The Shut Up and Shoot Freelance Video Guide

UNDEREXPOSURE AND GAIN

Gain

Your camera’s video gain function allows you to get a better exposure in low-light situations. It’s a way of artificially brightening the image. You aren’t really letting more light into the lens as you do when you open the iris or lower the shutter speed. Instead, you are electronically brightening the picture, which works to boost exposure, but has one big drawback: it adds video noise.

Just like audio noise, gain is measured in decibels (dB). And just like it sounds, the “noise” that comes along with using gain is not a good thing. It’s essentially grainy static that degrades your image. It’s a permanent part of the recorded image and cannot be removed in post, so what you see is what you get. Most prosumer cameras ...