stancemedia
Carbonite Member
A large group of us have been using this camera for a decent amount of time.
I figured for those out there that might be new or even veterans, this would be
a good post to browse periodically to get possible tips and tricks or general information
others have picked up from daily use.
Here are my tips that I currently have to share. I urge others to post as well
maybe if we get a good wealth of knowledge we can get a sticky for others to
get easy access to the information.
x4/x8 Zoom with External Monitor/EVF - Nailing Focus
If you have an external monitor or an EVF and are in run and gun situations
and need to confirm focus, simply use expanded focus. This expanded view
can be panned around with your buttons up top on the camera while your
HDMI output remains un-zoomed. You can frame on your monitor/EVF
and nail focus on the LCD.
Event after event this is really starting to save me. I can now feel quite confident
shot after shot I'm hitting focus. It's a nice feature to use a safety net if you will.
White Balance - It's Important
Anyone coming from a DSLR background might overlook white balance however it's
quite important obviously. It will affect colors and especially change skin tones around
if not properly set. Having an accurate white balance alleviates a majority of problems.
I recommend grabbing a digital target it will save tons of aggravation later on.
Highlights - Protect Them (At the cost of skin tones being at a slightly lower IRE)
The camera is quite sensitive. Generally if you expose for highlights you will not destroy
the image when bringing up skin tones to the proper exposure. This will make a more
pleasing image. Most seem to go as far or as low as 50 IRE for skin tones when protecting
them in a scene with harsh highlights. Again the codec is very good and can
be pushed pretty far.
Fixing Highlights
If you do clip highlights you can desaturate highlights and avoid some potential
nasty color shift by using these tools in various applications.
Resolve - Sat V Luma - Lower saturation in highlights with a slight curve
Colorista - Key clipped highlights and lower saturation value
Speedgrade - Create a primary and select highlights and lower saturation value
S&Q Records No Audio
S&Q Records no audio! If you need a 60p clip with audio go to Menu - Rec Settings
and set it to 1080p60p. This will give you audio and a pure 60p clip. You can conform
later.
Another note if you change it to a 60p clip CS5.5 has issues with LPCM audio. If you record
with Dolby it will play without tweaks. Mac users can use Clipwrap and just re-wrap the clip
to fix the issue. CS6 plays natively without issue. FCPX does not have this issue.
Extra Gain Option - @Andrew Luczenczyn
Set your Auto Gain Limit to the lowest setting ( 0dB or 500 ISO), you gain one preset manual gain;
High, Medium, Low, and 0 (auto).
Gives you an extra gain/iso option.
I figured for those out there that might be new or even veterans, this would be
a good post to browse periodically to get possible tips and tricks or general information
others have picked up from daily use.
Here are my tips that I currently have to share. I urge others to post as well
maybe if we get a good wealth of knowledge we can get a sticky for others to
get easy access to the information.
x4/x8 Zoom with External Monitor/EVF - Nailing Focus
If you have an external monitor or an EVF and are in run and gun situations
and need to confirm focus, simply use expanded focus. This expanded view
can be panned around with your buttons up top on the camera while your
HDMI output remains un-zoomed. You can frame on your monitor/EVF
and nail focus on the LCD.
Event after event this is really starting to save me. I can now feel quite confident
shot after shot I'm hitting focus. It's a nice feature to use a safety net if you will.
White Balance - It's Important
Anyone coming from a DSLR background might overlook white balance however it's
quite important obviously. It will affect colors and especially change skin tones around
if not properly set. Having an accurate white balance alleviates a majority of problems.
I recommend grabbing a digital target it will save tons of aggravation later on.
Highlights - Protect Them (At the cost of skin tones being at a slightly lower IRE)
The camera is quite sensitive. Generally if you expose for highlights you will not destroy
the image when bringing up skin tones to the proper exposure. This will make a more
pleasing image. Most seem to go as far or as low as 50 IRE for skin tones when protecting
them in a scene with harsh highlights. Again the codec is very good and can
be pushed pretty far.
Fixing Highlights
If you do clip highlights you can desaturate highlights and avoid some potential
nasty color shift by using these tools in various applications.
Resolve - Sat V Luma - Lower saturation in highlights with a slight curve
Colorista - Key clipped highlights and lower saturation value
Speedgrade - Create a primary and select highlights and lower saturation value
S&Q Records No Audio
S&Q Records no audio! If you need a 60p clip with audio go to Menu - Rec Settings
and set it to 1080p60p. This will give you audio and a pure 60p clip. You can conform
later.
Another note if you change it to a 60p clip CS5.5 has issues with LPCM audio. If you record
with Dolby it will play without tweaks. Mac users can use Clipwrap and just re-wrap the clip
to fix the issue. CS6 plays natively without issue. FCPX does not have this issue.
Extra Gain Option - @Andrew Luczenczyn
Set your Auto Gain Limit to the lowest setting ( 0dB or 500 ISO), you gain one preset manual gain;
High, Medium, Low, and 0 (auto).
Gives you an extra gain/iso option.
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