lighting and camcorder use???

[goofy4tink]

A quick question for you guys that 'get' this stuff. I have to video tape my dd's chorus concert tonight. There will be 'normal' stage lighting, as well as some follow spot usage. I know that in the past, my video hasn't come out as well as I would like, with all the stage lighting. It's okay if I zoom in, but not at a normal, non-zoomed distance. And I think I remember there being something I can do to prevent this. But, alas, I can't find my instruction manual! So, any thoughts from you more knowledgable people?

 

[YEKCIM]

You may want to see if you can d/l a PDF copy of the manual from your camcorder mfg's website.

~YEKCIM

 

[goofy4tink]

Just thought I could grab a quick answer here.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Perhaps the overall light level on the stage is relatively low but there is bright light (spotlights) on the performers. In that case, the video camera may be trying to expose for the overall low lighting. That would mean lots of ugly noise from using too much gain and having the performers overexposed (too bright).

Check to see if you can manually set the exposure for your video camera. If you can, adjust the exposure so that the performers are properly exposed and don't worry about everything else being too dark.

 

[goofy4tink]

Yep, that's the issue...everything turns out white! But if I zoom it's fine. Thanks.