FS700 Cinegamma vs FS100 CinemaTone

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deltoidjohn

Veteran
Hi All,

I'm just pulling the trigger on a used FS700, and I'm considering adding a FS100 alongside it too, seeing as the used prices have plummeted so far.

One thing I'm wondering though, is how well the cameras match up in post? I know the FS100 lacks the Cinegamma's of the FS700, which is what I'll be shooting with most of the time (seeing as it's the in-demand look right now), but is there any CinemaTone setting on the FS100 that gets a somewhat similar look? Or is it apples and oranges?

Most stuff is going to be corrected in post, so I'm not demanding identical images out of the box, but I also don't want to spend money expecting fairly well-matched pair of cameras only to dedicate hours of post to making them look remotely similar. I'm not too bothered if there is a slightly different clipping point, or one has a little more noise in the blacks, or about minute technical differences measurable only on a waveform - I'm mainly concerned about the overall brightness/darkness balance and the colour rendition being in the same ballpark.

So has anybody out there shot with both (or edited footage from both side-by-side) and can give an assessment of how the FS100 compares to the FS700's Cinegamma's?
 
Have you considered getting the a7s instead of the fs100?

It has the same pp-settings, better internal codec, crazy lowlight, 4k external etc.

Just asking, since I'm thinking about getting one as a b-cam for my own fs700 :)
 
I'd say go A7s as well. UNLESS you are shooting things such as live events etc as the A7s can only record for 29 minutes. It's not the end of the world if you can have someone by the camera just pushing rec twice every 28th minute.

Also the A7s can do things that is not possible or at least trickier with a bigger camera. You can get away with a smaller/cheaper stabilising system etc.

The biggest problem is that out of the box, the image is almost better than that of the FS700 ;)
nice thing is that they both look great, I tend to use the, interchangeable as alternating A and B cam depending on situation.
 
I have thought about it, but an A7S is $AUD2500 vs $AUD1500ish for a used FS100. $1000 difference is not a lot at the end of the day but I am laying down a good chuck of change already for the FS700 and extra accessories I'll need for it. And I'd be running 2 different battery types which is always a hassle. And I wouldn't have unlimited record times (I do some live events) or a 2nd set of XLR inputs (I can't wait to stop using my Zoom H4n). All those things combined mean that the A7s isn't all that attractive to me right now. Sure, it does look like a great little camera, And I might pick one up as a fun extra cam later on, but for daily professional use, I'd rather have a 2nd camcorder.

Maybe I'm also a little biased against it right now too, as I'm cutting a series that has been shot on a mix of FS700 & A7s, and for some reason the A7s operator seems to love shooting handheld, naked (the camera, not him!) and unsupported at all. Every time I see the A7s footage from this shooter right now I die a little bit inside. I do agree that the images cut together very nicely though.
 
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If I may ask a related question:

Are there any picture profiles for the FS 700 & FS 100 to match them? I have to shoot
with both soon..

Cheers
 
I cant really remember - was a couple of years ago and lost the settings!

I think the colour phase-4 was not required to be swung so far.

S
 
deltoidjohn said:
Every time I see the A7s footage from this shooter right now I die a little bit inside. I do agree that the images cut together very nicely though.
Click to expand...
Yes, that shaky handheld DSLR footage is the worst I know. I can't stand it. That's my main concern with the A7s. Good thing, it's cheaper to buy a stabiliser that take the A7s than the FS700.
 
dmitrizigany said:
Good thing, it's cheaper to buy a stabiliser that take the A7s than the FS700.
Click to expand...

My old Steadycam will do just fine for the FS100 (and probably the FS700 too) and the ergonomics are much better for those times I just want to run-n-gun so I'm not worried about that - though I would have to fork out for some kind of rig to do handheld with the A7s, so that would widen the price gap even further!
 
Just came across this thread - I have had an FS100 for about two years and just inherited an FS700. I do a lot of corporate events and interviews, and the two cameras match pretty well. The FS700 tints a little greenish where the FS100 skews a little reddish. Nothing you can't get pretty close with a color balance.

I am starting to play with the picture profiles that I've found online. I do like the Ferrari profile from Morgan_Moore on my FS100 as it removes a lot of the pink and red skin tones. I just dialed it into my FS700 and should have some work next week where I can test out how they match with that profile. Will also be using an A7S to see how it matches but the battery life/record time/overheating issue scares me away from that for long shoots right now.
 
The FS100 is quite a bit less noisy that the FS700, as mentioned above the FS100 tends to skew to red. The highlight handling in the FS100 isn't anywhere near as good as the 700. But if you're careful exposure-wise then they are well matched and make a good team.

I swapped my FS100 for an A7s though, it does everything the 100 can do but a whole lot more. YMMV

cheers
Paul
 
I've found FS100 Cinematone1 with Black gamma HIGH +7 is a pretty good match with FS700 Cine4 with Black gamma HIGH -7. Similar contrast and DR since that stretches the FS100's shadows as far as possible and crushes the FS700 shadows to match the FS100's ~2stop lower DR which is mostly seen in the shadows. I'm not sure I'd say the FS100 is much less noisy than the FS700 once you crush out all the shadow/noise detail to match the FS100.
 
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