[Updated] Manual Exposure Settings of the Sony DCR-TRV17

Back in January I attempted to map out the shutter speed, gain and aperture of a PAL Sony DCR-TRV17 camera. At the time, I noticed that the shutter speed seemed to always be set to 1/100 and I wished that I could set it to 1/50, the equivalent of 180° shutter angle for a camera running at 25 frames per second. I have since figured out how to force the camera to choose this shutter speed. I set the camera to automatic mode and then brought it into darkness. The shutter speed changed from 1/100 to 1/60 to 1/50. When the exposure button is pressed, the camera just sticks to the shutter speed which it was using at the time. Therefore, the key to forcing the camera to use 1/50 shutter speed is to engage the button in darkness. Here's the updated table:

Position	Shutter Speed	F-Stop	Gain
01	1/50	Close	0 db
02	1/50	f/28	0 db
03	1/50	f/22	0 db
04	1/50	f/19	0 db
05	1/50	f/16	0 db
06	1/50	f/14	0 db
07	1/50	f/11	0 db
08	1/50	f/9.6	0 db
09	1/50	f/8	0 db
10	1/50	f/6.8	0 db
11	1/50	f/5.6	0 db
12	1/50	f/4.8	0 db
13	1/50	f/4	0 db
14	1/50	f/3.4	0 db
15	1/50	f/2.8	0 db
16	1/50	f/2.4	0 db
17	1/50	f/2	0 db
18	1/50	f/1.7	0 db
19	1/50	f/1.7	3 db
20	1/50	f/1.7	6 db
21	1/50	f/1.7	9 db
22	1/50	f/1.7	12 db
23	1/50	f/1.7	15 db
23	1/50	f/1.7	18 db

The Formula

The aperture and gain remained exactly the same for this test as it did for the previous one when the shutter speed is set to 1/100. This is the simple formula to force the camera to choose the most 'cinematic' settings (the widest aperture, leading to the most shallow depth of field):

1. With the camera in auto exposure mode, attach the lens cap. This will force the camera to choose 1/50 as its shutter speed
2. Press the exposure button
3. Roll the Select wheel until the marker in the exposure bar is six positions below its maximum

The camera is now using 1/50th shutter with an iris of f/1.7 and 0 dB of gain. If you're going to the cinematic look, you probably know that using longer lenses narrows the depth of field. The good news is that this camera does not change its f/ number no matter where you are in the zoom range.

So there you have an updated version of how the get the best settings out of a Sony DCR-TRV17 camcorder.

Posted by Andrew at 9:23 pm, Tuesday 2nd June, 2009Permalink: http://productions.andrewgentle.com/tutorials/updated_manual_exposure_settings_of_the_sony_dcrtrv17/

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