Lighting, Media And Brain Melt
Hello again.
As I have said before, M43 has a huge advantage when using flash for still photos.
The 2 stop advantage over full frame is real. Shootng with artificial lighting is a fixed math formula for all formats, but M43 needs only a quarter as much to achieve the same depth of field! Sometimes, when I am doing a job, I bring out the “big guns”, a set of 5 YN560 units, all reasonable, but dumb mid range camera flash units and it dawns on me that to do this with full frame (where f4 becomes f8 etc), I would need several mono blocks, not cheap little flashes.
To this day, I have not ever needed to use all of my flash units on full power, so my maximum potential is untapped.
Ok, so now we are doing video. This is where it is harder, but some of the advantage is intact. Generally for video light has to be constant which is harder to achieve than strobe lighting. It also has to be used with fixed shutter speeds and low ISO’s, so the M43 advantage is a little less sure footed.
With this in mind I have bought a bargain Neewer 60w point light LED as a safety net. It cost less than $100au and I already have several modifiers that get little use with my stills kit (26” double baffle soft box, 80x30cm double baffle strip, 24” square double baffle with grid and 2x 7” diffusers with 6 grids and diffuser cloths), so no accessories needed.
A point light gives me a strong and controllable directional light, one that can be diffused and/or focussed, where my 480 and 660 panels lack that much control (or as much strength).
If it works well (and it reviews well against the Godox SL60w, even having slightly warmer light), then I will get a second.
On my shopping list I actually had a 10.6” Flapjack light, but on deeper researching, it looks like they still need controlling and even more diffusion to be a primary light, adding nothing much to my existing kit. The Point light on the other hand adds grunt and direction, it just needs diffusion, which I have.
The 480 can now be used for background colour, the 660 for fill and the little 176 for hair light. If I need to go battery only, I can get by, but logic says I will have power if indoors.
A project I am working on now, thirty talking head interviews in differnet locations around the school, needs a primary light (window or the 480 into a reversed umbrella), hair light (176 with an amber gel) and back light (a 216 with coloured gel). The reversed 480 with umbrella at only 1m from the subject is a little clutterred, with the stem jutting out a fair way. The 60W at 2m and a bigger brolly would be safer and more powerful.
The first look I liked, the 480 through a diffuser panel at about 2m. The panel was set at 50% and 5500k, so getting closer will give me a ton of power in reserve.
This is the 480 into a 40” brolly (shooting throught produced hot spots), with a small hair light (176 LED at 10% with amber gel or optionally a reflector), both at about 1m. This is the softest light, but maybe too soft and I dislike the stem sticking out towards the subject at only 1m. The first room I am in has a gorgeous window with a full length semi-translucent blind, which I may simply supplement with the 480. I will likely go with a combo of the above, slightly feathered and a hair light for separation.
After some testing the project has come down to;
The G9 in Natural +0/-2/+0/+2, 10 bit 422, 1080p, white balance at B2/M2, then set the white balance to the main light (5500k usually).
The main light will be a 480 through a feathered diffusion disc or into a reversed brolly, with a hair light and some flagging to arrest spill, or I will use window light, but best to be prepared.
The 25mm f1.8 wide open was chosen as my available space may be limited and its look wide open is warm and generous with gorgeous blurring. It will be filtered with the Kenko Black Mist 05. Without the filter, I would reduce the saturation and sharpness.
Exposure will bet a -1 to darken the background, then lifted to bring out the main subject. I will histogram this, but also match each job by eye for consistency.
A sample lifted from a video test (my poor wife, trying to earn the real money). A busier background than I will use, but the basic colour and main light (window) are good.
Sound will be a Lewitt 040 pencil condenser boomed 8” above and in front of the speakers mouth, run through the H5. This combo blew away all of the competition with the Neewer/Boya mini shotguns coming in second or optionally the SSH6 when used as a shotgun at 1m, not a boom. At gain 6, the Lewitt just filled the space with clean, full presence.
The Zoom and shotgun capsule or Boya boomed will be used if we go outside or for some environments. Without the Lewitts, I would just use these for consistency.