F35 w/out IF box recording question

R

Rick LaLonde

Active member
I'm looking at a F35 body for cheap on eBay but it has no IF Box. Is it possible to record single output 10 bit 4:2:2 or would I be sunk unless I went to tape?

Thanks,

Rick
 
you can record 422 no problem without the IF box, though you'll need to make sure the menu / viewfinder markers are off.

If you think you may ever want to shoot 444 though, its probably worth waiting for one with a box to show up. I dont think I've ever seen just the IF box for sale anywhere
 
Thanks much. Where is the 422 output on the camera? That's still 1920 x 1080 and not the down scaled monitor output, correct?
 
The monitor output is a full 1080p 10-bit 422 signal. When I ran my F35 in a smaller set up I skipped the IF box and just recorded the monitor out to an Atomos. The ports (there are two of them) are on the back right (assistant) side of the body toward the bottom, right above the lemo power port.
 
Mitch Gross said:
I honestly question why one would bother with an F35 as we approach 2017 if not shooting 4:4:4.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Well, I'm teachable on this question. I've just spent several hours reading up on the difference between 4:4:4 and 4:2:2 and what I'm getting is that the eye can't really see the difference. One of the pieces I read was a great article from tis site by Barry Green called understanding color sampling. However, when shooting chromakey, 4:4:4 gives a superior result to 4:2:2.

As it stands for the moment, my reason would be two-fold 1) I'm trying to buy a lot of gear with what I have to spend. And 2) The F35 in 10 bit 4:2:2 is still going give that filmic texture inherent to its CCD.

But maybe I'm not thinking of everything, so again, I'm teachable.
 
keithlango said:
The monitor output is a full 1080p 10-bit 422 signal. When I ran my F35 in a smaller set up I skipped the IF box and just recorded the monitor out to an Atomos. The ports (there are two of them) are on the back right (assistant) side of the body toward the bottom, right above the lemo power port.
Click to expand...

Thanks Kieth. The brochure I downloaded said the monitor out was down scaled - if I understood it correctly. Maybe an early model? So you got 1080 then. That's good to know.
 
Yeah, I'm with Mitch on this one. I don't think the F35 makes a lot of sense if you're not going to squeeze every last drop of image quality out of it. It's the fact that it can give you incredible 12-bit 4:4:4 images that gives it the edge over the prosumer cameras out there.
 
Grug said:
Yeah, I'm with Mitch on this one. I don't think the F35 makes a lot of sense if you're not going to squeeze every last drop of image quality out of it. It's the fact that it can give you incredible 12-bit 4:4:4 images that gives it the edge over the prosumer cameras out there.
Click to expand...

Having seen some of your F35 footage it is certainly wonderful. But there's a body of 10-bit SRW-1 work out there that's also pretty stunning. It's 4:4:4 to be sure, but that's exactly where the big guns all seem to say the human eye can't resolve a discernible difference - whereas in bit depth it can.

Maybe I'm wrong.... I do have a F23 with IF Box so a comparison would be doable. I'd swap back and forth but we're planning a lot of two camera and some three camera for the project all this pertains to.
 
If you don't plan to grade the image too hard then you're correct Rick - you will still get that wonderful F35 CCD look from the monitor outs.
 
MikalZ said:
If you don't plan to grade the image too hard then you're correct Rick - you will still get that wonderful F35 CCD look from the monitor outs.
Click to expand...

Thanks, MikalZ. That makes sense to me. I've been reading Alfonso Parra's tremendous write ups on both F23 and F35 and he points out the F23 has better color separation due to the 3CCD system. I think what I would do is shoot 10 bit 4:2:2 the F23 and use the IF Box with the F35.
 
Your eye also can't see the difference for most compression systems, most bit-depth starvation, most limited color sampling, etc. But the moment you try to grade the footage at all the deficiencies can quickly become apparent and they can be huge.
 
(old geezer voice)
I remember the first time I loaded 12bit F35 footage in resolve..

It felt about as chemical as digital timing could get. Moving sliders and adjustments WAY past where I'd dare to go on any 8 or even 10bit footage. Nothing broke up or clipped easily. Definitely helps with noise reduction too.

My advice is for SURE acquire an F35 with an IF box in the sale. That way you at least have the option to put the thing in sport mode where it belongs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top