FS7: After 9 months with the FS7 I have it dialed the way I like it...

[olof]

Shot with FS7 and Metabones + Canon 100-400 L lens mostly about f20 at 400mm.
Very interesting how well this camera works. I am pretty much finished with my paint settings now.
This was shot with Slog3 and my Paint settings. I like Custom a lot now. Sometimes I use Slog2 when I have a lot of highlights.
The first shot is UHD internal rec 29.97 upscaled 150%, no sharpening. The second is internal rec at 180FPS. ISO rated at 1000 on both.

https://vimeo.com/131090269

Here are the grading settings:













And these are my Paint settings, I switch between Slog2 or 3 depending on the scene. But these are the settings I use almost all the time now.















Here is another RAW video in slim of a very contrasty scene, Slog2 setting this time with no grading at all:

https://vimeo.com/130094827

Vimeo really slaughtered the compression so to see better, check the DL original, it is still very compressed, water is tough.
What I find remarkable is that this is a Slog2 with no post process shot on the internal card in HD. The DR has to be about 14 stops and it is super clean. This is a custom profile I have come up with for general shooting, I switch between a Slo3 and Slog 2 version depending the scene. Look at the WF as it reads w/o any adjustments. No milky look here. I could pull more detail out of the shadows if I wanted to and maybe even use a shape mask for a secondary to raise the level of some of the water, but what a great starting point. I like this Pic Profile.
One note I slowed down the 180 fps to 360 fps using optical flow and then sharpened the clip a bit, but no grading at all. This was the cheap 18-200 Sony a great HD R&G lens IMHO for the FS7.
Love this camera.

 

[ReelWorksMedia]

It took 9 months to dial your camera in to a satisfactory level. Wow.

 

[olof]

It took 9 months to dial your camera in to a satisfactory level. Wow.

Yes and I bet I may make some more changes soon. But basically I now feel I have a setup that can shoot pretty much anything and be handed off w/o grading instructions or just a very simple set of instructions, depending on the shot adjust blacks and highlights and possible saturate a bit.

My criteria is to be able to intercut with old footage and several cameras, mostly A7s and EX3 but also 5DkII and 7D as well as some drone cams I have NZ5n and some action cams. I have now shot about a dozen paying jobs and I have been adjusting as I go. Initially I used CineEI a lot, it is nice but a lot of post effort is needed. So I have been experimenting a lot with this and my A7s and now I am pretty happy with my PPs.

I have had my EX3 since it came out and it took a long time to fine tune those settings as well. At this point any change will probably be pretty small. I am always looking for better results.

 

[Doug Jensen]

Nice work Olof. It really shows the power of the custom mode for WYSIWG shooting when care is taken to dial it in properly, rather than (as many people do) just randomly spinning through the gamma options and dismissing custom as inferior to Cine EI.

 

[olof]

Thanks Doug, your video was a great help.

It is always really interesting to slowly over paying jobs dial in a camera. After a shoot you sometimes just say to yourself, why don't I try some more negative Black Gamma, and try a small amount on the next shoot. OK that works, so maybe even more. Etc. etc.

I sort of just observed what I had to do to grade the footage to the looks I want. And make small adjustments until I am happy.

I find I always learn the most about a camera on paying jobs. Because you just can't screw up so you work and think harder, at least I do.

 

[Lenilenapi]

Hmmm... So are you shooting w SLOG2 or 3 in custom , then altering in camera settings to get it back to wysiwyg in camera?

 

[olof]

Hmmm... So are you shooting w SLOG2 or 3 in custom , then altering in camera settings to get it back to wysiwyg in camera?

Yes, I basically just figured out what I always have to do in post, crush blacks, saturate, sharpen mostly. I looked at the different Matrix settings I like the F55 709 Like best.

The other huge advantage with custom is you can set white point, this for me is a big deal.

These settings work for me, I have a lot of clients that like my standard look, we shoot a lot for tourism promo. So most of our footage has a saturated sunny (contrasty) look. So why start with a washed out milky look when I know basically what I need is very different.

If I had a project that needed the "blockbuster" look, I would not use these settings at all. I would spend time making the camera look close to what final version would be like. I think it makes sense if you are not shooting RAW. I like the internal codec both for HD and UHD/4K in the FS7. And as you can see in my 180 FPS shots they grade well as well even though they are far more compressed, so here getting close to the look is important IMHO.

BTW the first butterfly shot from UHD was slowed down to 50% in FCPX using optical flow, orig was shot at 29.97. I think it works well at least on this shot.

 

[Lenilenapi]

Thanks Olof, I'll try your settings and give it a whirl. When do you choose Slog 3 or Slog2?

You are aware of course that what you're doing runs counter to the general opinion that Log should be corrected with a LUT profile rather than tweaks to black, sat etc. Do you find it a lot different than using hypergammas?

(One of these days I promise we'll get together about the shoulder pad - meanwhile I'm functioning well enough with the original pad you sent me, and my friend just bought your shoulder rig based on my experience.)

Lenny Levy

 

[olof]

Thanks Olof, I'll try your settings and give it a whirl. When do you choose Slog 3 or Slog2?

You are aware of course that what you're doing runs counter to the general opinion that Log should be corrected with a LUT profile rather than tweaks to black, sat etc. Do you find it a lot different than using hypergammas?

(One of these days I promise we'll get together about the shoulder pad - meanwhile I'm functioning well enough with the original pad you sent me, and my friend just bought your shoulder rig based on my experience.)

Lenny Levy

Hi, Lenny.

I do use LUTs, as a matter of fact the last shot that shows first RAW footage no correction then a Grade does contain a LUT in the graded shot.

The first shot is only adjusted for contrast, to demonstrate how even w/o a LUT or extensive grading a quick contrast adjustment makes the footage look pretty good, can it be better of course.

Even the second shot with no adjustment at all looks nice IMHO, a bit silky but it has a nice look really. The graded shot with the LUT has a sunnier more popping look, probably something like I would use it in commercial with matching shots.

Slog3 is good most of the time, but if you have a lot of really bright regions in your shot Slog2 protects hi lights better IMHO. The waterfall shot is Slog2 the butterfly shots are Slog3.

Maybe I am wrong saturating this much in camera but it works for me. And if it works and your clients are happy, what else is there?