How to expose Movie Mode on the Sony a7R II


The following video will help you understand exposure in Movie mode: Download Video Takeaways Movie mode is close to Rec. 709, and follows legal levels (42-44 IRE 18% grey, 90 IRE white). You can underexpose by up to 2 stops to retain highlight detail, and you won’t be making any big mistakes. You should not ... Read more

The following video will help you understand exposure in Movie mode:

Download Video

Takeaways

  • Movie mode is close to Rec. 709, and follows legal levels (42-44 IRE 18% grey, 90 IRE white).
  • You can underexpose by up to 2 stops to retain highlight detail, and you won’t be making any big mistakes.
  • You should not want to overexpose your scenes by more than a stop. It might look okay for sky and foliage, but will look worse for skin tones or anything with red-orange in them.
  • The color mode (color space) to use is always Movie. Don’t mix and match.
  • You can play with the detail setting to sharpen according to taste. Some clients like super-sharp images like those you get with the GH4, while others (like me) prefer a softer image and would prefer to add sharpening later in post if desired.
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Sareesh Sudhakaran is a film director and award-winning cinematographer with over 24 years of experience. His second film, "Gin Ke Dus", was released in theaters in India in March 2024. As an educator, Sareesh walks the talk. His online courses help aspiring filmmakers realize their filmmaking dreams. Sareesh is also available for hire on your film!