Color Matching FX6 with FX9 (and FS7)

It gets a bit trickier when you introduce the FS7 with the newer models... but not much. To be clear, I haven't done exactly what you will be doing (with those 3 exact models). But I still think shooting in S-Log is the way to go. Since there are only 3 choices of WB on the FS7 - I would try to stick with one of those presets for the 6 and the 9. In other words, dial in 4500 - so each cam will have same WB. You'll still need to tweak the 7 to look like the others, but it's pretty close - and depending upon the shot (I'd use the 7 for wide and the other two for CU's), you may only need to slightly adjust the 7 to match. Test in advance for sure! That way, you can create your own transform LUT and be done.
 
FWIW: I found matching my FX6 and Fs5 surprisingly easy when shooting in slog3. I matched color temperature on the FX6 to the appropriate preset on the Fs5 and then just did a little additional white balance correction in post. I'm sure it wasn't a perfect match but it looked great to my eye with minimal work.
 
I match the 9 & 7 routinely as they are my A & B cams. I shoot Slog3, match camera settings as best i can and i've found it quite easy to match them. I just took delivery of the 6 but i haven't had time to take it out of the box yet but i'd be shocked if the match to the 9 isn't almost seamless.
 
Seems like most of my FX9/FX6 combo jobs have live streaming components in addition to being edited later. For the last couple we've been using 2 - FX9's and 2 - FX6's simultaneously, set the cameras to S-cinetone, and then did a unified white balance. This seemed to get the cameras pretty close. Then checked things with ScopeBox and made some minor adjustments to get things a little closer if one or another of the cameras didn't exactly line up. Not a standard adjustment between cameras - so we would adjust slightly for each setup. (We weren't satisfied with the matching on preset WB, so went with doing the unified WB)
Also - we were running through an ATEM mini so were able to check camera matching both switching and seeing together on multiview screen.
 
Last edited:
OnSet said:
Seems like most of my FX9/FX6 combo jobs have live streaming components in addition to being edited later. For the last couple we've been using 2 - FX9's and 2 - FX6's simultaneously, set the cameras to S-cinetone, and then did a unified white balance. This seemed to get the cameras pretty close. Then checked things with ScopeBox and made some minor adjustments to get things a little closer if one or another of the cameras didn't exactly line up. Not a standard adjustment between cameras - so we would adjust slightly for each setup. (We weren't satisfied with the matching on preset WB, so went with doing the unified WB)
Also - we were running through an ATEM mini so were able to check camera matching both switching and seeing together on multiview screen.
Click to expand...

So it sounds like it shouldn't be a big deal. I don't have a scope box but it sounds like we should just put the camera next to each other and white balance off the same card (that's what you mean by unified white balance?).
 
thirdyearff said:
I match the 9 & 7 routinely as they are my A & B cams. I shoot Slog3, match camera settings as best i can and i've found it quite easy to match them. I just took delivery of the 6 but i haven't had time to take it out of the box yet but i'd be shocked if the match to the 9 isn't almost seamless.
Click to expand...

Where did you order your fx6? Mine has been on order at BH for almost 2 mos and I still haven't received it. It's in stock at Adorama, which is kind of annoying and confusing...
 
Shoot charts beforehand, so you can build a transform to match them. That's the proper way to do it.

That aside, I'd suggest running (not walking) to your local internet browser and purchasing a copy of Cinematch regardless. It just takes all of the stress out of shooting disparate cameras.

A few clicks and you're within striking distance of your A-camera. And a few small manual tweaks beyond that, will get you close-enough to perceptually-indistinguishable. I just had a shoot yesteday with a talking head element, and had to use one of my little Fuji XT3s alongside my FX6 as a B-cam. Trying to match the Fuji's to Sony colour science manually is absoltely brutal (LOTS of tiny hue adjustment all along the colour spectrum). But with Cinematch, it really becomes fairly painless.

Highly recommended.

​​
cVutFUe.jpg


OOVuPtC.jpg
 
JimmyMcV said:
So it sounds like it shouldn't be a big deal. I don't have a scope box but it sounds like we should just put the camera next to each other and white balance off the same card (that's what you mean by unified white balance?).
Click to expand...

Yes, when we keep the white card (or preferably grey scale) in the same position and get the cameras to white balance from basically the same position it gets us off to a decent start. 10% of the work gets you 90% of your match. The final 10% of the matching can take the other 90% of the work. But for that part we really need to look at a grey scale and color chart with a decent waveform and vectorscope - and an easy way of switching between sources. I've been using Scopebox for a while to provide a decent size waveform and vectorscope, so I'm used to it. There are probably other options out there -- but IMHO trying to get any kind of color match for a live switch without using scopes for the final steps is a bad idea. I also always keep a decimator quad splitter in my bag - which can be used to view 4 sources simultaneously as well as switch between sources.
But remember, I'm trying to get the cameras to match live -- if you're doing your color in post give Grug's recommended Cinematch a try.
 
Grug said:
Shoot charts beforehand, so you can build a transform to match them. That's the proper way to do it.

That aside, I'd suggest running (not walking) to your local internet browser and purchasing a copy of Cinematch regardless. It just takes all of the stress out of shooting disparate cameras.

A few clicks and you're within striking distance of your A-camera. And a few small manual tweaks beyond that, will get you close-enough to perceptually-indistinguishable. I just had a shoot yesteday with a talking head element, and had to use one of my little Fuji XT3s alongside my FX6 as a B-cam. Trying to match the Fuji's to Sony colour science manually is absoltely brutal (LOTS of tiny hue adjustment all along the colour spectrum). But with Cinematch, it really becomes fairly painless.

Highly recommended.

​​
cVutFUe.jpg


OOVuPtC.jpg
Click to expand...

Hey Grug, I just wanted to say that I really liked your lighting and color in your shared screen grabs. I especially like how natural and exposed the window blinds are. Great work!
 
scorsesefan said:
Where did you order your fx6? Mine has been on order at BH for almost 2 mos and I still haven't received it. It's in stock at Adorama, which is kind of annoying and confusing...
Click to expand...

the fx3 came into stock briefly at adorama and pictureline (just the stores I know about) at the end of september, but I never saw it listed in stock at b&h. maybe b&h is in the dog house with sony. or they're hopelessly swamped with orders. but maybe keep an eye on other retailers and just cancel at b&h if you snag one elsewhere?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top