Slog2 useless with 3200 Iso

B

benn

Well-known member
The last days I spent in the Dolomites. I had to make some shots unfortunately in the brightest light at noon with snow and dark cottages and dark forest often in the background. Terrible contrast with no end.
How to exposure??? My First thought was slog2 and so I took a 10x grayfiltre - but no Chance to come to reasonable exposure times with 3200 Iso....also all experts are saying that slog2 should be overexposed by 2-3 stops. The results are, as far as I can see til now, terrible overexposed whites. Btw - all other PPs was even worse.
What can I do in light conditions like that with an A7s?
Thanks Benn
 
That would be a good idea: set zebras to 100%, set your desired aperture, set your desired PP and ISO (for me that would be slog2 ISO 3200), and crank up the shutter until you get no white clipping (or until you get your desired image). Then you know how much ND you need to get the shutter back to 1/50s, and you know how the image will look like.
 
Shooting any camera at 3200 ISO in high contrast daylight conditions would seem to be a self defeating starting point.
 
Thats why I took PP6 at least to come down to 200 Iso. That brought 1/50 with Aperture 25. I Used the Sony 18-200 powerzoom that brings an Aperture of 35, but I am quiet sure, that the quality goes far down with every stop beyond 11.
I will see it in the next days.
benn
 
Outside, unless I had NDs in front of the lens and the time to make sure everything was OK, I would not have considered Slog2. PP5 I believe is Cine 1 which is the best gamma curve for outside with the greatest latitude.

Using a standard approach to exposure. The ideal ISO for outside would be around 200 ASA/ISO. 3200 ISO puts you 4 stops over ideal ISO. Throw in snow, you've got additional stops of light tossed at you. And then it was "overexposed" again by 2 stops?!

As mentioned above, in those scenarios you would use the zebras and try and not blow out the highlights. If you did need to blow out some of the highlights to bring in the darker stuff into usability, you could do it in a controlled manner. Cine 1 would give you the gamma curve that would allow you to salvage a close to impossible set of circumstances.

Given the really limited exposure tools on the a7S, I think this overexposing is asking for trouble unless you have tested the daylights out of it.
 
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BTW PP6 which uses Cine 4 is primarily meant as an indoor gamma where you just barely have enough light to shoot. These gammas shift around the midtones which allow you to shoot in different conditions. Cine 4 indoors with lower light. Cine 1 for outside in a typical daylight scenario. Even shooting with Cine 1 you should expect to have to throw up at least 1 stop of ND on a daylight shooting scenario based on a camera with a 400 ISO rated sensor.

If you have used the XDCAM cameras of the recent past, you will know this.

EDIT

Cranking up the shutter speed is going to change the feel or cadence of your shot if you have movement in it, partucularly if you are shooting in 24 or 25 FPS. If it is going to allow you to get the shot, then do it but tread carefully in this area. Do some test shoots to see the effect of slowing or speeding up the shutter speed and you will find out the kind of visual aesthetic it yields.
 
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I shot Slog2 today with a 6 1/2 stop ND (Hoya ND100) and it was a little too heavy in overcast conditions with the 28-70 kits lens. If I had used my Sigma 18-35 f/1.8, it probably would have been fine.
 
I find 9 stops adequate for bright daylight conditions. But really, just think of the sunny-16 rule, decide if you want to overexpose a bit or not, and make your calculations, it's pretty straightforward.
My ND filter set: three Hoya ProND screw-in filters, 9, 6 and 3 stops strong.
 
Ok, great, thanks for the confirm, fellas! I just ordered my camera so wanted to make sure I had everything that I needed to start shooting right away. BTW, when I bought my GH4, someone put out an article on setting up all the proper menu options for filmmaking. Anyone seen anything for the A7s?
 
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