Zebras for a photographer?

Рет қаралды 15,467

5 жыл бұрын

Zebras are a videographers tool, but photographers can use them too!! setting suggestion: 100+ or maybe even 105+ and testing it for yourself! Weekly newsletter:www.boxheadmike.com
If you want to take better control of your exposure zebras might be something to try out. I use them all the time and they help me get a good exposure. However I have been wanting to push my camera to the limits so this is what I found out....
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Mike
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Пікірлер: 79

@specialized41 5 жыл бұрын

The best A7III tutorials on internet, period.! Thanks Mike!!!

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much, I really appreciate that!! 😁 lots more to come as well so keep hacking back. 👍

@chryseass.5143 5 жыл бұрын

I shall be watching this a few times to extract all this useful information! Thanks for doing this- all very interesting!

@paulvo1621 5 жыл бұрын

This past weekend, I successfully applied the techniques you showed in this video. Thank you for these instructions.

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

That’s excellent Paul! I’m glad I could help!! 😁👍

@mauricioalvarez6743 Жыл бұрын

Soooo helpful Mike - very grateful.

@mikesphotography Жыл бұрын

No worries, I'm glad I could help Mauricio. 😁👍

@vincentmarcolla316 5 жыл бұрын

A thorough explanation (as usual) very useful. Happy to see your channel growing !

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much Vincent! And thank’s so much for your support, much appreciated!

@JeniaFabisuk 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for another great video! Very helpful.

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

No problem. I’m glad it’s come in helpful. 👍

@jacobgoldenpictures3828 4 жыл бұрын

Another super helpful video!

@mikesphotography 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jacob!!

@tobywoolgar9517 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the this handy advice 👍

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

No worries Toby, I’m glad it helped! 😁👍

@benedicterickwasibaah6393 5 жыл бұрын

I seem to be watching your videos a lot lately... thumbs up Mike! I would love to see a tutorial on setting up (settings for photography) on the A7iii. I am coming from the canon background and so the Sony system looks very complicated to me a bit. Thank you!

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Hi Benedict, thanks so much for checking out my videos, I really appreciate it. That’s a good idea, I’ll add it to the list of videos to do. 👍 Also if you’re interested, I have started a weekly newsletter with links to my videos, links to downloadable test images when relevant and any interesting photo news that I find. It’s at the bottom of my home page www.boxheadmike.com 😎👍

@andrewmahon4290 5 жыл бұрын

Very useful 👍🏻

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks Andrew! 👍

@thambamaran 5 жыл бұрын

Awesome information from you , keep going you are rocks ! Thanks a lot..... Go the distance 🖤

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks Maran! I really appreciate your support, Keeps me motivated! 👍 lots more to come so keep checking back every week.

@KC-wt4fz 2 жыл бұрын

Tip: If you use zebras often, set it as a shortcut on a button so you can turn it on and off easily

@BrandonBousquet 5 жыл бұрын

Mike, can you do a quick video on the exposure dial and best practices? I never adjust my exposure knob.

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Do you mean the exposure compensation dial? If so here’s a quick vid: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/d9uGi8d9qpytfoE.html

@michaelpoczynek 2 жыл бұрын

very very interesting thanks.

@mikesphotography 2 жыл бұрын

And thank you for watching Michael! 😁👍

@LifeSurfingDude 5 жыл бұрын

Mike, completely agree with your idea to explore the tool we use and make the best out of it. As I understand after watching some other youtube videos, it is a good idea to set your exposure level to the highest possible value and yet be mindful of not overexposing the picture to avoid clipping. Doing so, will bring some shadows out (which can be adjusted in post processing) but it will ensure that the image has better quality in those areas. I guess that's the whole point of exposing to the right - to have a better quality of the image as darker areas tend to be more grainy than highlights. Is my understanding correct? But I guess there might be situations when certain areas of the image should be left overexposed like reflections on the waves. After all when looking at those bright spots human eye don't register any details. They are all just very bright beams of light.

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Sergei, That’s exactly right! 👍 If the highlights are part of your subject, you need to protect them. Exposing to the right means you get the most out of your shadows without clipping the highlights. When there are small highlights in the background that aren’t too distracting, you can let them blow out. 👍

@jtes1442 5 жыл бұрын

Great video , how about a demo on how to set it up ?

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

How to set up to film or how to set up the camera for zebras?

@thomasbauercom 5 жыл бұрын

Very interesting, Mike. I set my A7III to 100+ but never made any tests as you did. I'm very interested in the results of your 1-month-test. Will you publish them as a new/updated video here on KZfaq?

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

That’s a good idea Thomas! I might have to do that...if not I’ll at least point you in the direction of some raw images to look at. 👍

@manuCH_ 2 жыл бұрын

your t-shirts is beautiful! where did you buy it? btw nice video!!

@mikesphotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! I'm not sure exactly...I think it was from a hiking shop in Europe somewhere... Thanks for watching 😁👍

@damon4557 5 жыл бұрын

Another awesome video Mike, Sony A series zebra inconsistency has been frustrating me since I started using them.. I'm keen to see how the testing goes!

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you. 😁 yeah, I figured as it gave the same readout as the blinkies, that it would be similar to the blinkers on the canons. If you head over to my website, at the bottom of my home page, and sign up to my newsletter, you’ll keep up to date with any test images I send out. 👍

@damon4557 5 жыл бұрын

@@mikesphotography Way ahead of you mate, signed up last night :D I'm going to to my own playing also, I'm setting 108+ and doing some tests in variable DR conditions

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Awesome, thanks dude! Going to be sending one out this morning!! 👍

@damon4557 5 жыл бұрын

I've been doing shots at 109+ with no zebra for reference, then zebra on hard edges, then zebra on the sky.... zebra on hard edges is showing on real loss, sky zebras also seem recoverable. According to Lightrooms clipping indicator I am still able to boost about 0.5 stops exposure before it shows any highlight clipping. To me that says that 109+ is still a pretty safe exposure indicator.. That wasn't in the most extreme shooting scenario however so I'm sure you will get some more detailed results.

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

That’s really interesting. Good to hear you’ve been testing it out as well! 👍 I’ve been doing some commercial work over the last week so I haven’t had the chance to go out and shoot for myself recently, but hopefully this weekend I’ve got a couple planned. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how it works in the images with huge dynamic ranges.

@singjazz 3 ай бұрын

I’m trying to see what’s overexposed after a take my photo. In my project I’m doing sixteen second exposures. My Nikon flashed the overexposed areas in the photo after in the display. I can’t find that on the Sony. :(

@DazLane123 5 жыл бұрын

Hi Mike what did you finally settle on ? I shoot Raw , Dro Off , Standard Profile , what Zebra setting to get the most from the Raw please thanks

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Hi Darren, I ended up settling on 105+. That seems to give me a good exposure and I don’t clip the highlights.

@DazLane123 5 жыл бұрын

just signed up to your news letter , this is best video yet , i set mine to LL 107 but what profile do you reccomend ? neutral ? standard ? any change to contrast values ? thanks

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Thanks Darren!! I have been really slack with my email newsletters but I’ll be sending one out today. Cool, that’s good to know! I tried to break it down as much as possible. As in profile, do you mean creative style? I usually have this set to standard with contrast on -3 and the other two set to 0. This doesn’t change how the raw file comes out but it does change the preview on the back of the cam, so I don’t worry too much about what it’s set on.... I hope that helps.

@tejaphotographyramu5474 3 жыл бұрын

The best A73 wedding menu setting lens 24-70 gmaster 2.8 link petandisir me videos chala baguntyai sir

@mikesphotography 3 жыл бұрын

It would definitely help in weddings. 👍

@basilboer8158 Жыл бұрын

Would your suggestions apply equally to the RX10iv which only has a 1'' sensor?

@mikesphotography Жыл бұрын

Pretty much. I have shot with the rx10 for the past 4 years and I use this tool in that camera as well. With the RX, you have to be careful in low light, but when the light is good, or when you can shoot from a tripod, you can get some great images from this camera. Thanks for watching 😁👍

@vinodjeet1 2 жыл бұрын

Hi smith hope u doing good we’ll need help When I eleminating highlight using zebra my pic getting underexposed can u please guide

@mikesphotography 2 жыл бұрын

It sounds like you're photographing a scene with a very high dynamic range. If your shadows are getting underexposed so much that you can't recover them, then you need to bracket your shots. If you can't bracket the shot, then you need to ask yourself if the highlights in your shot are important to the final image. Sometimes if they are in the background and you're photographing people, you can blow the highlights out and get a good exposure on the subject and still come away with a good photograph. But first of all, look into bracketing: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ptRloLmC3ZqqioU.html this one is for the A7iii, but the principle is the same for most cameras (the function might just be in a different place in the menu). Thanks for watching 😁👍

@martynunyabussiness8134 2 жыл бұрын

Did ever post an update for how your zebra experiment turned out? I don't nt see one on your website

@martynunyabussiness8134 2 жыл бұрын

Sorry I read below that you settled on 105+ but Incant delete my question for some reason

@mikesphotography 2 жыл бұрын

No worries Marty. Yep, I settled on 105+ and they seem to work really well at that level. Thanks for watching 😁👍

@grovercostello1668 5 жыл бұрын

Hi Mike. Great video as always but I still find exposure and zebras confusing. What I am trying to understand is if highlights get clipped/lost when they go over 100 ire and blacks/shadows get crushed under 0 ire why would you set zebras to 100+? Wouldn't setting zebras to 100 show zebras up when you go over the 100 mark or is that what the + is doing, that the zebras appear once you go anything over 100. I am an A7III hybrid shooter so this video is very relevant to me but I still find understanding it fully very confusing.

