Canon 7D vs Pasonic AF100 - Skew, DR, etc..

Exactly, i came to the same conclusion. Once the highlights are held, the image is better, imho. But this is also with DRS+1 on. Honestly, you can't tel sharpness or noise for crap with the compression, but ic an tel you the noise level is almost identical to the 7D with DRS1 on. Which is good for me.
 
Oh good to hear. I was curious about that as well. One thing I also noticed is that aliasing on the lamp isn't like before either. They look comparable now.
 
Has anyone else noticed how Whites on the AF100 seem to go to 110 IRE? Is this common? My 7D burns out at 100, so i just have to bring the white levels down with curves in post on the AF100, but i don't know if this is a common thing amongst cameras and perhaps that is why blowouts look so much brighter on the AF?
 
Just ran a few more tests and now I will be sticking to Norm1 instead of Norm2

Why:

There is a slight increase in noise, but also a slight increase in detail as well
There is less magenta cast ( that we are seeing in the comparison video )
I also noticed that he nasty blowouts by the AF100 are less saturated and there is less posterization of the blowout transition in Norm 1 compared to Norm 2
 
All very fascinating, but how about an actual film or scene? Do people just buy cameras to do endless tests or is there actual filmmaking being done with these cameras?
 
Those come when the tests are done, which is the intention of this thread ;)

I have a web series in the works to be started this spring.
 
Im finding some very weird things with DRS on and off

with DRS +1 on, i seem to be getting less posterization along gradients while making the size of the noise slightly larger. Anyone else seeing anything interesting?
 
Dealing with highlights:

Did a test with three way color correction as well as curves and found a very easy way to "fix" highlights that otherwise look quite hideous. The best part? I actually gained back a little bit of detail too! Applied a S curve, but the same look can be achieved without crushing the darks. I tend to do it anyway in post a little bit so..

Check:

before
beforepl.jpg



after
afterxk.jpg



Together
windowblowout01sm.jpg



links to switch back and forth:
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/6491/beforepl.jpg
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/7886/afterxk.jpg


Differences may be subtle, but just enough to make the blowouts pleasing to my eyes. Looks great in motion too.
 
Timur commented in the "Verse" thread that he also felt there was quite a bit in the upper range that could be brought back down in post. Which is surprising, because in a video camera we've always avoided overexposure as a rule, since you usually have much more latitude in underexposure than you do in overexposure. I still think you've got to set and watch your zebras to avoid actual clipping, but it's nice to see examples that clearly show you can salvage a nice look out of something you may have thought was blown.
 
ya, it's quite a relief too

I am going to do the following tests because blowouts happen differently at different chroma levels based on the color of the light blowing out:

tungsten blowouts on daylight white balance
Daylight blowouts on tungsten white balance
Neon blowouts on both tungsten and daylight balance.

I'll put together some color adjustments in post to try and get some nice and white clipping with smooth transition and post stills of both the before, after, and screen captures of my curve adjustment. This is looking very promising!

Barry, one thing i noticed, and i commented on this earlier, was that he blowouts on the 7D clip at 100 IRE while the AF100 clip at 110. So it makes sense that we can get some detail back between 100 and 110 ire. Just strange that this happens though. It's probably another one of the reasons the DSLR's appear to have nicer highlights, cause they are less bright and flatter looking. It seems as though all of that can be applied to the AF100, just in post. Which is great because that means we have flexibility.
 
To elaborate a bit on what Barry mentioned…

Last month, when I was in the color suite with Oscar color-correcting "A Verse…" we were discussing the differences between AF-100 footage and footage from the DSLRs. In the film, there's a wide shot with the body on the horse in front of a tree, with a big swath of bright sky above. When we first pulled up the clip, we just assumed the highlights were gone. But when we dialed back that area, we found some detail. With the DSLRs, "blown is blown" and the detail is just gone. But according to Timur, and confirmed by us, the AF records detail above 100IRE.

Now, there wasn't the same amount of detail present as there was with the 16mm film, but it was there, and we were able to use it.
 
I think one thing goes without saying, at least from my experience so far, is that when coming from something like the 7D, the curves are VERY different to me. Trying to approach the footage with the same post methods is showing that given the difference in those curves, how you expose AND how you correct are going to be different, which of course can be challenging to yourself when you are SO used to how one camera works in exposure and post. If that makes sense.
 
absolutely, and part of what im doing here should be something along the lines of finding the best way to restore the highlights, something which we are not used to doing with the DSLRS, so that they look a little more pleasing.
 
HOLY COW i just did the curve to recover highlights and it works! :D (well to a certain extent but it does make the footage look beautiful)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top