Tips For Shooting In Darkness

On this video Ryan Connolly from Film Riot takes a look at how to shoot a dark scene in video without getting a lot of noise in the image.

when we are shooting in low light we normally try and increase our sensitivity in the camera. However although this might work for some scences , when we try to shoot a really dark scene it will result in a very grainy picture and typically not something that we would like to use. An obvious answer is to use a faster lens (the faster the better), but we can’t always get one and even if we do – there is a limit to how much it can help.Another way to go is to add light to the scene in a way that will look natural and help you keep your ISO low but still maintain the “dark look” we are looking for in the scene (Connolly demonstrates some options in the video – but you will have to try for yourselves to see what works for you). Of course you can always try and fix things in post but remember that it is almost always best to get as much as you can right in camera.

As a bonus item – Connolly compares 3 lenses in the end of the video – a Canon 15.5-47mm pro video lens vs. two other “more conventional” lenses – the result is quite interesting (and not really surprising to be honest).

You can watch more HDSLR and video techniques on our dedicated HDSLR channel here on LensVid.

Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.