F3: PMW F3 system settings for UK TV standard

petermullett

petermullett

Well-known member
Hello, it's been long time since I've posted on this forum, I've been back to shooting in film for the past year so dusting off the trusty PMWF3 for an upcoming documentary shoot that will be screened on UK-TV I thought I'd better ask for "expert" advice as to what settings I need to set the camera to.
I have the S-Log option on this F3 and would like to shoot with that at the highest possible quality / resolution...............So what would be the best Video and System settings?
Thanks!
 
If you're going to shoot with S-LOG on the F3 I would highly recommend using an external recorder, such as the 7Q+, to capture ProResHQ 10-bit 4:2:2. Internally the camera can only do XDCAM EX 8-bit 4:2:0 @ 35 Mbps and that is not really good enough for S-LOG grading. For WYSIWYG shooting it is fine, but not for grading. With an external recorder attached the F3 is a killer camera for HD.
 
You may need to record to an external recorder depending on your broadcasters specs for acquisition. You'd probably be better of doing that if you want to push the grade or need to record slow mo at 1080p. I've done loads of filming internally on the F3 and it's been fine for most things. But just check with your broadcaster if they are ok with the Xdcam files from the F3.
I've always played it safe when doing broadcast work with the F3 by recording to an O7Q.

The cine gamma's were good enough for me in controlled lighting setups. Slog being my choice for capturing higher dynamic range scenes. Also need to be careful filming slog on the F3 as it uses Sgamut and some of the primarie colours get a bit skewed when normalising the Log footage. If your ok at grading you can pull these colours back into rec709.

If there's anything specific you need to know Peter pls let me know I'll try my best to help.

Surinder.
 
Doug Jensen said:
If you're going to shoot with S-LOG on the F3 I would highly recommend using an external recorder, such as the 7Q+, to capture ProResHQ 10-bit 4:2:2. Internally the camera can only do XDCAM EX 8-bit 4:2:0 @ 35 Mbps and that is not really good enough for S-LOG grading. For WYSIWYG shooting it is fine, but not for grading. With an external recorder attached the F3 is a killer camera for HD.
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Hello Doug and Surinder too..........good to see that you're still posting on this forum! Thanks to the both of you for the good advice.
I do in fact have a PIX 240 that I generally use with the F3 but for this shoot, ( it's a doc' in the Ukraine and the F3 would be used for fixed camera interview footage whilst a GH4 will cover the more "fluid" run-around shots ). I want to go "small" with the camera gear so I don't want to take the PIX along this time, strapping that or any only external recorder onto the F3 with more batteries etc really increases the bulk and will just get in the way.
Perhaps I should not go with Slog this time and just record full HD internally, what do you think?
 
petermullett said:
Perhaps I should not go with Slog this time and just record full HD internally, what do you think?
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That is exactly the advice I would give you -- create a Scene File that you like and skip S-LOG and grading.

Here's some F3 stuff I shot 5 years ago (internal recording) with a scene file and the footage wasn't touched in post. I still think it looks pretty good after all these years even if it could use a little touching-up anyway in something simple like Premiere.

 
Thanks again Doug.........yep, perhaps that's the way to go. I'm not leaving for the shoot in the Ukraine for another week so I will do some tests regarding recording full HD internally and see how that checks out. If there's room I may take the PIX too, " just in case", then if I can I will go for Slog - 10 bit 4:2:2 etc.
I should try to dig out your tutorial on the F3 again, I feel somewhat rusty after not using it for this past year.........Hopefully the DVD's are here somewhere and not abandoned back at my place in Md.
You know regarding the F3 it really had, still has, such a fine cinematic look to it as your footage here attests. We shot a dramatic film here in France with it last year and it was projected full screen at a number of festivals and really held up very nicely indeed. In fact for me, grounded in film as I still am, the F3 still comes the closest to that kind of a "look" than many other even more recent digital cinema cameras.
 
I prefer the look of my F3 against my FS7.

There's something organic about the F3 image which I still love.

Peter I was just going to say check with your broadcaster to make sure the F3 internal is going to be ok.

I was doing some adverts a while back for Central TV and the F3 was not able to give me the spec internally.

Surinder.
 
surinder said:
I prefer the look of my F3 against my FS7.

There's something organic about the F3 image which I still love.i=

Peter I was just going to say check with your broadcaster to make sure the F3 internal is going to be ok.

I was doing some adverts a while back for Central TV and the F3 was not able to give me the spec internally.

Surinder.
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Interesting that you mention your preference for the "look" of the F3 over the FS7. Me too.....
I "auditioned" a FS7 for one project last year but rejected the camera in favour of the F3 because I preferred the F3's images, especially with skin tones that I found so much better with the older camera.
Among my choices of glass I own for the F3 I have the much maligned Sony SCLZ18X140 power zoom and that too performs extremely well even cutting without issue with footage shot on a Cooke 5:1 on one project. That lens has more than justified it's price tag for me, actually it's cheap for what it gives back.

And yes, I will take your advice and double check with the clients as to the acceptability of the F3's internal recording capability, otherwise I guess I'll lug the 240 along too!

Thanks!
Peter
 
If you've got the SLOG option, I'd say shoot Prores4444 on the Pix. Gives you everything the camera's got to give (which is a lot).
 
Grug said:
If you've got the SLOG option, I'd say shoot Prores4444 on the Pix. Gives you everything the camera's got to give (which is a lot).
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Thanks Grug, I did some tests yesterday and figured out that this would be the best way to go on this upcoming shoot......The Pix will be another chunk of gear to port around but as the film will be a combination of fixed interviews and run and gun / grab doc' scenes then I will split the camera chores between the F3 and the GH4 with the lighter/much smaller GH4 rig doing the Broll doc' footage.
 
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