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Great question Grover. So ire levels are used more for video. With photography, if you shot jpegs, you’d probably have to keep it below 100. However, with raw files, there is more dynamic range and I think the Sony raw files have something called superwhites...this means there’s more detail in the highlights, past 100...therefore on 100+ you’ll still have detail. Does that make sense?

@MichaelangeloFilm 4 жыл бұрын

@@mikesphotography you're a blessing

@mikesphotography 4 жыл бұрын

No worries Michael, I’m glad I could help! 😁👍

@firesmaug3214 2 жыл бұрын

How many photo and video the camera sensor can take before it quitely die?

@mikesphotography 2 жыл бұрын

I think I am on about 150,000 and it is still going strong. 😁👍

@neilcarter960 4 жыл бұрын

Mike do the zebras work in all modes ie Manual , Aperture. i tried a little test with them, the zebras showed the over exposed areas, however, when i raised the shutter speed, the zebras continued to show.

@mikesphotography 4 жыл бұрын

Did you raise the exposure by changing the principal settings (aperture, iso, shutter speed) or by changing the exposure compensation? In aperture mode, you'll only change how the exposure is and how the zebras look by using exposure compensation. 👍

@neilcarter960 4 жыл бұрын

@@mikesphotography Thanks Mike

@dreamchaser7554 5 жыл бұрын

good show

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much Jimmy!! 😁👍

@dreamchaser7554 5 жыл бұрын

my teacher just inform me that he use 70 for zebra. I am not so sure 70-100+ which one i could use.

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

The best this is to test it out...take some shots at different zebra levels and see what works best for you. Your teacher who prefers 70 has learned to work with that level...I like to push the highlights and get the most out of the camera, so I go for 105+. The great thing with these cameras is you can personalise it to your taste. 👍

@dreamchaser7554 5 жыл бұрын

@@mikesphotography I will try to test it as you mentioned. tks you

@DazLane123 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Mike 3 years later I set to Lower Limit 109+ but what profile and values do you use thanks

@mikesphotography 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Darren, when taking photos, I leave profiles off and shoot in RAW. Thanks for watching 😁👍

@inthevortexphotography5520 5 жыл бұрын

What's the difference in using your histogram? Or is this much more subtle?

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

It’s just a different tool that pretty much does the same thing....this is basically like the blinkies but in real time instead of just on the preview. I did a video on histograms and zebras a few months ago: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p7l_nrl8vrLaqYk.html

@jyexe525 2 жыл бұрын

@@mikesphotography Hi Mike just a question, if I can see the histogram in my viewfinder, is it useful to add the zebras too ? Thanks.

@mikesphotography 2 жыл бұрын

@@jyexe525 It all depends on what you prefer. Try both and see which one you like the best...If you like having both on, keep them on, If you prefer one over the other, just turn off the one you don't like. Thanks for watching 😁👍

@UmangOjha_05 5 жыл бұрын

Hey Mike - Thanks for the video. I have my a7iii also setup on 100+ zebra setting. I went out yesterday it was a bright sunny day. While i was taking pictures i felt that due to zebra i was not able to take properly exposed images because zebra lines were displaying all the time in every frame and i was adjusting exposure compensation, shutter and aperture to make it go away. After taking the images i felt that almost every image is underexposed as opposed to what i could see in reality iso was 100 wb was day light. How to manage this? Additionally, same issue i faced while shooting videos at 4k 24frames and 1/50 shutter, for this iso was 100 and white balance was day light. Here i could only change the aperture and exposure compensation to make zebra lines go away the final result was underexposed and not optimal because due aperture changes i lost the bookeh. How do i manage in this?

@mikesphotography 5 жыл бұрын

When exposing on a bright sunny day, you’ll have to judge whether or not the dynamic range of the shot is too big for the dynamic range of the camera. When it is, you’ll have to either blow out your highlights, exposing your subject correctly, shoot off a tripod and bracket the shots or underexposed the shadows and bring them back when editing. As for video, you need to plan your shots so the subject gets good exposure and the background blows out or you shoot it in a way that the dynamic range of the shot is within the capabilities of the camera. Compositions with huge dynamic rages are the hardest to shoot well...especially when filming...

@UmangOjha_05 5 жыл бұрын

@@mikesphotography Thanks.

@dreamchaser7554 5 жыл бұрын

I think that Variable ND filter should be used under great sunny day. , shutter speed we can make it to 1/100-120. ISo 50-100. Under exposure is better then over exposure in my opinion.

@KC-wt4fz 2 жыл бұрын

U can set zebra setting as a shortcut on a custom button to be turn on and off instantly. So u can always turn it on and off with just a click of a button