C500: c500 2k 12 bit - increases Dynamic Range?

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kabuto1138

Member
Hey guys, new c500 + 7q owner here.

Saw this behind the scenes from this short film "Human Voice" starring Sofia Loren & DP'ed by Rodrigo Prieto and he mentions why he decided to shoot in 2k 12 bit. "Better SkinTones and More Latitude..." Check it out about a minute in...

https://vimeo.com/81420176

Has anybody proven than shooting at 2k 12 bit in the c500 increases the Dynamic Range ever so slightly? or am I understanding Prieto wrong here?

Sorry if this has been covered somewhere else here.

thx!

p.s. has anyone seen this short? can't find it anywhere, just the trailer.
 
kabuto1138 said:
Saw this … DP'ed by Rodrigo Prieto and he mentions why he decided to shoot in 2k 12 bit. "Better SkinTones and More Latitude..."

Has anybody proven than shooting at 2k 12 bit in the c500 increases the Dynamic Range ever so slightly? or am I understanding Prieto wrong here?
Click to expand...

I'd say it's a misinterpretation on your part.

'Latitude' can also mean "freedom of action", or that you have a certain flexibility. I think that is what he means, due to the greater bit depth, rather than getting more DR per se.

Then again, that is only MY interpretation. =)
 
Dynamic Range is perhaps an over used term. While DR is considered an absolute measurement, there is also 'usable' dynamic range, based on how recoverable shadow or highlight detail actually is. This is of course, subjective to the project and style of the users. Latitude can be thought of as this usable DR.

Latitude and DR are sometimes used interchangeably, whether they should be or not.

DR is rarely effected by resolution or bit depth, but latitude can be.

When shooting in 8bit, the tone curve may not be able to fully resolve all the shades from shadows to highlights smoothly. So, a higher bit depth improves the recorded latitude for grading, by giving more gradations in the shadows and highlights allowing more flexibility in the grade.

The gradation in skin tone is smoother with higher resolutions and bit depths. The exception to this, is that few people have had access to anything above HD or 4K displays, so resolution is a moot point. Resolution does effect tone and latitude in film though.

So, 12bit has better latitude and skin tonality than 8bit on the C500 because it is resolving the full range of the tone curve with more steps (possibly reaching a little further into the shadows and highlights too, but saying the latitude is better, doesn't mean an increase in dynamic range necessarily)

The increase in perceived dynamic range from 8bit, to 10bit, to 12bit won't be huge, but the improvement of aesthetic quality of the footage in post, will be.
 
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What I found with the C500& O7Q was that when I shot 2K 12 bit , the amount of latitude especially to over exposure was greatly increased. I could grossly overexpose a Macbeth chart, without chroma clipping and then bring it back in post very easily. It was also easy to color correct across wide ranges of color temperatures without any apparent penalty. So post wise you get a greatly increased amount of flexibility. As for DR , which I think is grossly over rated and fixated upon by too many, there may be a a little bit of a bump. I couldn't test myself =, don't have the stuff to do that, but if DR somewhat follows the enhanced chroma , then yes might may get something better out of 2k 12 bit.
 
There is an increased amount of color information because the pipe out of the camera is only so big. Even though the sensor can see more, the 4K RAW has to be squeezed to 10-bit structure to fit through the pipe, while the 2K 4:4:4 is 12-bit. That means more detail and in theory, greater range.

In addition, by reducing the resolution the noise in the shadows is hidden by merging effectively four photosites into a single pixel. That means that while the dynamic range may technically be the same, what you consider to be usable range in the shadows may increase a bit in 2K. At least that's the theory.
 
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