Canon GL2 & Fireworks

[thecoalman]

Any suggestions for manually setting up the cam. I'm not totally familiar with all the settings but was hoping someone could suggest a starting point. I did do a small test run the other day by just using the spotlight function with the AF off. This worked well for keeping the glare down but also resulted in it being way too dark. I wasn't able to adjust to test other settings as the show was going on as I was the one supervising....

Any suggestions on where I should start?

[edDV]

It's been a year since I've used one.

Try the GL2 forums
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Canon+GL2+forum

[thecoalman]

Thanks Ed, I did come across a few pages. The video came out half way decent. I think one of the troubles I had was most of the guides I came across mentioned setting the white balance which I wasn't able to do, just for future reference will any white white card do for that purpose? Is this an important thing to do in situations like this?

The other problem was that I had the wrong perspective, I was entirely too close. That show really needed two cams. They were setting off class C which is a consumer grade firework and for them I would have been fine. They go pretty high but the big professional ones went ridiculously high. What a great sound though. Oh well, it was a learning experience....

One thing that I did gain was some knowledge I used the next day for taping my friends in the band. Usually most clubs have the big lights flashing on and off etc. which the spotlight setting on the GL@ works great for. On this occasion the light were constant and quite dim..... With the knowledge I gained with the fireworks I was able to adjust it somewhat. Otherwise I would have had to switch it to auto which would have given me all kinds of grain.

[edDV]

It's been awhile since I've tried shooting fireworks but I'd guess shutter speed is important along with fixed manual f stop exposure. Auto exposure is going to be wide open in the dark and then attempt to adjust when the action begins. It would be hunting all through the show.

White balance off a white card should be done in subject lighting. I'm not sure how this would be done for fireworks but at a concert, you would zoom to a white reference on stage. Better yet, have someone with a white T shirt stand stage center and balance from that.

[thecoalman]

It's been awhile since I've tried shooting fireworks but I'd guess shutter speed is important along with fixed manual f stop exposure. Auto exposure is going to be wide open in the dark and then attempt to adjust when the action begins. It would be hunting all through the show.

Well I had it on full manual, and was attempting to adjust as best I could.... this was my first attempt at anything maunal. One of the troubles I encountered is it looks really good on the cam display but not as good once to DVD, even the capture looks like quite black. Certain colors look great such as blue, the gold on the other hand is very faint. Any attempt to really add some light to when shooting resulted in a lot of grain, guess it's the limitations of the cam. I have read many times that the GL2 isn't one of the better cams for low light conditions. I think one of th biggest problems was my poor choice of shooting postion since there's no perspective on how big they were. The larger ones had to be well over 500 feet in the air.


I had the shutter speed at 60, apparently 30 would have been better but I read this could have lead to choppy video. Guess at some point I should have switched it to try it out. The exposure was anywhere between 2.6 and 5.0 If I remember correctly. It has another setting that I'm not to sure but it does add light, dB. Trouble is that turning it results in lot of grain....

Anyhow it was a good learning experience..... Apparently fireworks are not the easiest thing to video as I have been reading even with a real good cam. Jump right into the fire.... This was a semi-professional job, I'm getting some free goodies out of the deal. I did explain to them that I had no idea how well it was going to work beforehand. I'm sure they'll be pleased with it since they probably have tried this on occasion with a consumer grade cam but I on the other hand know it can be better.