C500: 1D-C Users

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I am sure we have all seen low light torture tests, I was just going through footage from earlier this year, and saw this shot when I was testing the camera's limits.

Shot in neutral (0,-2,-2,0) also known as half-lost, after the prolost neutral settings.

(the fluorescent tube coming indirectly from the doorway is not as bright as the average tube, and it is battery powered at this particular time. C-log may have rendered this scene better, by giving me that extra stop, but eh, it was a torture test, and I was still trying to stick with neutral. )

Most candle torture tests are front or side lit, this one is backlit by one candle, so it is bound to look grim, but it is incredible.
 
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Firmware Updates Wish-list has been updated. Anything else you guys can think of? What do you think of the current list? What are priorities?
 
In general fine, these are my minor recommendation for amendment to the the list

3. Peak Focus >> I want peak focus during filming( may be 1:1 pixel mapping of the display and the señor will do to reduce cpu load), peak focus is available before video start, just not available during filming

9. Better implementation of the WFT-E6 with remote control during video(with iPad or android device) more like XA20 will be already very good, remote is available on window OS or Mac OSX computers only at the moment


Others
a) I think global shutter is more of a software shutter than hard ware that can be implemented by firmware or minor CMOS upgrade to the current camera.

b) Dual Pixel auto focus in liveview mode.(Most important) like the 70D and c100

c) for your 2C. better wish for a C100 with 4K, EVF is no match for OVF yet no matter it is a sony or canon or samsung may be some years before OVF can 100% replace EVF.

d) Wish list for 1DC2 I wish the next one is 6K or 8K

e) in tips remote video start stop only work with PC/Mac with EOS utility installed connect via wifi or Lan
 
Ok, I updated the 'updates' page. Thanks.



Yeah, the OVF vs EVF thing is interesting. The OVF is still nice to have. However, I certainly would not want a C100 body. I do not like the C300/100 shape as much as I had hoped. I still prefer the dslr. Though, the mirror slap is annoying, and it would be nice to have a better way to deal with it, like a lockup system, even when the camera is in standby. HOw awesome would that be!?
 
Stuff I did this Summer. Testing out a very loose shooting style out in the wild. The camera performs way better than other cameras in this environment. My only wish is that there was a way to gauge exposure live during record.


http://vimeo.com/80045020
Most of these shots were done with my custom rig and no EVF, to see the viability of this camera in super mobile on the run shoots, where being inconspicuous is a priority. Zeiss ZF glass.
 
Stuff I did this Summer. Testing out a very loose shooting style out in the wild. The camera performs way better than other cameras in this environment. My only wish is that there was a way to gauge exposure live during record.


http://vimeo.com/80045020
Most of these shots were done with my custom rig and no EVF, to see the viability of this camera in super mobile on the run shoots, where being inconspicuous is a priority. Zeiss ZF glass.

Hi James,
Any chance of show me on a photo what your custom rig looks like? Need some ideas/brainstorming for my own custom rig.
 
More lowlight tests.

(may I add how much I love shooting in APS-H? Look at the FOV on the 35mm??? @o@)

(NOTE: The banding is much less evident when in motion, as the gradient changes with the flickering light and any camera movement)
Have to remember to stay away from smooth gradients. The 8bit banding creeps up on you sometimes. I suppose adding film-grain would mask it. What do you guys do ti fix it? I generally just avoid it, but this was an informal candle light test for a small project. (and very quickly graded on a mbp)
 
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Have to say... I see very little of that. But I realize now that I'm just not looking.

I'm not looking and it doesn't stand out. But here, where you "put a light on it" so to speak, it's obvious.

What's your process? How do you convert the native files and are you in Premiere of FCPX?
 
Hi Andree, yeah, it actually is seldom an issue, and for web videos, it is even less an issue, but it does show up and bother me from time to time.


In this, I am using Premiere. It was evident in the preview window at 100% magnification. Like all banding, it shows up more when contrast is added back to the C-log file.

The screenshot TIFF is pretty close to what it looks like in PP. I use the premiere pro screen capture function. I do screen shots because I can work fast in photoshop and save the stills for reference.

Adding 'film' noise seems to help. But I am not always trying to get a grainy look.
 
