Camera light? Please help!

garirry · Sep 25, 2013

Recently I used my iPod Touch 5G as my Youtube camera. It was not great. There was a lot of noise on the screen (you know, these little red blinking dots), so I decided to try my sister's T4i. Then I tried it out, and... still a lot of noise on the screen. So, I came in conclusion that my room is too low in light. So, is it possible to add some kind of lamp to the camera so it would look better in low-light conditions?

ChrisA · Sep 25, 2013

garirry said:
Recently I used my iPod Touch 5G as my Youtube camera. It was not great. There was a lot of noise on the screen (you know, these little red blinking dots), so I decided to try my sister's T4i. Then I tried it out, and... still a lot of noise on the screen. So, I came in conclusion that my room is too low in light. So, is it possible to add some kind of lamp to the camera so it would look better in low-light conditions?

Next, I'm sure you will try a big camera mounted light and then find the result is even worse. Well that fixes the noise problem but now you have a harsh shadow problem and a poor light ratio problem

The cheapest and easiest thing you can do is go to Home Depot and buy a 500W work light. These come with a good stand, just plug it in and aim it AWAY from you. Aim it at the intersection of the wall and ceiling that is in front of you and in back of the camera. Get two lights if you can and make it even brighter but NEVER aim them at the subject.

OK there are better lighting schemes. Typucally you buy a buy "soft box" and use it for a kelight and a second one for a "fill" to control the lighting ratio. Then you add the air light and background light if you need it. In a film or photo class they spend a lot of time on how to control this kind of setup. And it gets more complex if there are more people in the sshot and even more if they move around the set.

So just aim some big/cheap 500W or 1,000W lamps at the rear wall. These light need to be far from the wall so the size of the bright spot they throw is as big as can be. It will get hot in the room.

garirry · Sep 25, 2013

ChrisA said:
Next, I'm sure you will try a big camera mounted light and then find the result is even worse. Well that fixes the noise problem but now you have a harsh shadow problem and a poor light ratio problem

The cheapest and easiest thing you can do is go to Home Depot and buy a 500W work light. These come with a good stand, just plug it in and aim it AWAY from you. Aim it at the intersection of the wall and ceiling that is in front of you and in back of the camera. Get two lights if you can and make it even brighter but NEVER aim them at the subject.

OK there are better lighting schemes. Typucally you buy a buy "soft box" and use it for a kelight and a second one for a "fill" to control the lighting ratio. Then you add the air light and background light if you need it. In a film or photo class they spend a lot of time on how to control this kind of setup. And it gets more complex if there are more people in the sshot and even more if they move around the set.

So just aim some big/cheap 500W or 1,000W lamps at the rear wall. These light need to be far from the wall so the size of the bright spot they throw is as big as can be. It will get hot in the room.

I'm not sure how you tell to put the lamp. You meant to put the light between me and the camera, but where to point the light exactly? Slightly above or below the subject?

garirry · Sep 25, 2013

Also, isn't there just a standard light that attaches directly to the camera? After a few tests, I noticed that the T4i's low-light condition recording was much better than my iPod Touch 5, but still shows noise.

matteusclement · Sep 25, 2013

what they are saying is BOUNCE the light off the walls and ceiling. I do it and it works for my green screen work.

on camera light will look terrible because it is coming right at you

ChrisA · Sep 26, 2013

garirry said:
Also, isn't there just a standard light that attaches directly to the camera? After a few tests, I noticed that the T4i's low-light condition recording was much better than my iPod Touch 5, but still shows noise.

Yes of course they make those kind of lights that mount on the camera. AVOID THEM IF YOU CAN. The lighting effect they create is horrible.

The Home Depot 500W haligen lights are way brighter and cost less and the bounced light is at least non-ugly. THose on camera lights are ugly if you try and use them as your main light.

While on the subject, only slightly wore than on-camera mounted lighting is on-camera mounted microphones. It is about the worse placement for a mic if the goal is good sound.

But on both cases you might need to mount lights and a mic to the camera. News crews do this when they are forced to or need to quickly record and have no time to set up.

