Has anybody seen the show "Awake" ? Alexa is looking ... amazing.

For those with experience with the Alexa, I've been watching Fringe since it started (tv show) and when I started watching season 4 I noticed something was different in the visuals. I went and checked IMDB and sure enough, I see that the camera they are using now is the Alexa and before it was 35mm film (with random digital used here and there).

The reason I even noticed something was different was two things:

(1) Highlights shift to color like the FS100. Now, certain lights have blue or yellow halos. I don't remember this popping out before.

(2) skins with low light tends to shift orange much more than before.

After noticing this, I went and watched both just to make sure I wasn't crazy and sure enough, the Alexa material looked different. After this, I watched some Game of Thrones and saw the same type of issues, but not as drastic. The reason I found this interesting is that I didn't expect it, but, that people are okay with it. I doubt anyone but me would notice compared to normal viewing. I initially didn't notice it till I got a FS100 and had been working with trying to eliminate the problem.

I think the image off the Alexa looks great, I'm wondering if you have such controls of the curves that you can have or not have highlights handled this way. I've seen stuff from the Alexa where I've not seen this problem. But then again, I don't know how well the blow outs were controlled. On Fringe, they DEFINITELY blow out the camera a lot.
 
I think it's just a case of the color grader not feeling the need to make the highlights more natural. It's very easy to remove that shift with a simple secondary or desaturation. Like you, I always notice the cyan, yellow, magenta clipping.
 
Lammy said:
I think it's just a case of the color grader not feeling the need to make the highlights more natural. It's very easy to remove that shift with a simple secondary or desaturation. Like you, I always notice the cyan, yellow, magenta clipping.
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Very true. The BIGGEST issue is codec, if your codec is destructive or 4:2:0 it becomes difficult to get a clean removal in those highlights. But with a good codec like the Alexa has, etc, you can DEFINITELY grade it out.

The question becomes, do you want it and can use it if you want, or not have it and never worry about it. In playing with HL on the FS100, I am finding it's the 4:2:0 that is really the biggest issue I have, not the HL handling.

It's a *look* if you will, so I wonder if people are just enjoying the look when those transitions aren't as harsh as they are on the FS100.

That said, I've come to realize, I pixel peep WAY TOO MUCH now. I point it out, and my friends are like, dude, just watch the film :)
 
Rick Burnett said:
For those with experience with the Alexa, I've been watching Fringe since it started (tv show) and when I started watching season 4 I noticed something was different in the visuals. I went and checked IMDB and sure enough, I see that the camera they are using now is the Alexa and before it was 35mm film (with random digital used here and there).

The reason I even noticed something was different was two things:

(1) Highlights shift to color like the FS100. Now, certain lights have blue or yellow halos. I don't remember this popping out before.

(2) skins with low light tends to shift orange much more than before.

After noticing this, I went and watched both just to make sure I wasn't crazy and sure enough, the Alexa material looked different. After this, I watched some Game of Thrones and saw the same type of issues, but not as drastic. The reason I found this interesting is that I didn't expect it, but, that people are okay with it. I doubt anyone but me would notice compared to normal viewing. I initially didn't notice it till I got a FS100 and had been working with trying to eliminate the problem.

I think the image off the Alexa looks great, I'm wondering if you have such controls of the curves that you can have or not have highlights handled this way. I've seen stuff from the Alexa where I've not seen this problem. But then again, I don't know how well the blow outs were controlled. On Fringe, they DEFINITELY blow out the camera a lot.
Click to expand...

The one thing the Alexa does best is treat highlights like color negative film, blowing them out to white rather than some over-saturated color. This is in strict contrast with SLOG2 and Sony's older cameras in general.

The skin tones are good, but not great. Canon is a little better. MX is much worse; F5 is worse. Dragon is getting there.

It has less highlight detail than 5219 maybe, but dynamic range is better due to shadow detail. Exactly two stops in the highlights more than MX or C300. One stop more than F5 but much better roll off.

It's not a magic camera. It's considerably better than the MX, C300, F5, etc. but only to the extent that it allows you to handle yucky light (mixed color temperature, blown highlights) better and better color and Log C is a lot easier to work with than Log S or Canon Log (which sucks, use WideDR). Under nice lighting you can get a great result with the rest, though. The Alexa footage I've shot is probably some of the worst I've shot professionally just due to it being uninspired.

Fwiw, SLOG 3 apparently fixes the saturation issue and WideDR on the C300 does, too, or at least improves on it. :)

HOWEVER, it is not easy to remove the highlight shift once you shoot colors that clip. Watch shows shot on the F55 such as Black List and look at exit signs and traffic lights. The highlight shift toward over saturation cannot be corrected in post because the color channel is clipped and desaturates to gray, not white.

Skyfall looked good, too! Alexa is nice...

But with a C300 and even Canon L lenses in WideDR you can get 90% of the way there, and you won't have to hire the big crew or fiddle with LUTs in post (though you also lose that flexibility). The Alexa requires at least an AC, usually two due to chunky batteries that drain fast and it's HEAVY. Lovely post workflow, though. Log C is the best. The ergonomics are lovely, too, for a good crew. It is absolutely the best there is on set and in post and on screen. :)

But there's plenty of content shot on lesser cameras that looks just as good. Even the cheap black magic guys are AMAZING and 99% of what you see on screen is just the talent of the crew.
 
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I have also used the Alexa, and image quality aside, it is actually the simplest camera to use. Such a dream to work with. I think it needs a little bit extra in the highlights to be able to take 5219 as that is generally where I notice the difference in the 2. Also night driving scenes almost always have this weird look. I noticed them a lot in in time.
 
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