Compensating for differences in Lens Color and Contrast: techniques or tips?

K

Kholi

Section Moderator
I don't think this has come up just yet. I want to ask if there are any in-camera techniques to help color match lenses or compensate for the differences in color and contrast BEFORE post? White Balancing help at all when switching between lenses?

Or is this not a very good idea?

I've noticed some lenses are warmer, some are incredibly contrasty etc., etc. What's the most efficient way of dealing with this?

All post or correct in-camera?
 
Kholi said:
I don't think this has come up just yet. I want to ask if there are any in-camera techniques to help color match lenses or compensate for the differences in color and contrast BEFORE post? White Balancing help at all when switching between lenses?

Or is this not a very good idea?

I've noticed some lenses are warmer, some are incredibly contrasty etc., etc. What's the most efficient way of dealing with this?

All post or correct in-camera?
Click to expand...

You are not going to like my answer, so I am sorry ahead of time.

When you buy lenses like Zeiss in the same series they match. It is very hard to find matching lenses even from the same manufacturer.

http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.472981/it.A/id.326/.f
 
LoL You're right: I didn't like that answer.

No but seriously, we can't all afford to really buy lenses from the same series. Which is okay, sometimes you can sometimes you can't. So if you can't, do you know of anything that helps to rectify the lil' issue?

I was hopin' somethin' along the lines of white balancing could help when switching lenses? At least a little. IS that a no?
 
Careful notes on each shots slate about the lens being used, and some post color correction loving will help you out. I suggest using RGB curves.
 
I found my Nikon primes to be pretty similar. I wouldn't re white because that's too gross a change and will change with the room changes. I just checked out all my lenses and eyeballed them with the HVX and then looked to see what correction in the menus (color temp, phase black level if necc ) helped them match and wrote it down. Like I said the Nikon's all looked very close. I also had a Tokina zoom that was very different.

Lenny Levy
 
I was thinking just slate each shot - not for the sound sync as i'm predicting you'll often be recording in camera, but for the colour bars. Helps in telicine for film, so should help in computer for "digital-film" :)
 
If you have the money for it, get a Graytag Macbeth color checker, and use it along with the slate for each shot.
 
If you have the time to make presets for each lens you use on your cam that's great, but if you aren't able to get them to match in the field Avid's color correction software is good for point and click color matching of different lenses and cameras.
 
I would think slating a Macbeth on every take would slow down production. The time to match lenses is in your prep.

In the film world you would check every lens in the rental house and write down the serial numbers to the set that matched the closest.

Use a color temp meter in a darkroom and shine light through an opaque surface like a slate. Insert the rear element into a short paper roll or something similar and point this part of the lens to the light source. Measure the light that comes out of the large element with the color meter. They should be close, if not eliminate any offenders.

This is obviuosly just one part of your lens prep.
 
The problem with changing lenses is not that they change the overall color.
The bigest problem is a difference in contrast. As a result for example if you white balance your whites are going to be pretty close but all of the other tones are going to change due to contrast changes.

It is just the same when you try matching cameras even from the same manufactures but different format. (1/3 CCD with 1/2 or 3/3 CCDs)

You can find old Nikon lenses to match, but it's not as easy as buying lenses in series like the Zeiss.

I don't want to start another "My lens is better than yours", but the way to do it is to ask users.

The problem is that with the forum format you are going to get opinions from user that can't tell the difference in the first place.
 
The problem with using the macbeath chart on every take is that in the real world the editor is going to string these shots together and start rough cutting immediately. No one will ever bother going back to those charts. That's why I think getting them as close as possible is the best thing to do.
Contrast is a problem in addition to color. I didn't really look at that too carefully, but my guess is the Nikon primes are relatively close. I was actually surprised that their color was as close as it was. I haven't compared the Nikon zoom to my primes.

I guess I figure anything that gets you close makes the editor and color correctors work easier later so try to do it on the set.

If you are cutting your own stuff maybe its not an issue and you will remember your lenses.
 
IMO, the only way to make the footage match correctly is to do it in post. There are only a few 35mm lens manufacturers that have color-matched coatings, and for most of the manufacturers, they are only within same-series lenses, as stated on the first page of this thread.

If you're sticking with SLR lenses, try to buy lenses from the same set, whether it be Canon, Nikon, etc. If you're buying 35mm primes, Zeiss, Cooke and Panavision all make matched sets, but the higher quality, the more expensive you get. Hell, you can't even buy the Panavisions, but their PRIMOs are the best all-around lenses in the world.

If you want a seriously good, seriously matched lens set, you have to go with the Cooke S4i set. That'll run you thousands of dollars.

Cheaper and along the same line (because -- hush, hush -- Cooke has their control over the design of these lenses), try the new Red primes for the Red One. Color-matched, high quality (cough, Cooke, cough) glass, and surprisingly cheap for the set.

Worth checking out...
 
Wellp I think that you're all about right on color matchin'. It'll be usin' sets and post correction.

Makes y'wish ya had money to buy a set of [CookeS4i] Prime lenses. =P

And I thought Red Cine Glass was Sigma glass?
 
We don't know for sure what the Red glass is. Some people are quite convinced that it's rehoused Sigma lenses, but there's been no official confirmation so it remains speculation.

Even if the 18-50 is a Sigma, that doesn't mean that the new Red Prime set would be.
 
How bad do the Zooms breathe? They're an interesting alternative to buyin' a full set of primes. Although still wicked expensive.
 
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