Problem matching camera output (Barry?)

8string

8string

Well-known member
Need help here. Last week, my buddy brought over his JVC GY-HD200U to see if we could match color simply and have us work as B cameramen for each other's efforts. We set up my Savage FL-554 cool light, and we shot some very simple scenes, after white balancing to a piece of paper I taped up. We both *thought* we had the same fstop. I had my 150 set on Scene F1 and all default and manual settomgs. We both looked through each others viewfinders and thought it looked the same. But once we brought the footage into FCP the 150 footage looked about a full stop underexposed. In looking at Barry's book, it does look like the 'default' setting of F1 ends up looking underexposed (call it saturated?).

So I'm needing some advice on how to avoid a lot of color correction in post. since it appears that I can't trust the viewfinder to properly expose the shot. What is the next step in making sure that we are matched (or as close as possible) in the field?

We assume we need to get together and shoot some outdoor stuff next. Additionally, it seems that my best bet inside is to actually not trust the manual viewfinder settings, and simply go with auto exposure, which was much closer to the JVC than my adjusting.

Or did I miss something in setup? (I've only owned this camera a couple of months and don't assume I know it cold).

here's the Youtube site where I stuck the comparisons (I didn't do split screen but one after the other). It only takes a minute to view. Your thoughts are welcome.

By the way, in the second group, I moved the 'color corrected" 150 scene to the middle, between the JVC and the uncorrected shot. Even in it, the yellow wall is not as close as the JVC's rendition. I couldn't get it closer than that without significant fiddling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56v-t6OnQC4
 
I feal you, This is one of the reasons why I am going with a really good field monitor...

That way you know exactly what each camera looks like and can switch back and forth to check.
 
Well, since I'm not a long time expert at looking at video and technically describing what I see, but am with stills, I would have to say that it appears to be 'exposure' not saturation. Everything is overall a bit more dark than you would expect. When I go back and simply open the iris to a stop lower (i.e. 4 from 5.6) I end up with the "properly" exposed look, to my tastes. However as mentioned, this 'default' setting I had set in my test does look like Barry's default in his book. Both seem somewhat, underexposed.
 
You can make small adjustments in the scene files, for instance i use F3 spark a lot, and notice it has better exposure... toned it down a bit and lowered the master ped to -2... This is usually right on with the auto irus - So I see what it recommends and switch to manual and find tune with the WFM.

Also be sure what you are playing it back on is a good representation of your footage, computer monitor = not the best, I noticed MBP's are naturally darker in the blacks...
 
I have the gy-hd250u in the studio at work and it looks simular to the 8 ball high press i'd definately tweek it but maybe start here in the scene file settings and adjust from there

Settings
DETAIL LEVEL -3
V DETAIL LEVEL -1
DETAIL CORING +2
CHROMA LEVEL +3
CHROMA PHASE 0
COLOR TEMP 0
MASTER PED -8
A. IRIS LEVEL -1
GAMMA B.PRESS
KNEE HIGH
MATRIX CINELIKE
SKIN TONE DTL OFF
V DETAIL FREQ THIN
PROGRESSIVE 24p
 
You can never trust any camera's viewfinder to give you proper exposure. You should have been using the zebras on both cameras, that would have gotten you a perfect match in exposure.
 
Excellent, I'll retry the tests with Barry's common sense approach, and if that still doesn't get us there, I'll start tweaking based on the other suggestions. More are also welcome. Also, I think it's worth seriously budgeting for an outboard monitor, like a Marshall, that can help us after we get the zebras' in sync.
 
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