7d Profile Settings. What to do?

J

jsauce

Active member
hey guys
have we come up with a definitive list of proper camera settings?
I believe bloom suggests pulling contrast, saturation and sharpness all the way down to zero for full latitude in post.
as much as i want to do this, something just doesn't seem right about making something look intentionally crappier in camera.
as it is, ive been splitting the difference and leave the saturation, contrast and sharpness one mark shy of negative zero.

thoughts?
 
There is no such thing as a "definitive list of proper settings". The list changes depending on what you're shooting -- if there was only one "best" setting, why would they include all the others?

And the definitive word on dynamic range is about 8.3 stops.
 
Best settings for me is Faithful, all settings at middle except -3 steps lowered contrast, -1 sharpness. This depends on the lens. Some of my lenses have low contrast , some have high so I counter that. Also some of my lenses need a +1 saturation bump. Sometimes I will bump the tint +1 to get a warmer picture.

This also depends on the scene, in outdoors shots I pull the contrast all the way down in addition to running ND as the contrast is so much between dark and shadow.

If I am going for a dramatic low light look I'll bump the contrast up to pick up shadows more

The default camera profile crushes the blacks and white to get more contrast, this lowers the amount of detail left in the mid tones and thus dynamic range.

according to two posts I've read, usable Dynamic range is closer to 9-9.5 with the right contrast settings (almost all the way down) using a lens with good contrast is a factor. The blacks also have much more usable detail in them when exposure is pushed up in the toe than first seems.
 
thanks john. that was about what i was using. i think i read an article from bloom that confused me a bit though. he claimed it was imperative to have everything pushed all the way back negative. it might look worse coming out but is ultimately the only way to get latitude in post.

barry-- i know there isn't one "perfect" setting, but there should be an optimal setting that gets you the best footage in a general way---the same way there was on the hvx/dvx/etc...im about to go on an important shoot for a client and i want to make sure i give myself the best options in post. so, that said, should i keep everthing far in the negative except saturation? thats my inclination
 
jsauce,

Since it's so new, and also a matter of taste, no one really know for sure, but one thing I want to disagree with, is don't lower the sharpness to 0, cause it disables some anti-aliasing filters it seems, the overall picture is WAY better above 9.

I wonder maybe since people have been shooting red raw so low contrast, and then intending to raise it in post, that workflow is being applied to 5d, 7d. Since the h.264 is being rendered the gamma curve (contrast) is baked in at record time and if set too low it can will lower overall image detail by lowering contrast more than necessary. To retain maximum image detail for post, I trust the 14 bit A/D converter that the Digic 4 runs on the RAW data stream to do a WAY better job than overly lowering contrast, (and detail) intending raise contrast back in post on the MUCH lower bitrate (and detail) h 264 image. The in camera adjustments are applied in 14 bit to the raw and the work at a much higher bandwidth and detail level.

To see how bad of an idea this is for youself, Just shoot a jpeg with any camera with contrast lowered to minimum, then open it in photoshop (or anything where you can see a detailed histogram) Then boost the contrast back up to normal, and notice all the gaps in the histogram (BAD). Those gaps are where no color data is and can cause banding, over-saturation, and and overall poor, unnatural and flat picture. Much better to expose properly (which I consider to mean setting the correct contrast level) for the shot.

Short answer make it look right on the camera.

I'd also very strongly recommending getting a GOOD (10 bit or better Analog/Digital converter $250 for 24") external hdmi monitor and adjust in camera till it looks great. ( Then maybe pull down the contrast 1-2 steps to give you some leeway if you messed up or need a diff look) With an external monitor you can show the client EXACTLY how it will look, and make sure they are ok with it. (they will love it cause the footage is so great without any tweaking in post)
 
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John, that seems like very good advice. I will try to follow your idea. Need an HDMI cable, though. Will get it tomorrow
 
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