OTHER: FS700 Internal Exposure + Color recs

[belleandlilsebastian]

Hello all, hit a tight moment self-producing a film where I had to liquidate my camera bodies. Was getting by renting which is fine for bigger gigs but for the smaller stuff the margins were getting ridiculous (I still have my nikon and canon fd manual glass for everything). So- when I saw someone selling an FS700**U*** for $200 with baby hours on it, I made an impulse decision and leapt on it.

I *know* this doesnt have the paid firmware - what I *learned* is that means no SLOG-2 even after updating it for free. That's ok with me, given the 8 bit 1080. But as such- what are the things I can do to help milk a little more out of this? I'm not averse necessarily to one day doing the firmware + picking up an odyssey, as I know for 4K 120fps raw its still pretty great, but spending $800-900 on this camera feels antitheitical to the point of buying it- as a stopgap and a beater that's better than a t2i. I also know I should overexpose by a stop or two (a habit I have to push myself on, spoiled by modern sensors)

So- any broader recs? Are there color profiles (or LUTs) that do a little more for you?

 

[morgan_moore]

As someone who spent too much time with the FS100 here is what I can remember..

Try and shoot in camera.

Profile, normal, Knee Off.

You will get nice colours but will have to make accurate expostures and control your dynamic range in scenes by using flags, fill light or choices what to crush or blow.

And I would not overexpose.. watch the hitogram.

 

[thirdyearff]

No i would not over expose if you don't have the firmware upgrade because your not shooting LOG and internally its an 8bit camera w/ a #hit codec. I still own my FS700/7q combo though it (camera) doesn't get used much anymore. Having said that...the 700 ships with picture profiles with #4 being "logish" (don't be tempted over expose that either). If you search Abel Cine's site (way back when) they created some LUTS (or just a LUT) specifically for that profile. I downloaded and used it prior to getting the firmware update and 7q. Also, if you search around there were no shortage of shooters creating, uploading and sharing PP they came up with because what shipped with the camera (outside of PP #4) had a bit to be desired.

 

[morgan_moore]

So what did you want to know?

 

[belleandlilsebastian]

As someone who spent too much time with the FS100 here is what I can remember..

Try and shoot in camera.

Profile, normal, Knee Off.

You will get nice colours but will have to make accurate expostures and control your dynamic range in scenes by using flags, fill light or choices what to crush or blow.

And I would not overexpose.. watch the hitogram.

Yeah, in early tests ive just found myself having to rely on the histogram as bible when id made a habit of using it more as a guideline. its kind of nice though, its like remembering how to write in cursive again. rigging up a decent monitor made a huge difference too, that screen is terrible.

I am definitely pleasantly surprised with the colors though- better than i remembered. Havent dialed it into the sweet spot yet but playing with a few ive found.

The overexposure tip i'd gotten from a colleague specifically RE: the 8 bit footage but in my own tests i found it was better to aim for the bullseye

No i would not over expose if you don't have the firmware upgrade because your not shooting LOG and internally its an 8bit camera w/ a #hit codec. I still own my FS700/7q combo though it (camera) doesn't get used much anymore. Having said that...the 700 ships with picture profiles with #4 being "logish" (don't be tempted over expose that either). If you search Abel Cine's site (way back when) they created some LUTS (or just a LUT) specifically for that profile. I downloaded and used it prior to getting the firmware update and 7q. Also, if you search around there were no shortage of shooters creating, uploading and sharing PP they came up with because what shipped with the camera (outside of PP #4) had a bit to be desired.

To that end- I need to try 4. I think i was a little worried about the 109% in 8 bit so ive mostly been sticking to cine 1. If most of the profiles/LUTs are designed for 4 that should be good. Also might try Cine4 and a couple filmconvert treatments

So what did you want to know?

basically- was that overexposure tip in 8 bit bunk or not lol, so thank you for your answer. but this clarification on cine 4 really helpful too, thank you both