FX6: 120 fps with Sony 200-600mm lens at Cape Ann, MA

[Doug Jensen]

Here's some more test footage from the FX6 and 200-400mm. Killing two birds with one stone -- lens testing and stock footage acquisition.

XAVC-I 4K
24p @ 120 fps S&Q Motion
S-LOG3 Graded in DaVinci Resolve Studio

 

[drboffa]

Footage looks great! I like that fisherman giving you the evil eye... And I'm a sucker for dogs so the puppy toward the end is a nice touch.

A couple questions:

1) around the 1:08 mark when it looks like you're shooting into the sun (unless that's just a REALLY bright boat light): is that flare from the lens or added in post?

2) regarding shooting into the sun, what are your suggestions for precautions (if any) to avoid damaging the sensor?

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Doug Jensen]

Thanks for the compliments. Obviously, the fisherman knew the camera was aimed right at him, but I was turned away and pretending to be looking at something on my phone, so I don't think he knew I was rolling. When I figured the shot was done, I re-aimed the camera at something else before looking through the viewfinder without ever making eye contact with him. People can never be sure exactly what I'm doing. The key is to never make eye contact. Also, one of the best things about shooting at 120 fps is that I only need to roll for 4 seconds to get a 20 second clip.

I try to avoid shooting directly into the sun unless it is really low in the sky or partially obscurred by clouds, fog, etc. I don't know how far you could push it before damaging the sensor, but better safe than sorry, A direct shot of the sun won't look good anyway and it will reveal any crap on my lens, so I avoid it.

The fishing boat already had a search light on the top so I just accentuated it by adding a glow and a flare in resolve. If there weren't real reflections on the water in front of the boat I don't think it would have worked. I also added a gradient at the top frame to bring down the sky, but still leave kind of a yellow glow above the water that implies the sun might be low in the sky, which it was not. I also added another gradient at the bottom just to bring the viewer's eye up to the boat. And I cooled down color balance so the light and fake sun looked warmer. I think it turned out pretty good and it only took less than 5 minutes. I enjoy the grading process almost as much as the shooting.

 

[Joshua Milligan]

I love the color grade on the screenshot you shared above Doug. That’s a fantastic grading choice and is a great example of what you can achieve with the FX6.

 

[drboffa]

Great explanation, Doug. Thanks for taking the time to share your process!

Are you still trying out a color managed workflow? Or is this graded via your usual process?

 

[Doug Jensen]

No problem I'm happy to answer questions.

The color managed workflow has fallen by the wayside. I felt contrained by it, especially when I am mixing S-LOG and REC709 footage in the same grading session. I'm not against it, I just don't prefer it. Here's another little video I decided to post last night that I shot with the FX6 on the 4th of July. Not much to it, really, but I like the fireworks reflected in the water and the clouds. The FX6 is a low light beast. This was shot much later after sunset than it appears and I couldn't see the boats on the water at all with my naked eyes unless the fireworks lit them up.

 

[drboffa]

Very nice! The footage looks great. I'm consistently amazed by how well this camera does in low light. I'm also really spoiled by the ability to switch to HI base and feel confident in the image not being noisy; I use it quite often, even in situations that aren't "low light", per se.

 

[Doug Jensen]

I agree about the HIGH base mode. It is especially helpful when shooting wildlfie at 120 fps with Sony's relatively slow telephoto lenses. For example, the 200-600 is only f/6.3 when zoomed in to 600mm -- and only f/13 if the 2x teleconverter is being used. Without that HIGH mode I'd have to drop the frame rate down to "normal" speeds in late afternoon rather than late evening.