GH3 Color matching 2 GH3's

M

mmaller

Well-known member
I recently did a shoot wih 2 GH3's. Each one had the same lens (Lumix 12-35mm)
We were shooting at the same ISO, same f stop, same picture profile, same white balance, yet when viewing the footage, they each had their own distinctive look.

One was slightly more saturated with a tendency towards the red spectrum and the other was less saturated with a tendency more towards the green spectrum.

Everything was the same with both Cameras, including I repeat, the Picture Profile settings. The only thing different was the focal length.
Matching the camera's in post is not a problem, I just thought they would look closer right off the cards.

Has anyone else experienced this when shooting with identical GH3's?
 
That's interesting. I'm sure you already did this, but go back to both cams and re-check the settings going through it at the same time. I've shot with 2 GH3 before, but not running the same Focal length lens at the same time. It would be 12-35, 35-100, or 25mm f0.95. All of them intercut were identical.
 
I shoot with two gh3s nearly every weekend using a variety of lenses, but mostly the 12-35 and 35-100. Apart from the obvious visual difference that a different angle and associated lighting change brings, I have not seen an inherent visual discrepancy between the cameras .
 
Depending on how the lighting is set up, I've have 2 identical cameras give me rather different looks when at opposite angles of each other.
I've never shot with 2 GH3s, but I've seen this with other bodies (Canons, GH2s, etc) when there is a lot of light spilling, such as a stage performance. The flaring and refraction of the light in one lens made the image a slightly different balance in the other, despite all else being identical.

But the newer modern Lumix lenses should have better coatings that prevent this sort of flaring up (I was using older lenses). Here's something to try if you get a moment to test: Shoot a few seconds with the cameras set up, then switch sides to see if the other camera captures the same looking image in the same scenario. That way you can rule out if it is light or a defect in one of the bodies. To make the test easier to see, swap memory cards too. That way you can hit playback and see a discrepancy right away on the body.

If one camera still sees different colors in the same scenario as the other, consider the test again swapping only the lenses. Perhaps one of your lenses has a defective coating.

If it isn't a hardware problem, the only other thing I can think of is perhaps someone adjusted the color WB adjust. I had this once with a pair of GH2s, since one of the cameras had been adjusted more towards magenta to avoid the green shifting, and the other had not been touched. I set up to shoot, and set them both to identical kelvin values, not thinking I should also check the hidden adjust menu.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I would like to get to the bottom of this but the other camera belonged to another videographer. The next time I see or work with him, I will try some of the ideas that were listed.
 
mmaller said:
Thanks for the suggestions, I would like to get to the bottom of this but the other camera belonged to another videographer. The next time I see or work with him, I will try some of the ideas that were listed.
Click to expand...

Perhaps he had adjusted the color WB adjust to his own precise likings. Did you check that menu, or just set them both to the same kelvin numbers?
 
Both cameras were white-balanced under the specific lighting setup using the custom setting. Doug Jensons Warm cards were used as the white card source using the white card, not any of the warming cards.
 
Were both cameras white balanced from the same position ? If your card is facing a different way the light spill will be different. I also always use the Kelvin manual WB setting to get my preferred WB.
 
Were both cameras white balanced from the same position ?


Not from the same exact position, but they weren't drastically different. One was mainly a wider shot the other was tighter. The cameras were slightly of axis, but not enough to
effect the lighting conditions from the camera's perspective.
 
mmaller said:
Not from the same exact position, but they weren't drastically different. One was mainly a wider shot the other was tighter. The cameras were slightly of axis, but not enough to
effect the lighting conditions from the camera's perspective.
Click to expand...
I think this may be part of the problem - one camera wide, one close and off-axis for WB. I would redo next time with both cameras together at the same spot, then move them. If you think about it, even if you turn your card slightly towards a window, or up at a stage light, while WB'ing with each camera, it will definitely have an effect.
 
malibudutchie said:
I think this may be part of the problem - one camera wide, one close and off-axis for WB. I would redo next time with both cameras together at the same spot, then move them. If you think about it, even if you turn your card slightly towards a window, or up at a stage light, while WB'ing with each camera, it will definitely have an effect.
Click to expand...

True- What I've done with multi camera setups, is do a card balance on one then try to match it best I can in kelvin values. I cycle back and forth in the WB menu from the saved custom WB and the Kelvin option, changing the K until I can't see a difference scrolling back and forth between the two. Then I go to the 2nd camera and input the same number. That way, I know both cameras are absolutely set to the same value.

Will it be as accurate as shooting a color card? Looks more-or-less the same to me, but I'd prefer to have both cameras match 100% and do some minor adjustment in post than deal with two cameras that don't match.
 
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