Best Settings For Canon XA10???

Trying to get the better half to shoot in Manual or Cinema. Anyone have anything shot in Cinema posted?

Have I missed something and is there is a way to use Manual White Balance in Auto?

For tropical shooting what base settings are people getting results with? She is fine with Manual White Balance.

Is it easier to shoot Av Priority, Tv Priority?

If in Manual is there a dB that is a standard to leave it on?

Any input welcome

Trying to get the better half to shoot in Manual or Cinema. Anyone have anything shot in Cinema posted?

 

Have I missed something and is there is a way to use Manual White Balance in Auto?

 

For tropical shooting what base settings are people getting results with? She is fine with Manual White Balance.

 

Is it easier to shoot Av Priority, Tv Priority?

If in Manual is there a dB that is a standard to leave it on?

 

Any input welcome

Here's what I use when I'm shooting a Bluefin housing:

Image stabilization should be set to Standard (Dynamic will cause vignetting).

I set Auto Gain Control to +9dB max if I'm in bad lighting conditions, but usually to +4dB.

I like to shoot at a framerate of 30p, in Shutter Priority mode (Tv mode) with the shutter set to 1/60. To me, 30p gives the best combination of smooth motion and cine-like flicker. I prefer Tv mode because it ensures that your motion will always be smooth; if you shoot Av mode, the program settings can drop the shutter speed below what they need to be to get smooth motion, and you get blurry footage. If shooting a wide adapter, that will deepen your DOF enough that the AF won't have much trouble seeking focus.

Your shutter speed should never be less than double your framerate; so at 24p your shutter speed should be 1/50, 30p at 1/60, or 60i at 1/120.

I usually turn the mic gain way down; unless I'm diving with humpbacks or dolphins, there's nothing to hear.

These apply whether shooting in manual or cine mode. I prefer manual mode to cine, as I believe the only advantage to cine mode is the ability to use one of the prepackaged "looks." I don't like shooting that way, I'd rather shoot color-accurate and apply color corrections in post.

Thanks for the help will see how it looks compared to shooting in Auto. Will try Cine mode, I thought it was supposed to give you the shallow depth of field used in movies.

Thanks for the help will see how it looks compared to shooting in Auto. Will try Cine mode, I thought it was supposed to give you the shallow depth of field used in movies.

No, shallow depth of field is a function of aperture size in relation to sensor size, with the length of the lens as an additional factor. Cine mode on the XA10 is just a series of preset white balances and image effects.

Your probably right, could have sworn in all the reviews I read/heard something about DOF. Oh well off to Sipidan!