Here is a quote I foubd that says it well

...In many situations a light mounted on the camera is all you have. This is common in mobile operations such as news coverage. Although it is a simple, practical solution, it does not produce particularly good lighting and should only really be used when better lighting is not possible....

The bounced light qualifies as "better lighting"

But if you MUST have a light on your camera. This one works. I have one of these but now only use if for lighting small products I shoot with a still camera
http://www.amazon.com/Neewer®-CN-160-camera-video-light/dp/B004TJ6JH6/ref=pd_sim_p_6
These LED lights are really bright but, just don't use it on the camera if you can.

THis works far better and costs about the same. just be sure to point it AWAY from the subject and bounce it off the wall and ceiling
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Workforce-Twin-Head-1-000-Watt-Halogen-Telescoping-Work-Light-637-449/202066789#.UkPhlBb0_uo

garirry · Sep 26, 2013

OK, but I don't really want a huge one million watt lamp when all I want is a small lamp attached to the camera that let me reduce the amount of noise on the screen, nothing more.

ChrisA · Sep 27, 2013

garirry said:
I'm not sure how you tell to put the lamp. You meant to put the light between me and the camera, but where to point the light exactly? Slightly above or below the subject?

Place the lamps on a stands in line with or to the rear of the camera and face the lights upwards and 180 degrees from the camera. The lights point AWAY from the subject and upward. You don's want any of the light to hit the camera so they are best placed in back of the camera.

Later after you learn about key and fill lights you can get big movable refleactors and scrims. But start just using the walls and ceiling as reflectors.

----------

garirry said:
OK, but I don't really want a huge one million watt lamp when all I want is a small lamp attached to the camera that let me reduce the amount of noise on the screen, nothing more.

The light will reduce noise but also place a big shine on your forehead and eye and an ugly shadow on the background. What's worse is the light is brightest on whatever is closer to it (like your nose)

Also the ONLY reason to ever mount a light on a camera is because you can't put it in on a stand. light looks more natural if it is coming down from the sky. If you can use a camera tripod you can use a light stand too. If you have AC power why use a battery powered light? Just get a clamp light from home depot.

garirry · Sep 28, 2013

ChrisA said:
Place the lamps on a stands in line with or to the rear of the camera and face the lights upwards and 180 degrees from the camera. The lights point AWAY from the subject and upward. You don's want any of the light to hit the camera so they are best placed in back of the camera.

Later after you learn about key and fill lights you can get big movable refleactors and scrims. But start just using the walls and ceiling as reflectors.

----------

The light will reduce noise but also place a big shine on your forehead and eye and an ugly shadow on the background. What's worse is the light is brightest on whatever is closer to it (like your nose)

Also the ONLY reason to ever mount a light on a camera is because you can't put it in on a stand. light looks more natural if it is coming down from the sky. If you can use a camera tripod you can use a light stand too. If you have AC power why use a battery powered light? Just get a clamp light from home depot.

So, I think I got it. Placing the light ABOVE the subject, right?

rei101 · Sep 29, 2013

Get an idea lamp for your desktop, that would do. Or one of those halogen lamps for $80 for the entire room.

ChrisA · Sep 29, 2013

garirry said:
So, I think I got it. Placing the light ABOVE the subject, right?

Yes. Or better still just aim the light at the ceiling and let it reflect back down. The bright spot on the ceiling acts like the light source. This why you can get buy with a way-cheap home depot light. It would look horrible if you aimed that light on the subject but bouncing it off the ceiling dramatically improves the quality. Turning a cheap lamp into a quality light.

If you want to aim the lamp direct them you need to spend the $$$ on a huge 6 foot wide softbox.

You REALLY need to at least skim through a book on lighting. Spend an hour with any beginner level book or even Google some youtube tutorials.

Search

Search

Camera light? Please help!

garirry

macrumors 68000

ChrisA

macrumors G5

garirry

macrumors 68000

garirry

macrumors 68000

matteusclement

macrumors 65816

ChrisA

macrumors G5

garirry

macrumors 68000

ChrisA

macrumors G5

garirry

macrumors 68000

rei101

macrumors 6502a

ChrisA

macrumors G5

Our Staff