6400 ISO, low light interior test

[davidsoll]

I do a lot of verite documentary work, so one of the most exciting opportunities with the F3 is the ability to shoot a credible scene in a dimly lit interior room. Tested this out tonight in my living room and was quite pleased with the results.

At 6400 ISO (with lens wide open at F2.0), the noise is modest but noticeable. Overall, though, the image is still totally credible. My last film was shot with the Panasonic HPX170, and while I'm proud of the look in the final cut, there were scenes I simply couldn't use because the noise in low light situations was too distracting. If I were caught in this situation following a subject with the F3, I wouldn't have the same problem.

Here's the footage:
http://vimeo.com/20695397

Totally ungraded - this is straight out of the camera.
6400 ISO
Nikon 85mm/F2.0

Nearest light source is a 60 watt paper lamp, about ten feet away. To understand how much the 18db gain is doing, note the window in the background that looks like dusk or overcast daylight - this was shot at 10pm; to the naked eye, it was completely dark outside. Also, this is with Cinegamma 1 - would have gotten less noise with a Standard gamma setting, presumably.

Matrix settings courtesy of Alister Chapman via dvinfo.net.

Matrix: R-G +10, R-B +4, G-R 0, G-B +14, B-R +3, B-G -3, Std Matrix.

[studiocreatif]

Nice test !
Good to see ungraded footage with the Matrix settings. Thank you.

[BobbyMurcerFan]

Dude, that is CRAZY!

[Fohdeesha]

wow, that's literally as much noise as my ex1r at 0db. 3db tops! This camera is too exciting. Nice to see one of the cinegamma curves finally as well, not that there were any extreme highlights to deal with. In my experience (with the ex series anyways), is that actually the std gammas have a tiny bit more noise. When you switch form a std curve to a cine, you can notice the exposure drop quite a bit, presumably as the curve is not adding so much level to the midtones of the image. Then when you stop open a little to compensate, that also feeds the sensor more light, giving it more voltage to overcome circuitry noise. The difference in noise between all the curves, std or cine, is very negligible though. (On the ex series anyway, I would really love to get the f3 on some scopes and go to town with the PP menus)

[Duke M.]

Very nice. I wonder if you went to an f1.4 you could drop to ISO 3200?

[roei z]

what do you mean, "wow"? vimeo stream tells nothing.
looks nice but i wanna download the file, which i can't.

[Fohdeesha]

Are you kidding? the normal amount of noise at 6400 iso would be hugely obvious, even in a vimeo stream. But I agree, it would be nice if we could download the original source file.

[davidsoll]

what do you mean, "wow"? vimeo stream tells nothing.
looks nice but i wanna download the file, which i can't.

just enabled download on the source video, but in this case I'm pretty much seeing all the noise in the vimeo stream.

[roei z]

just enabled download on the source video, but in this case I'm pretty much seeing all the noise in the vimeo stream.

thanks :)

[dop16mm]

I wouldn't say vimeo tells us nothing, we've all seen lowlight tests from lesser cams where the noise was very obvious. Yes everyone needs to test for themselves before shooting in the dark, but this is exciting stuff. It looks cleaner than 500 iso film.

The true revolution for small budget film makers is not the size of the chip, but the amount of light required to make it work. you could light a feature out of a lowel kit and make it look good. You don't need to overpower the existing light just to get an exposure. I'm not saying just turn the lights on and let it play, you still have to shape the light and make the actors look good, but you won't need a grip truck and generators to do it.

[davidsoll]

no prob roei.

out of curiosity, does the QT look much noisier to your eye than the Vimeo? I think the Vimeo compression hides some noise (obviously it hides a bit of all kinds of detail, just by virtue of being compressed), but it's most pronounced in the blacks. Since this video doesn't really have much noise in the blacks (i see it mostly in the blocks of color in the background, like the blue cabinet), it looks about as pronounced in Vimeo as in the source...

[Kholi]

I wouldn't say vimeo tells us nothing, we've all seen lowlight tests from lesser cams where the noise was very obvious. Yes everyone needs to test for themselves before shooting in the dark, but this is exciting stuff. It looks cleaner than 500 iso film.

The true revolution for small budget film makers is not the size of the chip, but the amount of light required to make it work. you could light a feature out of a lowel kit and make it look good. You don't need to overpower the existing light just to get an exposure. I'm not saying just turn the lights on and let it play, you still have to shape the light and make the actors look good, but you won't need a grip truck and generators to do it.

Very good points. With the MX we were mostly shooting with a 2000 WATT package an entire feature film. That's what made it possible.

You still need light, but like you said, small generators that are gas powered will do.

[Kholi]

And just watched the video. There's noise there of course, but if it were very offensive then Vimeo would show it. The compression might help a little but it doesn't that much usually.

Was this the onboard recording as well?

I'm actually pretty impressed.

[Gary Huff]

Very nice test. Color me impressed.

[davidsoll]

And just watched the video. There's noise there of course, but if it were very offensive then Vimeo would show it. The compression might help a little but it doesn't that much usually.

Was this the onboard recording as well?

I'm actually pretty impressed.

Yes, onboard recording. 1920x1080/23.98. Shutter at 180 degrees.

This sensor really makes the high iso, low bit rate recording look credible. Still, I'm looking forward to picking a 10bit external recorder for effects and high detail (not that I'd be trying to composite with 6400 ISO footage, so not particularly relevant to this test).. Curious to see what's introduced at NAB.

[David G. Smith]

How do you download the source video from Vimeo? Do you have to be a "Plus" Member? I don't seem to be able to do it.

[Kholi]

Yes, onboard recording. 1920x1080/23.98. Shutter at 180 degrees.

This sensor really makes the high iso, low bit rate recording look credible. Still, I'm looking forward to picking a 10bit external recorder for effects and high detail (not that I'd be trying to composite with 6400 ISO footage, so not particularly relevant to this test).. Curious to see what's introduced at NAB.

As much footage as I've seen with the off-board recording units, this might actually be a great example of the onboard being plenty for straight drama, comedy and horror especially.

I'm gonna keep an eye out on the NXcam for sure. Could be a good replacement for DSLRs for me.

[TimurCivan]

Very good points. With the MX we were mostly shooting with a 2000 WATT package an entire feature film. That's what made it possible.

You still need light, but like you said, small generators that are gas powered will do.

EXACTLY. I mean i like a working stop of a T2.8 - T4, if the camera is good to go @ ISO 800, i can get a VERY decent exposure with what kholi is talking about. a 2k in book light formation, and youre set is almost lit. :) An i will say this, While the camera reads that +18dB is ISO3200, double checked with a Light meter, and Andy/Mitch from Abel were right, it is 6400 ISO when in REC709. Cine gammas looks darker cause of the curve. After CC the luminance comes back, so yes. Th cam really is 6400 ISO, and looks like that!. its scary.

[Kholi]

EXACTLY. I mean i like a working stop of a T2.8 - T4, if the camera is good to go @ ISO 800, i can get a VERY decent exposure with what kholi is talking about. a 2k in book light formation, and youre set is almost lit. :) An i will say this, While the camera reads that +18dB is ISO3200, double checked with a Light meter, and Andy/Mitch from Abel were right, it is 6400 ISO when in REC709. Cine gammas looks darker cause of the curve. After CC the luminance comes back, so yes. Th cam really is 6400 ISO, and looks like that!. its scary.

The camera gives you a REC709 without any upgrades???

Wow, that's pretty nice, man.

Definitely hoping NXCam gets these cool tidbits.

[TimurCivan]

Yup, you get REC709 gamma, and a REC709 legal broadcast color matrix.