OK.

It would be very interesting to see if a totally different workflow/software chain would end up in the same place. I guess it would, but still.

Let me know if you have a clip with confirmed banding like this that is short enough to share online (and not sensitive content) and I'd pull it through FCPX and export it from there.
 
Ok, I can pm you a file share link.


I should add that in motion, and especially handheld footage, the banding look is greatly reduced. This shot is also helped by candle flicker, so the banding look is not great as it is in a still image.

And when you are not looking for it, and watch a lot of web video, the brain stops noticing it. But still much nicer to work with higher bit rate files, as they can be manipulated better for post. These 8bit compressed files start banding and artifacting faster. Just makes me want to shoot better, but I don't always have the control over lighting and pushing post helps, so occasionally i just pout.
 
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Thanks, James.

Here is a version out of FCPX (first as a png to check uncompressed) then imported into PS and exported as a .jpg. I tried to not be too precious with it and file size is about 880kB.

BandingOrNotLite.jpg


Looking at it here… hmm, I don't think I really see it… Do you see it in Premiere too, or can it be introduced later in the chain?

And a little bit more of a grade to see what happens when I pull the Log file. This time straight out of FCPX as a .jpg.

BandingOrNotGraded.jpg



Anyway, for me it's minimal enough to not worry about it. Sure, 10bit or even 12bit is really nice on paper, but I don't even want to start thinking about file sizes. RED has an interesting thing going with RED code and that might be the best route really.
 
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Hi Andree, you got much better tonality on the wall. I think part of the reason was the way I graded the file. I was attempting to get a dry look with more smoothness on the highlights. With this lighting, that might just not be possible. I'll have to play around with a redMX/speedbooster, F3, 5D2-raw, or supplemental lighting. But this shot was at f2 and iso3200, and I think other cameras may not do better.

A grade can diminish or accent the banding effect. Your grade is smoother on the wall, but has more banding in the orb around the candle than my grade. Maybe I should use an extra power window. Though, at the same time, maybe I should try out fcpx or film convert options too. Thanks for doing a grade, interesting to see a different interpretation. I really like it.
 
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At the end of the day, the story is what pulls through, here is a 60D in a similar situation, but maybe iso1600.


(Screenshot from Canon 60D at iso1600 or 3200, Nikon pre-ai 35mm@f2)
All kinds of macro-blocking on his face.

More macro blocking on the face (60D):

(Canon 60D screenshot)


With older dslr's, I never fought the digital look, because they were so obviously digital
 
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At the end of the day, the story is what pulls through…

For sure.

I basically don't have any issues with the 1Dc image. One thing that would be nice, but I'm not sure that it is possible, is a feature similar to C100 (and I guess C300?) ability to auto micro adjust shutter speed to eliminate flicker when shooting monitors or projected images. I do this quite a bit and I can't quite get rid of artifacts.

In our/my computerized world there always seems to be a monitor somewhere in the shot... =)
 
For sure.

I basically don't have any issues with the 1Dc image. One thing that would be nice, but I'm not sure that it is possible, is a feature similar to C100 (and I guess C300?) ability to auto micro adjust shutter speed to eliminate flicker when shooting monitors or projected images. I do this quite a bit and I can't quite get rid of artifacts.

In our/my computerized world there always seems to be a monitor somewhere in the shot... =)
=) not to mention cell phones and LEDs and so on. We were shooting and a scene with an Audi in the background, and the headlights were flickering because they were some new white headlights, and their flicker was not in sync. Also run into issues when mixing house fluorescents. Yeah, it is a crucial feature.

I will update the features request list with this.
 
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For sure.

I basically don't have any issues with the 1Dc...
Oh, I don't know about you, but I absolutely love the APS-H crop. It was one of the deciding factors for me. I have always like slightly wider field of view(FOV), with little distortion, and ff35 was too wide, putting me in the same situations with FOV issues. I was thinking I would have to go buy 32mm 43mm and 70mm lenses, but now I am happy with the 35,50,85 on APS-H. I have 11mm all the way to 300mm, but I mainly stick with 'Normal' lenses. But I find them constricting on s35, and APS-H is a god-send.
 
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