F3: F3 Newbie

03recon

03recon

Member
Last week I came across a F3 with only 17 hours in Adorama for $850, and jumped for it. It was a deal I couldn't pass. I was about to jump for a C100 MKI that was twice the price.

I just received it, and went through the menu and noticed it had 1.45 update though without the paid RGB S-LOG update. From what I read on this forum and AbelCine to get closest to it, I need to set up PP with S-Log which I already did. Though, what other functions in the PP do I need to shut down since I've already turned off Matrix, HD Detail, and Aperture. Do I need to also shut down Skin Detail?

Also, when the time comes to shoot with an external recorder will the S-LOG gamma pass through the single HD SDI, since from what I noticed I only have 1.5G YPbPr422 video option?

Lastly, just wanted to make sure will I be able shoot 1080p/60fps using the dual HD SDI terminals even though I don't have the 3G option?

In advance, thanks for the responses. :)
 
Hi!

1. Do a reset for PP and make sure to turn of all those detail, aperture etc etc.

2. Slog will pass through in 1.5G

3. No you cant get 1080/60 without the key, only 720/60
 
stokstad said:
Hi!

1. Do a reset for PP and make sure to turn of all those detail, aperture etc etc.

2. Slog will pass through in 1.5G

3. No you cant get 1080/60 without the key, only 720/60
Click to expand...

I noticed the person had set up some profiles that didn't have S-Log on it, so I went ahead and reset one of the PP's and created my S-Log PP. Kept the others for comparison.

I'll go ahead and shut Skin Detail down then. Seems dumb to ask, do I also shut Knee down?

So glad regarding 1.5 S-log pass through.

Bummer regarding 60fps.

Thanks for the reply. :)
 
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03recon said:
Last week I came across a F3 with only 17 hours in Adorama for $850, and jumped for it. It was a deal I couldn't pass. I was about to jump for a C100 MKI that was twice the price.
Click to expand...

Damn, what a deal for such low hours!

The C100mk1 will win for just sheer ease of use/size, but the F3 wins by a large margin for features/performance (beating even the C300mk1 big brother of the C100).
 
IronFilm said:
Damn, what a deal for such low hours!

The C100mk1 will win for just sheer ease of use/size, but the F3 wins by a large margin for features/performance (beating even the C300mk1 big brother of the C100).
Click to expand...

I read an article over at newsshooter.com regarding if 4K wasn't a consideration, various 1080p cameras are still viable option. They put up various cameras including the C100 and F3.

I like the ergonomics of the C100 that's why I was going to jump for that until I read the comment section on how the author still lauded the image quality of the F3 compared to the F5/F55 and FS series. I went to vimeo and watched some clips. I could see what he and others spoke about. The C100 image quality looks good, though the F3 hits it off the park.

I went ahead and started searching in ebay, Adorama and B&H. Then, a few days later Adorama had this 17hr camera for $850 in excellent condition. I couldn't believe it and personally called them about it. They confirmed the low hours and firmware version. They threw in free shipping if I bought it. I jumped for it. I received the camera, it looks brand new. so, glad I went for this.
 
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You can also ask around and see if anyone is willing to sell you their upgrade card. It does involve the prior owner unregistering the card, and they need to remember the password/PIN they used to do the upgrade in the first place.

I still have two F3s and use them daily. What glass are you going to put on them?
 
captslomo said:
You can also ask around and see if anyone is willing to sell you their upgrade card. It does involve the prior owner unregistering the card, and they need to remember the password/PIN they used to do the upgrade in the first place.

I still have two F3s and use them daily. What glass are you going to put on them?
Click to expand...

I'll see if I'm able to find someone, though if not, I'll be content with S-Log 422.

With glass, I've been looking at the EF mount Classic Zeiss ZF.2 or Milvus lenses (since I have a Canon DSLR) as a possible option for my kit.
 
I'm seem to remember that you can still get 1080p60 without the RGB444 upgrade. But you have to use a dual-link recorder to access the dual-link 1.5G streams (as the single 3G SDI signal is only activated with the RGB444 upgrade).
 
Also, if you decided to go with Nikon mount lenses (in order to use something like the Zeiss ZFs), I have an Optitek FZ to Nikon F mount adapter for sale which is the nicest of the Nikon mount adapters (I only use PL glass, so mine's just sitting here on the shelf gathering dust).
 
Grug said:
I'm seem to remember that you can still get 1080p60 without the RGB444 upgrade. But you have to use a dual-link recorder to access the dual-link 1.5G streams (as the single 3G SDI signal is only activated with the RGB444 upgrade).
Click to expand...

I tried this a couple of times (years ago) going dual-link to the C-D Gemini recorder. I did have the RGB444 upgrade installed in the camera at the time, but a I recall the trick was that when the camera was set to 1080i recording the dual link connectors were outputting 1080p. (Of course the HD-SDI out and internal recording were both 1080i). Data management was a PITA -- with the Gemini everything was an unmanageable amount of data since it recorded 444 uncompressed...
 
Grug said:
Also, if you decided to go with Nikon mount lenses (in order to use something like the Zeiss ZFs), I have an Optitek FZ to Nikon F mount adapter for sale which is the nicest of the Nikon mount adapters (I only use PL glass, so mine's just sitting here on the shelf gathering dust).
Click to expand...

Right now, I'm in the process of getting other stuff for the camera. Though, when the time comes, if you haven't sold the adapter, I'll might get that adapter from you :)
 
Sorry my bad! I think the oddyssey might do the trick, but worth checking out carefully, might only work with a specific F3-friendly firmware version.
 
I don't think there are any sub $1K recorders which can do the dual link for 60fps?

You'd be better of just buying a whole new F3 with the RGB upgrade if you really do want 60fps from an F3
 
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