F3: Maximum F3

Grug

Grug

Veteran
Well, we're in the latter half of 2017 and I wouldn't have thought this would still be happening, but I'm out on set again with the F3 putting in the work on a little sci-fi film.

I'm pretty sure this is officially the most gack I've ever covered one in though:

lVRXaVi.jpg


- ET Body Armour
- Odyssey7Q
- EVF
- Laser Rangefinder
- Wireless Video
- Wireless Audio
- Timecode Box
- V-mount plate

We were running it all off the 'native' Swit batteries at first, but they were dying hard and fast, so switch over to the V-mount plate a third of the way through the day. One 150Wh battery? 4.5 hours of continuous run-time! (I don't get that with the Alexa!) :D

And even fully loaded, the camera's still super light.
 
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Still doing great stuff with mine. In fact got a second one recently.
Looks more like 35mm to me than most higher res cameras today.
 
Spartacus said:
And don't y'all forget to post what you shot with it please:)
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Will do. We've got some rather fun bits on this one. Creepy deep-sea fish lit from within, radiation poisoning, dreamscapes and good old fashioned planets hanging low in the sky!
 
Grug said:
Well, we're in the latter half of 2017 and I wouldn't have thought this would still be happening, but I'm out on set again with the F3 putting in the work on a little sci-fi film.
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Cool! What made you feel like the F3 is the right fit for this particular project?
 
What are you capturing in? F3 is light compared to a lot of cameras but do you shoot much with it on your shoulder?
 
IronFilm said:
Cool! What made you feel like the F3 is the right fit for this particular project?
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Due to budget it was either the F3, or a Red One MX with only three 16GB CF cards (about 18 mins of recording before you are out of cards) and only 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 NDs.

So practicality and the F3's superior dynamic range sealed the deal for it.

Afterglow said:
What are you capturing in? F3 is light compared to a lot of cameras but do you shoot much with it on your shoulder?
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We're recording 10-bit 4:4:4 SLOG to Prores4444 XQ on the Odyssey 7Q.

F3 is very light (even with all the gack) the rig fully loaded is probably only 6-7kg, great for running around with. This shoot hasn't had much, but the camera spent the second half of today on my shoulder as we shot a fight sequence in the beach.
 
Probably because no-one wants to hear that if you record 4:4:4 s-log you end up with an image that can be at least as pleasing as you would get from any of the newer cameras - or as my last colorist said, the footage looks basically indistinguishable from an Alexa. So if you don't need that extra stop of DR / or slo-mo / or a 4K release, the F3's 4:4:4 is still amazing.
 
OnSet said:
Probably because no-one wants to hear that if you record 4:4:4 s-log you end up with an image that can be at least as pleasing as you would get from any of the newer cameras - or as my last colorist said, the footage looks basically indistinguishable from an Alexa. So if you don't need that extra stop of DR / or slo-mo / or a 4K release, the F3's 4:4:4 is still amazing.
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There is a great deal of truth to this. As a colorist myself I can confirm that this is very true. It is extremely pleasing for skin tones and no one has ever complained that footage I have shot on it and projected on cinema screens looked worse than any of the 4K cameras out there. If anything they have asked me what the film was shot on ?

However, to be fair the Alexa employs a kind of 2nd exposure for the highlights which is not HDR but is responsible for enough extra DR that a very nice highlight roll-off is achieved.

Frankly, considering how little an F3 costs today on the used market, I am surprised that everyone doesn't own one. At the very least for the tremendous amount of work which is still for HD delivery or B-Cam. Frankly I would rather own 2 or 3 of these for the added coverage, than a single RED Weapon, Alexa or new Sony Venice. End of the day, a strong narrative is what counts and this camera does the job admirably in a wide variety of environments.
 
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Don't often see Cinetape on an F3!

Would you be so kind as to show us a shot of the mounting mechanism or rail bits and such for your Gratical Eye on the F3. Still using mine.

Is that a Teradek Bolt hanging off the rear of the top handle? Guess the Odyssey is on the AC side of the camera. I usually just jam the cameras with timecode from my 633 at several points throughout the day. What timecode box are you using?
 
jasonbrooks said:
Condescension is the lowest form of flattery. Why won't you tell me?

ATM I can only guess that it's not new/cool enough for you, but your analogy isn't fleshed out enough for my tiny mind to be sure, hence my question.

jason
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Dude, the F3 is a sexy beast wearing hot black leather pants and stiletto heels but I've already been stopped by the U.S. Secret Service twice and once photographed with a telephoto lens by one of those mofo's.

Now I'm on file.

And that was just with an A7S. Once on a slider outside the White House.

Also stopped and questioned by the Park Police on Roosevelt Island.

Nice chic, but just sayin'--I can't take her anywhere.

If I want permission to shoot in a restaurant for free I'm much more likely to get it if I don't show up with that beast.
 
yoclay said:
There is a great deal of truth to this. As a colorist myself I can confirm that this is very true. It is extremely pleasing for skin tones and no one has ever complained that footage I have shot on it and projected on cinema screens looked worse than any of the 4K cameras out there. If anything they have asked me what the film was shot on ?

However, to be fair the Alexa employs a kind of 2nd exposure for the highlights which is not HDR but is responsible for enough extra DR that a very nice highlight roll-off is achieved.

Frankly, considering how little an F3 costs today on the used market, I am surprised that everyone doesn't own one. At the very least for the tremendous amount of work which is still for HD delivery or B-Cam. Frankly I would rather own 2 or 3 of these for the added coverage, than a single RED Weapon, Alexa or new Sony Venice. End of the day, a strong narrative is what counts and this camera does the job admirably in a wide variety of environments.
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I agree.

I've upgraded from mine to a used Alexa EV, but held onto the F3.

The with the sLOG upgrade it's basically a poor mans HD F5 that you can pick up for peanuts...
 
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