C100: C100 wide shots need sharpening?

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icicle22

Well-known member
Some wide shots of a dance recital I shot seem a bit soft. I also used a canon xlh1 and it looked very sharp. Mind you, a sharpen filter in premiere brings out the detail. Tonight I shot another recital in c-log and man does it handle the bright lights well! However, again the footage looks a bit soft.

Is this normal? Using the 24-105f4.

Thanks.

Also need help with purple outfits turning blue and certain pink/rose colors skewing some, more so on the xlh1 recording prores to samurai.
 
I find most shots could use sharpening unless you desire a softer look. For interviews and people shots I've found +8 in Premiere to be good, for other types of shots, I can go from 10-40 depending on the image. That's shooting with Wide DR at -2 (or -3, whatever is default) in camera sharpness.
 
icicle22 said:
Some wide shots of a dance recital I shot seem a bit soft. I also used a canon xlh1 and it looked very sharp. Mind you, a sharpen filter in premiere brings out the detail. Tonight I shot another recital in c-log and man does it handle the bright lights well! However, again the footage looks a bit soft.

Is this normal? Using the 24-105f4.

Thanks.

Also need help with purple outfits turning blue and certain pink/rose colors skewing some, more so on the xlh1 recording prores to samurai.
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mcgeedigital said:
Were you shooting wide open?
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I was shooting more in the 5.6-7.0 range most of the time. I did find that I needed to open it up to 4 on occasion when the set got very dark.

The sharpened video appears to turn out great....however I find it a bit odd that I am sharpening my C100 footage to match my Canon XLh1 footage. I used to see this done on a lot of 5dmkIII footage but never expected it from the C100, which is general has blown me away with its sharpness and clarity. Isn't that one of the benefits of a 4k sensor?

I am shooting primarily at the wide end of the 24-105. Do you think I'd be better served with using my 17-55mm f.2.8 and stopping it down to 4 or 5.6? Would that render a sharper image?

TO clarify, when I am shooting normal narrative commercial type footage this is not an issue. It just seems as if the wider, further away shots are soft.
 
Here is a real estate interior shot using the 17mm TSE at about 5.6 on WR profile. No real need for sharpening in post.
MR Test.jpg
 
Ok. I shot another similar event this weekend and I took extra time and utilized the camera focus assist option to zoom and do precise focusing and it turned out great! Honestly, the last time I used the peaking feature only and relied on it, but it appears that for objects that are further away, it is possible for the peaking circuit to detect it as being in focus when in reality it is still just a bit soft. So I recommend zooming and focusing when possible.

Regardless....it turned out to be user error and not a general camera issue. Thanks for the responses!
 
Focus aids are just that - aids.

As an editor, I've seen a number of shots ruined by relying on Peaking. "I checked it, honest!" - they saw a camera splat red on areas that had high contrast boundaries - the C100 has controls to set up peaking, but seriously: punch in, better still use a high definition external monitor, the new fangled 'Peaking' (as opposed to the old-school Standard Definition 'peaking') is as trustworthy as 'Auto Focus'. Also, photo zoom lenses are not actually Parfocal, even if they appear to be (my own learning with the 24-105).

BTW - after installing the new Firmware Update for the C100, I have been rudely reminded that WDR by default is set at sharpening -2... I set mine fairly quickly to -10 (or 'off' according to C100 manual). Sharpening in post is orgasmic, but doesn't help focusing - which is why there's a pre-sharp setting in the EVF setup menu.
 
MattDavis said:
Focus aids are just that - aids.

As an editor, I've seen a number of shots ruined by relying on Peaking. "I checked it, honest!" - they saw a camera splat red on areas that had high contrast boundaries - the C100 has controls to set up peaking, but seriously: punch in, better still use a high definition external monitor, the new fangled 'Peaking' (as opposed to the old-school Standard Definition 'peaking') is as trustworthy as 'Auto Focus'. Also, photo zoom lenses are not actually Parfocal, even if they appear to be (my own learning with the 24-105).

BTW - after installing the new Firmware Update for the C100, I have been rudely reminded that WDR by default is set at sharpening -2... I set mine fairly quickly to -10 (or 'off' according to C100 manual). Sharpening in post is orgasmic, but doesn't help focusing - which is why there's a pre-sharp setting in the EVF setup menu.
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When I said zoom in I meant "punch in" using the focus aid....not zooming the lens. I am aware that the 24-105 is not parfocal so I don't use ENG techniques for zooming and focusing on it. I don't rely on the peaking but I do use it to assist. I just didn't do my due diligence the first time and double check. The camera was un-manned and locked down so when I checked on it I saw the red lines around all of the characters in the frame and thought it was sharp. I guess not. And to be clear, I am used to the peaking on an SD Ikegami EVF so I didn't really realize that the peaking on newer camera was so "unreliable" as you say. I will now view it as more of a guide and not a guarantee that the subject is in focus.
 
Well, maybe 'misleading' rather than 'unreliable'. :D

It also depends on the scene. Peaking on telephoto shots is usually pretty good, helping you to nail focus on eyes, etc. Its the wide shots where it all falls apart. The trouble is, the peaking covers over the very spots you need to check.
 
MattDavis said:
Well, maybe 'misleading' rather than 'unreliable'. :D

The trouble is, the peaking covers over the very spots you need to check.
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Exactly! That is part of the issue. The red lines were so predominant I thought for sure it was in focus! Wrong! Thanks for the input. Unfortunately this is one of those time were I had to make the mistake to learn the lesson. I won't be doing that again!
 
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