Flaat settings for the NEX-5N

[Samuel H]

I'm not sure about that, but I have found some hints that DR-5 may be a bad idea: the light response becomes wiggly, with a bump at around IRE 30%. This is highly undesirable, because, if confirmed, it will lead to unpredictable results and difficult-to-grade footage. So far I'm back to DR-3, which doesn't seem to have this problem.

Also, my DR measurements above were in stills mode. I always do it that way, because I found that with the Canons the results were exactly the same, but it's much easier to work with stills. The 5N leads to different results in stills and video mode, probably because the color space is different, so the measurements above are not accurate. I still see more DR in portrait than in sunset, but I'll have to measure it differently to see how big the difference is, and if this camera is actually giving me more DR than my old Canon (I'll run side-by-side tests next week).

[Samuel H]

I've built an infrastructure for calculating the light-response functions directly in video mode, without relying on stills. I can confirm that DR is nearly a stop smaller for video than for jpg stills, and that my original settings with DR-5 deliver a nasty, wiggly light response. I'll try to calculate the light response function with different settings in the following couple of days, and see if I can come out with something that resembles what Flaat does for Canon and Nikon DSLRs. I still like the colors and "softness" of portrait better than what I get from sunset, and DR seems wider, but the big prize is for a near-log light response across 11 stops of latitude

[Samuel H]

After measuring a few light response functions (you can see them here: http://www.similaar.com/foto/flaat-5...l-tests-1.html), now my favored settings are:
Portrait, contrast=-3, saturation=-1, sharpness=-3, DR-1

With this, in video mode, I've measured 11 stops of latitude at ISO 100, with a light response function that is, well, not too bad; I would call it "piecewise log"; not what I'd settle for in the Canons or Nikons, but not a bad option if I can't define my own curve, and in any case the most "neutral" one I've been able to find yet (moderately wide, not wiggly, and with as little of an in-built s-curve as I could get)



(I updated the first two posts of the thread to reflect my recent findings)

[Samuel H]

DONE: Flaat for the 5N is out

I've updated the OP