Technical video photography lighting question

[George Pill]

Just ordered two of these:

Godox On-Camera Video Lights LEDM150, Mobile Phone LED Video Light, Li Battery USB Charge Port Dimmable Ultra High Power LED Panel Video Light for Smart Phones Cameras at Amazon.com. $49.00 each.

[P&G]

Rockheart : Do you think one can male street videos at night at an acceptable level of quality with a "bridge" camera in the video mode ?

[Rockheart]

I don't think a bridge or prosumer camera would work that well for night shooting outdoors.
They have night mode but it never seems that great. They can do ok but perhaps the newest ones are better.
I use the Canon 80D usually when i go out to bars and such. I have a full sized external flash and mostly take pics inside or at least in a smaller area.
So it works find i the bars with the flash but without extra light the video would not be that great I think, then if i went outside it would be worse.

I would say the best thing to use at night outside is an iphone.
Most of the top phones these days take amazing low light pics, so I assume the video is good too since they seem to adjust well.
However I assume some cameras must have similar technology but you may have to pay.

As far as DSLRs, I think you would need at least a full frame camera which is usually much more expensive.
Full frame cameras are basically for pros and they let in the maximum light possible.
Even with the right camera, you are still going to need a lens with at least f2.8 or less to get enough light in.

Now I am thinking one of the newer full frame mirrorless cameras may take your best video.

A real DSLR will usually auto focus better in low light.
Some cheaper cameras don't have manual focus and have much trouble focusing at night.
Also traditional cameras tend to have stabilization issues compared to dedicated video cameras.

[George Pill]

I plan to attach my Samsung phone to this Godox light and use it only for indoor bedroom action shots, and that's all. I like the way I can shine the light wherever the cell phone points. You can see this new video technique being used in BlackedRAW.com. Look at the video sample shots. You can see there's only one light source being used and it seems to be very intense and attached to the camera itself. Once I saw the reflection on the shiny surface of a furniture and could see a bright RING light. Not sure if it was attached to the lens or seated in the flash shoe on top of the cam. Searched the Internet, Amazon.com, and online camera parts websites like B&H but could not find such a ring light anywhere. So I bought this small $50 Godox light instead and another light like Godox only with more LED and more light output. Anybody know what this RING light looks like exactly and how this ring is attached to the camera. I think the camera is actually a cell phone. Really surprised how sharp it can record porno vids.

Blacked.com doesn't use this strong ring lighting attached to the camera. It uses several strong lights. Even in outdoor shots. Go to this website and look at the sample photos. Excellent sharpness, bright lighting with multiple light stands, perfect color, but no ring lighting here. This use of two different lighting techniques are both cool and I want to try this on my next trip. I bet the ring light is very expensive and requires electric wires to supply enough juice to power this. So that's why I bought this Godox. Cheaper and lighter to work with. Will visit Pantip Plaza to see if they have this strong intense light. Did visit last year, but it was a WEAK light with a built-in battery. It is attached to the flash shoe on top of my Canon 80D. I don't think this is strong enough. Bought it because it was cheap.

For my GoPro I found on Amazon.com this

Gurmoir Aluminum Alloy Housing Case for Gopro Hero 5/Gopro Hero (2018) Action Camera (with Rear Door)(Blue), Protective Metal Skeleton Cage with 52 mm Filter Provides Better Protection for Gopro

.

SHOOT Aluminum Solid Cooling Case for GoPro HERO5/HERO(2018) Vlogging Built-in 52mm UV Protection Lens Filter,Lens Cap,Mic Cold Shoe Adapter(No Back Cover)

.

Both happily have flash shoe mounts. Cheap, too.

So I'm leaving my heavy Fovitech 600 LED panel home and will travel lighter. BTW this item is currently unavailable. I don't think it will return. Luckily I bought two.

I do understand Canon super top of the line DSLR cameras. They are way too expensive at $3K plus. I am not a professional photographer. Just amateur. I like shooting videos while fucking at the same time. Funny thing is I don't watch my movies. I enjoy the memory of real life loving and hugging in the dark. My friends love it, too. Maybe I ought to just use my lightweight cell phone and Godox attached with a 12 foot electric micro USB charging cable to the wall socket.

[rxpharm]

Rockheart : Do you think one can male street videos at night at an acceptable level of quality with a "bridge" camera in the video mode ?

I agree with Crag, a bridge camera will generally not do so well with low light, as the sensor size is small, and the lens usually cannot have a wide aperture to gather more light in those situations.

There are a couple of phones that do extremely well with low light photos and videos, the Google Pixel, and Iphone models 8 and higher. If you check out the reviews there are a couple more besides and these will perform better than most bridge cameras in low light for videos or photos.

The problem with DSLRs is size and weight - although there are now mirrorless cameras - but they are even more expensive.

[Rockheart]

Yes i think a full frame mirrorless camera might be better than an iphone.

[P&G]

Rockheart & rxpharm : thanks a lot for your answers. I think of my camera that is a bridge (Sony DHC-H400). I purchased when I felt like trying making photos with something better than a simple smartphone. It actually does. I had no budget, but it was probably more expensive than what I was ready to pay. If I wanted to make pics as I'd like to totay, I would need about 5 times as much to get the DSLR and lenses I would need. So far, I decided to keep on using the bridge to improve my photos before I get something more expensive.
I also got a new smartphone this year. Although the quality of pics improved (my former smartphone was almost 5 years old), it's a medium range Samsung Galaxy (A7).
I thought of shooting a couple of street scenes and posting them in Youtube to improve my next TR.
Either, I use the Sony in video mode.
Either I use the Galaxy A7 camera to shoot the video.
Or I just don't waste my time trying to make a video.

[Rockheart]

i had some Thai street videos on Youtube but google blocked them due to copyright restrictions.
They were because the bars were were playing copyrighted songs that you could hear in the video.
You could barely pick out the songs with the human ear but their algorithms can make something out of nothing.
Warner brothers or someone like that was then allowed to take over the advertising on my videos.

[P&G]

Is there anything else like a hosting site as for pics that allows reading videos only using a link to a forum or blog ?
Is there a freeware to cut, add text and edit videos before posting ?

[Rockheart]

I think you can do most basic stuff in youtube

[P&G]

Thanks a lot for these videos. I am going to watch them this week end. I had no time tonight. (I have found new fishes in Vietnam).

[P&G]

I think you can do most basic stuff in youtube

I took time to watch the videos. I found another one after the 3rd one without looking for it and more videos dealing with the subject are coming.

It seems feasible to edit a video correctly before posting it.

[P&G]

One more question : let's say I manage to shoot a video with an acceptable level of quality. Can post it direct to the forum without hosting it in YouTube or is it inevitable to post in YouTube first ?

[Rockheart]

One more question : let's say I manage to shoot a video with an acceptable level of quality. Can post it direct to the forum without hosting it in YouTube or is it inevitable to post in YouTube first ?

If you have a video to post you if you can get it to me I will upload it and send you the code to put in your page.
Soon I will get video uploads working on the forum, just not quite there yet.

Like i say if you put street videos on Youtube that have music playing Google will censor it.
Best to post it here if there is copyrighted music no matter how indistinguishable.
Warner music took over the advertising on my Nana video because of it. I had to just delete it.