observations and experiences with my FS100, pre and post 2.0...
- Thread starter blackdogdylan
- Start date
moldcad
Veteran
Absolutely - V2 definitely does give better color control (I can see the Red is tamed in my Vegas scopes). Also, I've advocated for Std gammas for a long time - even with my EX1, not to mention the FS100...
And your conclusion about the ability actually name our configuration files is spot on; I'd add that having the ability to save/load camera configs and PPs separately would also be welcome.
blackdogdylan
Active member
absolutely. just trying to tame my expectations : )
that's even an unfortunate oversight on their broadcast cameras, so nothing new there.
paulcurtis
Veteran
I really don't see any major differences that can't be explained by environmental changes. Certainly nothing like we'd hoped for. The reds seem identical. The black spine seems fairly shiny so the area within the circle could be reflecting something black making it more constrasty. This spine changes from profile to profile anyway. It's pretty much what i've seen, no changes that really seem to make any useful difference, if at all.
If Sony had changed something like this i really, really would have thought someone would have piped up by now. Even the semi official word via Andy Shipsides says no.
If there are differences they are so minor compared to exposure and the broad profile settings as to be negligible.
Having said that Dylan, that's some well reasoned research and reasoning there. I did use pro for a while but some some reason moved to cinetone 2. I hope to grab some more time looking at that negative black level setting and seeing what effect that has on the shadows. Some how in-between real work, which isn't always easy!
Thank you for that
cheers
Paul
If Sony had changed something like this i really, really would have thought someone would have piped up by now. Even the semi official word via Andy Shipsides says no.
If there are differences they are so minor compared to exposure and the broad profile settings as to be negligible.
Having said that Dylan, that's some well reasoned research and reasoning there. I did use pro for a while but some some reason moved to cinetone 2. I hope to grab some more time looking at that negative black level setting and seeing what effect that has on the shadows. Some how in-between real work, which isn't always easy!
Thank you for that
cheers
Paul
Thanks for the original post! I have been testing things a bunch, and while I still think I prefer cine1 gamma for highlight protection (and raise midtone exposure in post if need be) as opposed to the ITU709, you have made me realize that choosing "pro" for color over cine2 makes the colors noticeably more accurate to reality. Thanks for interesting contributions like this.
Nirv
Carbonite Member
+1 for the Pro colour.
More observations.
Today I spent my lunch break in the garden pointing the camera at bright white stone and dark shady areas. I did this to see where under exposure happens and whether I could save highlights while keeping detail in areas of dark shade. I tried to relate the histogram and LCD image to what is recorded but that proved fruitless. The camera had absolutely no trouble keeping highlights and recording all the shady detail. Histo and LCD looked like the image was severely underexposed but in every case I could bring the black level up in post and lost no detail.
I tested Cine1, Cine2 and Standard gamma curves with black levels ranging from -15 to +15 and I could not under expose the scene enough to loose detail. It wasn't until I had another go and pointed the camera at an area of the garden in complete shade and I under exposed to the point there was almost nothing on the LCD that finally the FS100 lost detail in the black areas. Even then it was clean and free from noise with just a hint of macro blocking. If it were a scene you simply had to use you could easily get away with it.
Hats of to Sony for producing a camera with a sensor almost devoid of noise and to combine it with a codec that is incredibly grading friendly. I can remember the horror story of their HVR-V1 HDV camera that macro blocked for fun and was utterly useless in the grade. Lifting the blacks on that camera produced a mesmerising patchwork of block work.
The FS100 just seems to keep revealing itself to be a corking camera the more I stress test it. The camera is way better than the features Sony gives us to monitor the recorded image. The LCD and Histo are not fit for purpose on a camera with such a wide dynamic range.
blackdogdylan
Active member
yes. because I found this approach to be nearly spot-on with color (on a scope) only the red needed a little extra goosing.
jambredz
Veteran
thanks man. I'll be DPing something this week using the fs100 for the first time. I'm trying to find a profile that doesn't suck all the life out of the image (like a log profile) but still give the editor some room to grade with. So I just needed to double check to see it that was in fact the correct setting. I'll have some time with the camera today...it will be my very first time using it today and i'll test some of these profiles.
Nirv
Carbonite Member
I have been using blackdogdylans colour tweaks for a while but with different gamma settings.
Providing you keep any eye on the white clipping you'll find any competent colourist can go to work on the footage you deliver.
I prefer STD/709 knee settings of 80,-1 as a starting point but that can easily be tweaked for the lighting. It's worth getting used to the knee setting and you can really make your footage look like crap and bake in a terribly flat look in the highlights that can't be graded out.
Providing you keep any eye on the white clipping you'll find any competent colourist can go to work on the footage you deliver.
I prefer STD/709 knee settings of 80,-1 as a starting point but that can easily be tweaked for the lighting. It's worth getting used to the knee setting and you can really make your footage look like crap and bake in a terribly flat look in the highlights that can't be graded out.
I just got the camera ....and was thinking the same thing.
I like the saturated pana PP though for some stuff.