FS5: FS5 and S-Log for Rock Concerts?

A

Adrock

New member
Hi All,

This is my first post. Thanks so much to the entire community for all of the informative posts I have been reading.

Here goes nothing...

I bought an FS5 in January to use as my primary camera while touring with a large rock band. As many have agreed, it is as close to perfect ergonomically as any camera can probably get. I love the weight and feel of this camera!

I bounce back n forth between shooting 1080 and 4k to the internal SD cards, since I have the luxury of archiving this project long-term and am able to experiment without anyone caring what resolutions I'm shooting at.

Here is my question: Is S-Log (either flavor) a good solution for shooting in the extremely high contrast lighting conditions of a rock concert? I am often encountering large pyro fx and haze/fog blasts that blow out considerably in the final image. I have not shot a single frame in S-Log yet, so I was looking for some opinions and guidance here. Based on what I see online, most people are using S-Log for outdoor nature videos in bright sunlight, etc...

I typically shoot wide open using a MB Speedbooster with a Canon 24-105 f4 and Tamron 15-30 f2.8. Occasionally I use a 100 shutter setting for increased perceived sharpness and to cut the light a little.

During a 90 minute concert, the lighting changes drastically from strobes and bright stage washes to ambient, low-light conditions.

I am also looking forward to shooting RAW when the firmware is released.

On a side note: My B-camera is the new a6300. Loving that little bugger as well. I will match the S-Log on that if I wind up shooting log for the FS5.

I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks in advance.
 
We have the FS7, FS5, and the a6300 (plus A7Sii) in our arsenal, so though not *expert* we have done testing and here's my take:

#1. Remember that SLog3 will clip (repeat: CLIP) your highlights at 92%. Gone. Forever. Just remember that.
#2. The fimware you have will impact your SLog footage. Early firmware looked pretty good except for the compression-instigated "tearing" effect. The updated firmware fixed that BUT introduced some REALLY nasty digital grain and noise in the shadows. Translation: on the last shoot we did (a music video) the DP said "No way" to allowing the FS5 to shoot in SLog3. The grain at 100% on a Shogun looked like a candy bar sitting on an ant hill. Grain was crawling everywhere like nuts.

The non-SLog settings seem to have much better grain performance in the shadows. We found that we'd rather have less dynamic range in the shadows (ie, black = black) than to have "detail" but have it crawling with noise. We've decide that until there is a firmware update to that, we're not using SLog3 on the FS5 at all. FWIW, the FS7 does not show any of these issues at all. It's a bummer, because we bought the FS5 to be B cam to the FS7. But the a6300 looks better than FS5 for that.

Best as you do some testing (you'll test before concert, yes?!).

Cheers.
 
Adrock,

I returned my a6300 due to overheating at the 20min mark - its an awful camera for events in this regard - it has severe overheating issues - and the jello wobble is unacceptable even for home videos.

But if you are going to use the a6300 as your B cam and shoot in Slog then I'd recommend Slog2 as its much better for a 8bit codec like the a6300. (there is a lot of info on the web about this)

P.S i always shoot Slog2 with my FS5 as it handles highlights better and looks less video than the cinegammas :)
 
Yes. SLog3 for stage lighting.

Something I did first year of the F55 with SLog2, but one would use SLog3 now. Tons of instances in here that would look terrible in Hypergamma:

 
Thanks so much Nate! That was exactly what I needed to see. I think we have some mutual friends btw, as your name sounds very familiar.
 
ectobuilder said:
Does it overheat even in HD as well?
Click to expand...

Yes mine did. Even after just playing with the settings for 15 mins or so I could feel the body getting quite warm.

I did read online somewhere that Sony lowered the heating threshold after releasing the camera and thats why preproduction models had no reporting of overheating.

And its jello wobble is insane - you just can't pan with it.
 
Erik Stenbakken said:
We have the FS7, FS5, and the a6300 (plus A7Sii) in our arsenal, so though not *expert* we have done testing and here's my take:
#2. The fimware you have will impact your SLog footage. Early firmware looked pretty good except for the compression-instigated "tearing" effect. The updated firmware fixed that BUT introduced some REALLY nasty digital grain and noise in the shadows. Translation: on the last shoot we did (a music video) the DP said "No way" to allowing the FS5 to shoot in SLog3. The grain at 100% on a Shogun looked like a candy bar sitting on an ant hill. Grain was crawling everywhere like nuts.
Click to expand...

Erik, I totally agree with what you said about the noise in the FS5. I never tested the previous firmware, but the updated one clearly has a noise problem.

I almost bought the a6300 as a backup camera, but what everyone stated here convinced me to stay away from it. Since I live outside the US, I do not have the opportunity to test cameras before buying them. If I could go back in time, I would have purchased a second FS7 instead of the FS5. Just like in Erik's case, the FS5 does not work well enough as a B camera to the FS7 in slog.
 
Although I don’t have personal experience with this, another thing to be aware of is the high intensity LED lights sometimes used in performances. They can clip individual color channels and generally create havoc.
 
ectobuilder said:
Does it overheat even in HD as well?
Click to expand...

Mine has never overheated in HD and when recording into an external recorder it doesn't overheat in 4K. As for the jello vision I find that if you control your movements handheld it is not that bad. On a tripod its just fine.
 
Planetwide said:
Hi Nate, you have lots of great work! I was wondering if you have run into any issues with stage LED lighting and the FS5? We are getting some irregular strobing with our A7sII's and pretty much all shutter speeds.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Haven't done anything with the newer Sony cams, FS7/5 etc.

If you're seeing strobing, it's more of just the stage lighting flickering at a relatively low HZ, back when I was shooting more shows it was always clubs with cheaper luminaires I'd see this with. American DJ, Chauvet.

When I was doing larger shows, never seemed to have a problem, I attributed it to higher end luminaires that knew they had to be "flicker free" at higher frequencies for TV work. Manus like Martin, High-End, etc.
 
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