE) at the same time.

 

Problem is that there is no visual difference between both zebras, the stripe patterns are identical for both 70 and 100, so one cant tell one from the other when shown simultaneously. Do you have any suggestions?

 

I prefer the zebra swit`ch in the SOny PD 150, which you can access without having to enter any advanced menus pages. You just switch from 70 to 100 to check your exposure.

 

 

Thanks so much....

[Michael Nash]

BACK TO ZEBRAS....

 

Problem is that there is no visual difference between both zebras, the stripe patterns are identical for both 70 and 100, so one cant tell  one from the other when shown simultaneously. Do you have any suggestions?

 

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Hmm, I don't recall it being that way, but it's been a while since I've used the 500. Most newer Sony cameras have a cross-hatch or lattice pattern stripes for 100+ IRE, and traditional diagonal lines for 70 IRE (adjustable). I'd be surprised if the camera used the same pattern for both. I don't recall the patterns being selectable though, so whatever it displays is probably what you're stuck with.

 

Personally I rarely ever use the 100 IRE zebras; partly because two patterns becomes distracting, but mostly because you can plainly see if something's burned out, even in the B&W VF. The only difference is that the knee function may restore some color info to clipped areas that you won't see in B&W.

 

I've been shooting more and more ENG material lately (camera operating on a reality show) where I rarely get to set up a monitor, and end up relying more heavily on the VF and zebra stripes for exposure. I take the time to set up my VF up to color bars for proper contrast, brightness, and peaking. If overall contrast and midtones look good in B&W, they don't look any worse in color. For more critical setups a color monitor is of course better.

[Stephen Press]

I don?t like to shoot with zebras on. When you have been shooting for a long time you find you don?t need them to keep to the right exposure.

[Lucita Jones]

It´s great to hear from photographers with experience, it makes me feel like I am not on my own on this "journey". I hope to gain more confidence as I work more and more on this, thank you for your advice.