Hello everybody, I would like to share with you my impressions about the RAW performance of the FS5, with particular reference to 12bit linear RAW and newly Prores Raw.
I’ve spent long hours reading discussions and comments on dvxusers about all the problems of 12bit linear RAW from fs5 and I was little scared about purchasing the camera. I’ve read a lot of negative comments, sometimes I stumbled on statements like “raw from fs5 is useless” or “inadequate for low key scene” or “plenty of artifacts in shadows and deep blacks” etc...
Based on what I’ve read on these discussions I should never have purchased the FS5. Honestly, there’s some misleading informations and sloppy statements concerning the raw output of FS5 and I believe there’s a need for clarity for everyone is going to buy or rent the fs5 with RAW option.
The 12bit RAW of FS5 is amazing, yes, amazing my friends! There’s nothing wrong with 12 bit linear raw, it is exactly what you expect from any slightly compressed 12bit raw of any digital SLR or mirrorless around there. You should try to compare a .dng from fs5 to a 14bit uncompressed .arw file from a7sII on the same scene and you will see what fs5 is capable of. Latitude is extreme, colours are deep and rich, there’re lot of fine details in the shadows and honestly I have no complaints about noise. Once and for all, there’s nothing wrong with noise in the shadows of the FS5 raw output. At iso2000 noise is there, yes, exactly where it should be considering that no noise reduction is being applied by the camera. Noise perception really depends on workflow and postproduction techniques you’re capable of, and you should count yourself lucky to be in full control of noise in post instead during images acquisition. Computing power and options at your disposal during postproduction cannot be compared to any real-time noise reduction during acquisition (a process that occurs with in-camera log encoding for example). Also consider that, until now, the power to choose the right level of noise based on what you think is noise or film-like grain was only achievable with very very expensive workflow like arri raw or redraw.
Now you can do that in a very efficient way and with very inexpensive tools and user friendly workflow available to anyone, like Prores Raw (cDNG is not very user friendly, actually). After what I consider the most exciting announcement of the last years, namely Prores Raw, I believe indie filmmakers have finally a way for crossing the bridge between the "indie land", where the choice of camera is determined by budget, and "cinema production land" where cameras and gears aren’t a budget issue. I believe we’re at the point where ideas and content really make the difference, and no longer the budget for cameras and gears. I’m using the fs5 with Prores Raw right now, and it’s fantastic. We’re saving a lot of time in postproduction and time is money for my buisness.
The debate on “true raw” or not is pointless in my opinion.. Prores Raw is RAW, from both technical and psychological point of view. I have access to all the colours and luminance informations that my fs5 is capable of, directly inside fcpx. There’s absolutely no visual difference from a proper developed Prores Raw and proper developed dng file. Also the debate on 12bit linear raw vs 10bit log with FS5 becomes insignificant when you’re dealing with a prores raw file: log encoded files are bigger and don’t include more informations than 12bit raw output, whether you’re recoding in camera or to external recorder. I know the math too, 13 or 14 stop of dynamic range stored in a 12bit file etc etc... that’s certainly true, sure.. But I also believe on what my eyes can see and I’ve nothing to complaint about latitude of 12bit linear raw, also in comparison to 14bit raw from a larger and less noiser a7sII sensor.
I would add that Prores Raw is also fast, really fast, I’m editing a ten minutes sequence in 4K 25p with real time playback on a late 2013 i7 imac, with full control on exposure and wb on every clip. Outstanding.
I would encourage everyone who is still undecided or scared about raw to have a try with FS5. Rent the camera and take a session on fcpx 10.4.1. It’s definitely worth a try!
I’ve spent long hours reading discussions and comments on dvxusers about all the problems of 12bit linear RAW from fs5 and I was little scared about purchasing the camera. I’ve read a lot of negative comments, sometimes I stumbled on statements like “raw from fs5 is useless” or “inadequate for low key scene” or “plenty of artifacts in shadows and deep blacks” etc...
Based on what I’ve read on these discussions I should never have purchased the FS5. Honestly, there’s some misleading informations and sloppy statements concerning the raw output of FS5 and I believe there’s a need for clarity for everyone is going to buy or rent the fs5 with RAW option.
The 12bit RAW of FS5 is amazing, yes, amazing my friends! There’s nothing wrong with 12 bit linear raw, it is exactly what you expect from any slightly compressed 12bit raw of any digital SLR or mirrorless around there. You should try to compare a .dng from fs5 to a 14bit uncompressed .arw file from a7sII on the same scene and you will see what fs5 is capable of. Latitude is extreme, colours are deep and rich, there’re lot of fine details in the shadows and honestly I have no complaints about noise. Once and for all, there’s nothing wrong with noise in the shadows of the FS5 raw output. At iso2000 noise is there, yes, exactly where it should be considering that no noise reduction is being applied by the camera. Noise perception really depends on workflow and postproduction techniques you’re capable of, and you should count yourself lucky to be in full control of noise in post instead during images acquisition. Computing power and options at your disposal during postproduction cannot be compared to any real-time noise reduction during acquisition (a process that occurs with in-camera log encoding for example). Also consider that, until now, the power to choose the right level of noise based on what you think is noise or film-like grain was only achievable with very very expensive workflow like arri raw or redraw.
Now you can do that in a very efficient way and with very inexpensive tools and user friendly workflow available to anyone, like Prores Raw (cDNG is not very user friendly, actually). After what I consider the most exciting announcement of the last years, namely Prores Raw, I believe indie filmmakers have finally a way for crossing the bridge between the "indie land", where the choice of camera is determined by budget, and "cinema production land" where cameras and gears aren’t a budget issue. I believe we’re at the point where ideas and content really make the difference, and no longer the budget for cameras and gears. I’m using the fs5 with Prores Raw right now, and it’s fantastic. We’re saving a lot of time in postproduction and time is money for my buisness.
The debate on “true raw” or not is pointless in my opinion.. Prores Raw is RAW, from both technical and psychological point of view. I have access to all the colours and luminance informations that my fs5 is capable of, directly inside fcpx. There’s absolutely no visual difference from a proper developed Prores Raw and proper developed dng file. Also the debate on 12bit linear raw vs 10bit log with FS5 becomes insignificant when you’re dealing with a prores raw file: log encoded files are bigger and don’t include more informations than 12bit raw output, whether you’re recoding in camera or to external recorder. I know the math too, 13 or 14 stop of dynamic range stored in a 12bit file etc etc... that’s certainly true, sure.. But I also believe on what my eyes can see and I’ve nothing to complaint about latitude of 12bit linear raw, also in comparison to 14bit raw from a larger and less noiser a7sII sensor.
I would add that Prores Raw is also fast, really fast, I’m editing a ten minutes sequence in 4K 25p with real time playback on a late 2013 i7 imac, with full control on exposure and wb on every clip. Outstanding.
I would encourage everyone who is still undecided or scared about raw to have a try with FS5. Rent the camera and take a session on fcpx 10.4.1. It’s definitely worth a try!
. Like you, having tried CDNG RAW recording on my Shogun Inferno using the XDCA RAW SDI output, I always thought the image is superior to every other option I tried (with the internal FS7 recording and/or with external Prores/DNxHR Inferno encoding). I do have a working Prores RAW acquisition hardware, alas - not using FCPX - I didn't have an opportunity to watch it; BMD doesn't answer questions if or when they will implement reading this codec by Resolve under Windows - but i do hope that it will happen sooner or later, if Apple is serious about this new format becoming a new industry standard!
