FS7: 4K 60p with a baserate of 25fps - in camera monitoring options

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danjmk

New member
Hi all,

I'm off on a shoot abroad Thursday which requires me to film everything at 4K 60p with a baserate of 25fps (s-log3 cine-ei). The last time I filmed in these specs for the same client the results were a little noisy due to underexposing my waveform (which was my only source of monitoring along with my eye). Are there any alternate forms of monitoring S&Q in camera i.e. a LUT not just a zebra and waveform?

Any help or advice from some older/more experienced heads on working around this would be much appreciated.

Thanks!
 
danjmk said:
Are there any alternate forms of monitoring S&Q in camera i.e. a LUT not just a zebra and waveform?
Click to expand...

AFAIK, there is no 'internal' (i.e. FS7-powered) way to display your image with a LUT applied. That said, there ARE a wide variety of monitors and EVFs that can have custom LUTs loaded into them via USB, which can then be applied by the device to the Slog image being fed by the camera. This is the setup that I've used since day one with LUTs in the Zacuto Gratical. Even if you don't want to buy one of these display solutions, maybe it would be worth trying to rent one for this shoot.

Hope that helps,

jason

P.S. EDIT: If you don't want to go the external monitoring route, one other solution might be to shoot in NTSC-mode, and therefore be able to shoot 60fps without going into S&Q mode. The only difference will be in the metadata of the clips, in that they'll load into an NLE as "60p" footage rather than 25p. It would be a simple matter of adjusting the playback framerate (or 'telecining') to get these clips into an identical state as those shot at 60fps in 25p mode.
 
Thanks for your reply Jason - much appreciated. An external monitor is something I would definitely consider in future but I’m run and gunning all day and want to keep as light (and they cost effective) as possible.

Having read much of Alistair Chapman’s stuff I think I’ll be ok in sticking to s-log in pal and bumping my zebra 2 to mid 70’s (i’ll check on the exact figure) - that should be the equivalent of a 2 stop increase in the same way as 500 ei on a rec-709 mlut (please correct me if I’m wrong) and adding a polariser to my lenses.

Just an aside - what do you carry for tools in your bag? I’ve got the standard screwdrivers, a wrench, tape etc but having been on the receiving end of a steep learning curve for shoots recently I’m always on the lookout for extra tips.

Also do you know where I can purchase extra long spare 3/8’s screws for a QR plate - London based)

Thanks again.
 
I hear you on wanted to stay light and nimble, that's why I recently cross-graded my Gratical-HD for the Gratical Eye, and love it. You're right though, monitoring Slog with zebras for mid-grey works perfectly well once you're used to it.

BTW, Are you SURE you want to use a 2-stop over-exposure as your default starting point? I used to equate over-exposure with eventual IQ, but now I've learned that it's not always that simple, and by pushing much over 1-stop above, you're starting to move important mid-grey levels up onto the knee (stretched) portion of the gamma curve, and thus loosing subtle gradations in things like skintones etc. Just thought, I use 1-stop over as my default starting point, and am often comfortable shooting 'honest' or native when in brighter outdoor scenarios. IMO the dreaded 'Slog noise' only becomes a visible problem when under exposing, or shooting honest on very high contrast scenes with important shadow detail to recover (i.e. an IV at golden hour with the sunset-light on one side of a face).

Kit wise, I take all the tools needs to dis/assemble my kit (mini-multi-driver, allen keys, etc), tape, coins for baseplate bolts, clingfilm in case of rain, AND some self-adhesive heavy-duty velcro-swatches (very handy for rigging things that don't want to be rigged). Also dust-blower and lens cleaning kit.

Not sure what you mean by extra-long screws, but if it's a standard camera part then try calling PEC (https://pec.co.uk), they're pretty good at sorting out my more unusual requests. Otherwise a hardware store could probably sort you out - no?

Where are you off to, and watcha gonna be pointing the camera at BTW?

Cheers,

jason
 
But Slog doesn't have a knee does it..? I thought its linear .. your not getting any knee in the high lights.. but you do get a sort of knee in the shadows ..
 
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