Canon XA11 Settings Question

[TazzManiac83]

Hello everyone, I have a quick question. I am recording a dance recital next weekend and have rented two XA11's. I have recorded recitals for many years, but this is a first with this camera. Does anyone know how it behaves with random motion of dancers and also changing light conditions? My settings I was thinking shutter speed 250 for clarity of fast action, and the db (gain yes?) at 9.0. Or do I want to bring down that db so there are no blown out dancers? Again I'm not sure how this camera responds in a unique ever-changing situation that a dance recital brings. Any assistance or advice from anyone that has been there with this camera would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tazz

[Mark35mmF2]

Hi there,

The camcorder's reactions will vary depending on the lighting situation in the recital, but based on what you've described there are two possibilities I would recommend. First you could set the camera's metering for spot metering  and let the camcorder base its exposure off the central area of the stage, assuming that will be the area with the main light source. The other option would be to set the exposure manually so that the exposure values don't change while you are recording. The advantage here is you can change the iris, shutter speed or gain yourself in real time to compensate for lighting changes, and while the transition might be a little clumsy you will know the bulk of the footage is exposed exactly as you like. If you're lucky you might even find a single manual exposure value to accommodate the whole performance.

[TazzManiac83]

Thanks for the great reply. I'm actually a photographer and always shoot manual. So I use that same method of changing shutter speeds, ISO, etc. depending on the situation especially when you have a sunny day with passing clouds. Constant changes needed. I guess that's the best comparison to the ever changing lighting in a recital. One question, as with a dslr, the shutter speed would have to be fast so there's no blur with the dancers  movement, at what lowest level do you think this camera would need to not pass to keep things sharp. Of course the gain (db) would be similar to the ISO of a dslr and would have to bump up for a faster shutter speed right? If so, what do you think the max db would be so as to not get noise/grain? Sorry one small question was a lot.