Grug
Veteran
There's absolutely a benefit to shooting 4:4:4 instead of 4:2:2!
Even though the F3's sensor isn't actually high-resolution enough to deliver true 4:4:4 colour information for green, red and blue (i.e. 1080p of red, 1080p of green and 1080p of blue) - it does capture significantly more colour information in it's 4:4:4 mode than it does in 4:2:2.
The only clear, empirical evidence of this published to date is from MXR Productions' blog post here: http://blog.mxr.at/422-vs-444/
Have a look at the difference between the colour keys pulled from the 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 versions of the same shot - the 4:2:2 key has macroblocking up the wahzoo! Whereas the 4:4:4 key has enough colour information for a MUCH smoother key.
So although we don't have the sensor specs from Sony to be able to pinpoint the precise ratio of red and blue colour information to green on the F3's chip - this test at least tells us that there's a LOT more colour information to be found in the camera's 4:4:4 output.
Will you see much of a difference in footage that only requires a gentle grade? No, not really.
But will you see a difference when pulling secondary colour corrections or green/blue screen keys? Absolutely! (pulling secondaries is where you start to 'break' the data that 4:2:2 footage provides)
So depending on your shooting needs and grading requirements, 4:4:4 may or may not be a deal-breaker for you. But it will undoubtably make a difference if you're pushing your images around in post.
As for the economics of purchasing a new F3 in the present market? Personally I think it would be unwise (especially with the prices used units are fetching at the moment). But a used F3 (with the 4:4:4 upgrade), wrapped in the Element Technica F3 Body Armour (to make it more functional), and paired with one of the new Convergent Design Odyssey recorders (which will shortly be able to record up to 1080p60 in 4:4:4 to two different compressed codecs) - is a package that will basically offer the best bang-for-buck image quality in the world right now.
Now if you're wanting to earn camera rentals - look elsewhere, the F3 isn't in fashion. But if you want a personal package with a lot of oomph - the combination I listed above could be had for under $10k - and could do 90% of what anyone needs a camera to do.
Even though the F3's sensor isn't actually high-resolution enough to deliver true 4:4:4 colour information for green, red and blue (i.e. 1080p of red, 1080p of green and 1080p of blue) - it does capture significantly more colour information in it's 4:4:4 mode than it does in 4:2:2.
The only clear, empirical evidence of this published to date is from MXR Productions' blog post here: http://blog.mxr.at/422-vs-444/
Have a look at the difference between the colour keys pulled from the 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 versions of the same shot - the 4:2:2 key has macroblocking up the wahzoo! Whereas the 4:4:4 key has enough colour information for a MUCH smoother key.
So although we don't have the sensor specs from Sony to be able to pinpoint the precise ratio of red and blue colour information to green on the F3's chip - this test at least tells us that there's a LOT more colour information to be found in the camera's 4:4:4 output.
Will you see much of a difference in footage that only requires a gentle grade? No, not really.
But will you see a difference when pulling secondary colour corrections or green/blue screen keys? Absolutely! (pulling secondaries is where you start to 'break' the data that 4:2:2 footage provides)
So depending on your shooting needs and grading requirements, 4:4:4 may or may not be a deal-breaker for you. But it will undoubtably make a difference if you're pushing your images around in post.
As for the economics of purchasing a new F3 in the present market? Personally I think it would be unwise (especially with the prices used units are fetching at the moment). But a used F3 (with the 4:4:4 upgrade), wrapped in the Element Technica F3 Body Armour (to make it more functional), and paired with one of the new Convergent Design Odyssey recorders (which will shortly be able to record up to 1080p60 in 4:4:4 to two different compressed codecs) - is a package that will basically offer the best bang-for-buck image quality in the world right now.
Now if you're wanting to earn camera rentals - look elsewhere, the F3 isn't in fashion. But if you want a personal package with a lot of oomph - the combination I listed above could be had for under $10k - and could do 90% of what anyone needs a camera to do.
