F55: Review
- Thread starter evilthought
- Start date
dustylense
Veteran
for real.
evilthought
Well-known member
Don't watch the video in that case. Read the text
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
"
On the documentary pieces I shot with this camera I came across one major problem with the ND filters – in bright daylight, even ND 1.8 is not strong enough at the base (and native) ISO 1250. If it’s a really bright day, you end up shooting at f/8 with the ND 1.8 to get correct exposure. You would need to stick additional ND filters in a mattebox or use a vary ND in front of your lens – both are not an option for many applications and I would much rather see Sony built a third ND directly into the camera. This IS a real design problem in my opinion. Sony managed to put more ND’s into some of their bigger XDCAM ENG models, so there is no reason why they didn’t do it here."
Seems clear that the larger chip means there is 'reason' to have less space for filters
---
1) "..That’s the thing with raw, for me at least: when you don’t have it, you want it. When you finally have it, you seriously don’t need it anymore"
2) "For example, when we started this production, we were unaware that there is a separate setting for the color gamut that has to be adjusted in order to get “ultra wide color gamut”. We assumed that’s all part of the Slog2 setting"
Exactly the sort of 'error' that shootng (un needed) raw insures against!
Seems clear that the larger chip means there is 'reason' to have less space for filters
---
1) "..That’s the thing with raw, for me at least: when you don’t have it, you want it. When you finally have it, you seriously don’t need it anymore"
2) "For example, when we started this production, we were unaware that there is a separate setting for the color gamut that has to be adjusted in order to get “ultra wide color gamut”. We assumed that’s all part of the Slog2 setting"
Exactly the sort of 'error' that shootng (un needed) raw insures against!
paulcurtis
Veteran
Aside from that fact that ultra-wide-color-gamut needs a suitable delivery system to even see it. Unless he's heading to cinema there's not loss keeping that turned off, in fact he's probably better with it off and save some post headaches...
cheers
paul
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
indeed 
BobbyMurcerFan
Well-known member
On the video, the singer actually has a very nice voice. And it's one of the few occasions where I've seen jump cuts executed exceptionally well. I understand how it might not be everyone's cup of tea. But I think there is A LOT that is VERY GOOD!!
Nate Weaver
Veteran
I have to disagree Paul.
In the live concert stuff there's plenty of congo blue clipping on the audience. In my S-Gamut tests, I find in practice, these kinds of saturated colors are reasonably mapped into Rec709 and they wind up looking much, much nicer with much less or zero channel clipping.
Of course this could have been the colorist too, in this case. Clearly saturation was pumped, maybe that congo was clipped out of camera, maybe it wasn't.
Even if they are technically out of Rec709 gamut, they reproduce better in 709 because they are captured better.
BobbyMurcerFan
Well-known member
Nate, what you've said makes logical sense. It seems better to record a wider range and fit it into a smaller one than to clip at the outset.
Nate Weaver
Veteran
Horse, dead, beat:
ACES in Resolve Lite is 3 clicks away in the program, free, and makes beautiful Rec709 images from S-Gamut.
As a bonus, if you ever have a delivery target that is better than Rec709, it's one click away to put that extra gamut in a bigger bucket (P3, etc)
ACES in Resolve Lite is 3 clicks away in the program, free, and makes beautiful Rec709 images from S-Gamut.
As a bonus, if you ever have a delivery target that is better than Rec709, it's one click away to put that extra gamut in a bigger bucket (P3, etc)
Grug
Veteran
I guess it's going to take some time for people to figure out the best way to process F55 footage. I'm yet to see anything from the camera (with the exception of "Dig") that I've found particularly attractive to look at.
It's 16-bit linear raw though - so there has to be some pretty images lurking somewhere in all that data.
It's 16-bit linear raw though - so there has to be some pretty images lurking somewhere in all that data.
Nate Weaver
Veteran
There's way too many ways to get ugly 5/55 images.
And only 2 or so ways to get really pretty ones matching Red or Alexa.
Duke M.
Veteran
Maybe you can start a thread on work flow formulas?
Grug
Veteran
Is it that much more difficult to work with than 10-bit SLOG out of the F3? The F3's SLOG is a pain because there aren't any good LUTs to provide a consistent starting point for grading in Resolve, but I find it's not a huge chore to grade things into prettiness.
Nate Weaver
Veteran
I explained it all in post #12 above :thumbsup:
Again though, my personal standards are high with the F55. It costs as much as an Epic and most of the way to a used Alexa, and it's a low-noise high latitude sensor, so in my mind it should/could look at least as good as either.
And it does, but only if you process it through ACES *or* you have a very, very good colorist. Short of those paths, IMO the camera looks slightly "video", very "Sony", and is not on the same level aesthetically as the aforementioned. If somebody doesn't see it or doesn't agree, then that's ok, but I have personally spoken with many DPs who do see it and don't pick Sony because of this.
Red and Arri have very good taste when it comes to tuning their color science and providing brain dead tools and paths to their intended image. Sony gives you a pile of half-assed LUTs and tools and says "good luck"
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Lenilenapi
Carbonite Member
Nate , Could you explain the use of ACES. I've read a little about it but can't seem to get much information .
Duke M.
Veteran
Some examples of settings perhaps? That's a bit to generalized to be helpful. (We all don't have your level of experience, unfortunately.)
Nate Weaver
Veteran
Alright...I just finished a "screencast" explaining what I know about ACES and how it applies to us.
I'm going to try to edit my rambling down to something bearable, and post to Youtube shortly.