Highlight Handling on Skin Tones with AF100 - Good Sample Clip

P

Paul Vicente

Well-known member
If this was posted before, I apologize!

I found a sample video clip that claims to be shot with the AF101 by a guy named Paulo Morete that perfectly shows the exact nature of highlight shading I can experience if I am not careful with my SD3 consumer AVCHD camcorder (which does not feature cinegamma curves) and my HMC150 (which has the cinegamma curves). Both cameras (manufactured and in full production years ago) have the capacity to do this if I overexpose inadvertently.... and it looks especially bad on skin tone highlights. Now here we have an example of the exact same look with the AF100 camera. The image clips very strongly with an orange glow along the skin gradient, similar to Philip Bloom's low light test with the match and cigars. Notice here that the rest of the image is nicely rendered and perfectly exposed, but the arm is not. Please take a look.

http://vimeo.com/16359712


I am sharing this not because I want to bash the AF100-- but rather because I would like to see this corrected in the AF100.

This is obviously shot with a pre-production AF100 camera.... So yes, some will say it is not the final version... etc. But I find it interesting that this looks exactly the same as what I can get with my existing AVCHD and AVCCAM products that are shipping now and years ago.

So, it seems to be a trend in my eyes. Is it the codec? The compressor? I dunno.

Panasonic- Please look at this and fix it, then the AF100 will be perfect!

Thank you for looking.
 
Interesting.

Who is the shooter and how did he get a pre-production camera? This was uploaded to Vimeo on OCT 31, 2010.
 
kylekmd said:
Interesting.

Who is the shooter and how did he get a pre-production camera? This was uploaded to Vimeo on OCT 31, 2010.
Click to expand...

I don't know, but I figure I would post the clip here, because it perfectly shows what I have experienced with my cameras now (when I do not expose carefully).



.
 
I have a very hard time believing this is an af100. Either way, the blowouts look the same as what we expect to see on the upcoming af100.

There has been a bit of talk regarding Cine-D with the zero rolloff to blowouts, however this gentleman used HD norm gamma curve, which brings more issues into question as to why the blowouts look pretty much spot on with the other stuff we have been seeing with Cine D

I don't think we haev enough information on this clip to deconstruct it, so i'll just move on for now.
 
PaPa said:
There has been a bit of talk regarding Cine-D with the zero rolloff to blowouts, however this gentleman used HD norm gamma curve, which brings more issues into question as to why the blowouts look pretty much spot on with the other stuff we have been seeing with Cine D.
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My Panasonic SD3 does not have custom gamma gurves, and I get this result if I overexpose slightly or a lot. Same with the HMC150. If I am working in controlled conditions, with a monitor, nice lights, etc, then it never happens to me, because I am sure to keep the exposure under control. But yes, this is very consistent with everybody's test footage, including my current footage.

Perhaps the AF100 (if released with this issue) may not be the type of cam for run-and-gun applications, but will shine under controlled conditions.

Hopefully they fix it.
 
Hopefully with sufficient testing we will find a way to avoid this type of look with blowouts. Simply, because there is a time and a place where one might want to blow out even skin tones, and it would be a shame to be limited only to proper exposure.

the effect is used quite a bit on films like the aviator. Love the look. yes yes, i know,,, film, budget... effects department... lol
 
IMHO, All of the footage shot with these pre production AF-100 only tells me that they are doing their jobs. Giving insight into what needs to be improved upon for the final production model. Even though this footage was posted Oct. 31 2010 the real question is when was it shot. Because by now I would believe that these type of issues have been corrected. I enjoy seeing these clips simply because I know that these are pre production units and not the final version. Sometimes you have to take into consideration that Panasonic is a company with a proven track record of breaking the mode.
 
Does any one have a clip that they can show where they recored in uncontrolled lighting, with little or no time to get to know a new camera, and caught a blown highlight that looks better than a AF-100.
And please show your clip with out any post work just raw footage. I look forward seeing it and finding what camera was used.
 
I remember these weird yellow tones in the skintone highlight gradients from my dvx... it was one of those things that punished and befuddled me for a long time ...

Until the Andromeda modification was developed, I sent in my camera for modification, and then it was a 10bit 444 CCD skin tone love fest from then on in!!! Really, it's still my favorite camera for capturing faces + people, beyond even RED and other higher end CMOS devices...

It's one of those things that you CANNOT mess up in a camera design. We're just all so sensitive to good range in skin tones. Now I've never designed a camera (man I would love too though!) - I'm of the mind that a pro camera, IN ANY MODE, IN ANY PICTURE PROFILE, should not mess up skin tone gradients! Is this possible, I don't know....
 
Yak said:
Does any one have a clip that they can show where they recored in uncontrolled lighting, with little or no time to get to know a new camera, and caught a blown highlight that looks better than a AF-100.
And please show your clip with out any post work just raw footage. I look forward seeing it and finding what camera was used.
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My first minute with an EX1, I shot some portraits type shots outdoors. The camera was probably set on the standard gamma (the worst IMHO for rendering skin) with sharpening cranked, etc..
The results were nice. I now use different gamma settings, but even in a worst case scenario, the EX3 didn't give me a raw deal on skin highlights...

CLIP:

http://www.qmediasolutions.com/guest/CAMERA_TESTS/Sony_EX1_Daylight_test.mov
 
Going into clip is very often a creative choice, not simply the result of carelessness or situational constraints. Clip is not inherently "bad," but a sudden, chroma-shifted explosion to clip certainly is. My video camera experience goes back all the way to the HL79, and the first video camera I owned that exhibited a beautiful, filmic slope to clip was the Panasonic VariCam. The Red Camera also has a beautiful transition into clip.

The AF100 clip I'd like to see posted is one with skin tones brought into clip, but with a nice gentle transition. It's said the AF100 has 10.5 stops of dynamic range; that should be enough to avoid the problems we've observed in the Japan tests.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo
 
Matthew Bennett said:
My first minute with an EX1, I shot some portraits type shots outdoors. The camera was probably set on the standard gamma (the worst IMHO for rendering skin) with sharpening cranked, etc..
The results were nice. I now use different gamma settings, but even in a worst case scenario, the EX3 didn't give me a raw deal on skin highlights...

CLIP:

http://www.qmediasolutions.com/guest/CAMERA_TESTS/Sony_EX1_Daylight_test.mov
Click to expand...

Nice, It looks to me that in the shots on the basket ball court the highlights on the scarf are just as "blown out" as anything from a AF-100. It just show that any new camera takes some time with before one can "dial in" the right look.
 
Until the Andromeda modification was developed, I sent in my camera for modification, and then it was a 10bit 444 CCD skin tone love fest from then on in!!! Really, it's still my favorite camera for capturing faces + people, beyond even RED and other higher end CMOS devices
Click to expand...
Wonder if we'll see a similar mod for the AF100 in a year or two?
 
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