VaricamLT: Panasonic VariCam LT

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Very interesting Noel. I've found the V35 and LT to have noticeable noise at both native ISO's.
Did you overexpose the image a little or simply use the LUT in the VF to expose with (like I did)?

Thanks,
 
Eric Coughlin said:
I suppose you could ride the iris, ISO, or a variable ND to counter the shutter speed change.

If say you start a shot out at 240 frames per second at 1/480 shutter, and then ramp the frame rate down to 24 frames per second, then your shutter speed is now 20 times your frame rate, so you'll be getting the juttery Saving Private Ryan look, correct?

So then what is the advantage of variable frame rate during a take as opposed to shooting the whole take at 240 frames per second if the shutter speed remains the same throughout the take?


Also, can the variable speed ramping while recording be controlled wirelessly?
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I'd say it's much easier these days to simply shoot in a higher frame rate, and do the ramping in post, including adding motion blur back into the 24/25fps portions in post - saves any complex iris ramps or other trouble.
 
On Sony Forums in 3 years I don't believe I've seen anyone ask for ramping even once. Is it really necessary in this era if being able to do it easily in post?

Wouldn't it just be "safer" doing it in post anyway so you can be precise where you want the ramp to start and end?

My 2 cents.
 
Here is a camera test I did the other week while prepping a job:

https://vimeo.com/159843345

This was intended to be a head to head of the V35 vs the Amira (with an eye towards using the LT on a future job), but sadly there was an error in settings and the Amira recorded with internal 709 vs log. My AC has been made to walk the plank for this indiscretion (luckily the DIT caught and corrected this on our shoot the next day--phew). I have included a single clip from the Amira at the top of the video for comparison in one critical area.

The Varicam clips (with a low-contrast LUT applied) begin with native 800ISO, then native 5000ISO followed by dialing down from 5000 (very different than the same ISO's starting from a native 800).
That is followed by noise reduction off and on at native 5000.

There is more noise at native 5000 than 800. My colorist felt he could knock it down as needed but in some instances he would leave it alone, he didn't find it objectionable. I feel that the noise presented at 2500 is pretty close to 800 and would feel very comfortable using that setting. The internal NR is good but I feel that if post-noise reduction is available (i.e. one is not simply handing off footage that will not go through a post-process), it should be used instead.

My biggest concern is the moire that appears in the model's top. It appears in both native 800 and 5000 footage, and not in the Amira footage (this is why that clip was included). No image sharpening inside camera. Same lenses on both cameras. We went through the settings to see if anything unusual popped out but couldn't find anything. This pattern is to me quite benign and shouldn't demonstrate moire at this level of camera.

Outside of this, I'm satisfied with the footage from the camera in terms of skin tones and color reproduction.
 
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CharlesPapert said:
Outside of this, I'm satisfied with the footage from the camera in terms of skin tones and color reproduction.
Click to expand...

Did you try shooting 4K at all, would be interesting to see if the moire is a downsampling issue in camera - maybe?

What is the Varicam LUT on there? It's not a Varicam -> 709 by the look of it (reds and blues are off), is it a custom preference for you?

thanks for posting this!

cheers
Paul
 
Thanks for sharing your tests Charles.

Seems to match my own charts. If conditions allow I'd shoot at ISO 400 (at base 800) and 2000 (at base 5000) to control the noise.
The moire is more disconcerting, I didn't see that in my tests. Also that NR, though effective, seems very course. Too bad there aren't degrees of NR you can select.
The versions I used only offered NR ON or OFF. Perhaps in a FW upgrade they can allow the user to fine tune that.

Even in REC 709 the Amira looks very nice. Next test, side by side comparison anyone?
 
Trying to get my UHD file to play in 4K on Vimeo--settings only show 1080 as max resolution, any tricks I should know?
 
You could post a dpx in dropbox of a single frame? (export a DPX from resolve)

Im pretty suprised by the tonal difference with the jumper. Very interesting. Which 'matches' your personal perception?

S
 
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