Sony A6000 - exposure problems in full manual video mode

[asadikhan]

I have been using Sony a6000 for a month or so now, and I have used it on a paid gig (3 days long) for some shots, and it worked great. Today, while shooting I changed the frame rate from 60fps to 24fps, and immediately after that I started to notice that the screen showed terribly darker. As soon as I started recording video though, the exposure changed and the footage became very bright. I played the recorded footage back on the camera and it showed what I was seeing while recording. However, anytime I stopped recording, the screen showed much darker exposure. 

 

This had never happened before. I tried googling on my phone but couldn't figure out, which setting I had accidentally changed. 

 

Then, I wanted to look at the histogram to see what to believe. I swear I have seen the histogram before on a6000, but in this case, I couldn't see the histogram either. I tried flipping through the menus, or display button (wheel, up) but I couldn't get the histogram to show. 

 

One other weird thing, if I popped up the flash, the non-recording screen was as bright as while recording screen. I went through bunch of settings on my camera and they all looked good. 

 

So my question is: 

 

1) What setting is causing my screen while not recording to be really dark, and not give the right exposure?

2) Where do I turn on the damn histogram? 

 

Much thanks. 

[Golem]

Image effect preview in the live view menu.

  

The flash thing makes sense. If you're in

effect preview viewing mode, and using

flash, you apertures tend to be too small

for viewing by ambient illumination, so the

pop-up flash cancels the effect preview

when the flash is engaged.

  

Seemingly weird behavior of LCD viewing

briteness will differ depending on manual

or auto exposure mode. You could be in

effect preview and never know it if you're

always in AE, cuz you never see the effect

preview of over or under exposure ... altho

you WOULD see the effect, in AE, of any

"+/-" exposure biasing.

 

Histogram, if enabled, is on the "display"

button ... not a real button, just the top of

the quick control wheel.

[asadikhan]

I am sorry, I can't find a menu setting for "Image Effect Preview". I only see "Live View Display" under cog wheel, tab 2, and it has options for "Setting Effect ON" or "Setting Effect OFF". Presently it is ON. 

 

So what do I change again? 

[Golem]

Sorry. Different marques use different words for

the same thing. "Setting Effect" is where you go

for addressing this.

 

You say it's presently "ON". Just reread the post

above realizing that what I said about the "Image

Effect Preview" applies, even tho Sony calls it  

"Setting Effect". Everything in the above post is

accurate except for the NAME of the feature [you

will notice that both are about EFFECT].

[asadikhan]

Sorry man - I tried both turning the setting on and off. They seem to be doing the same thing i.e. screen shows darker in live view until I start recording, at which point it becomes really bright. 

[priyasoodd]

Note that when selecting effects or filters to apply to your clip, you might be inclined to use the Brightness and Contrast filter. I never use this filter because it affects too much of the image. This filter is like a simple “tone” control that turns clockwise for treble and counterclockwise for bass. The Color Curves, Levels, and other color grading filters are more like a graphic or parametric equalizer, giving you much more control.

If your footage is overexposed or too blown out, that is a different problem. Once footage is truly blown out, then detail is lost and you can’t get it back. When shooting, it’s better to underexpose just a little than to risk true overexposure. (Test the limits of your camera; on our older VX-2000, I can be in the zebras at 100% and still pull out some detail, but we have not been so lucky with newer HDV cams.)

For more tips refer to Sony A6000 Manual.