The A7s "best footage straight out of the camera thread"...or something.

I'm not saying that: I'm saying that you'll have to bring your superwhites back to life in post. I've been doing that for nearly two years with the 5N. As you found, it's really easy and it works great. But "straight out of the camera" means crappy highlights (unless in slog2; btw I get that slog2 is not for everybody but give my Flaat thing a try, it may surprise you).
 
I have to be honest I'm not smart enough nor have the patience to color grade video extensively. I can work my way around the sliders in Lightroom, but that's easy as they're single frames.
Basically using the color corrector for 16-235 and adding a tad bit of saturation/contrast I'm getting much better results.
Thanks for all your help; this info should be a sticky somewhere.
 
I did my own fiddling today. Here's my saturated J-cine profile

gamma: cine4
knee: manual / point 85%
color mode: itu709
saturation -2
color depth
R+5
G+5
B+7
C-7
M 0
Y +2
detail level -5 /manual crispning 0 hilight detail 0

looks ok indoors. I'll have to try it outdoors tommorow. looks ok indoors. I'll have to try it outdoors tommorow and see if i like the highlight knee point.
i'm a big fan of impulz kodak 5219 on my klog.
 
Question for SamuelH - if he shoots with the itu709 gamma, since this complies with the 16-235 colors, would this still need to be adjusted in post?
 
after even more fiddling i found that turning PP off and just going with a Std. creative style gives me the best out of the camera picture with accurate colors and best noise. lol :) that last PP i posted had some super ugly color noise at high iso.
 
jurny said:
after even more fiddling i found that turning PP off and just going with a Std. creative style gives me the best out of the camera picture with accurate colors and best noise. lol :) that last PP i posted had some super ugly color noise at high iso.
Click to expand...

Sometimes I think the same thing - shoot with standard and the contrast/saturation dialed back a bit, and enable the built-in dynamic range optimizer (DRO) and set it to level 5. Then, apply the 16-235 output level and add back saturation/contrast in post. You might not get the dynamic range of a heavily graded SLOG, but your grass looks green and your skin tones look really good. I'm torn between this and PP6 depending on how much dynamic range I think there is in a scene.
 
Ok I shot a slew of tests indoor, outdoor with my 8 year old son as the model. The entire family reviewed the footage.
The verdict? Best overall settings - Standard, -1 contrast, -1 saturation, 0 sharpness/detail. DRO level 4.
Runner up: PP6 default settings.
We shot outdoors with the 70-200 2.8 II and indoors with the 35 1.4 Canon @ F/4.5.

Shawn
 
sparky33 said:
Question for SamuelH - if he shoots with the itu709 gamma, since this complies with the 16-235 colors, would this still need to be adjusted in post?
Click to expand...
No idea, I have only tried and discarded that, it's way too limited in DR :(
To put it another way: I wouldn't have spent this much $$$ if I wanted that kind of image.

Cine4 is alot more promising. I probably would be using that if the camera didn't have slog2.
 
Samuel H said:
No idea, I have only tried and discarded that, it's way too limited in DR :(
To put it another way: I wouldn't have spent this much $$$ if I wanted that kind of image.

Cine4 is alot more promising. I probably would be using that if the camera didn't have slog2.
Click to expand...

According to this, it's only 2/3 stop more in SLOG vs. regular (12 vs 11 1/3). At 1080p on a 60" Sony, I certainly couldn't tell much of a difference between standard profile dialed down for sat/contrast + using the built in DRO vs Cine4.

http://www.enriquepacheco.com/sonya7s

Huge benefits NOT using profiles - like being able to pull focus easier, have SILENT shutter always enabled, less reliance on heavy ND filters (with SLOG) less shadow noise unless you overexpose, etc. At the end of the day getting the WB correct and accurate focus easily trumps the 2/3 stop of dynamic range for ME. If I have to try to pull focus 1-2 stops OVERexposed to reduce noise and I'm fiddling with a Vari-ND filter I'm probably screwing something else up. Not to mention using even the Metabones IV with Canon glass periodically I have to screw the lens/adapter back on.
Massive DR might be great for test shots and people with hours to grade heavily, but it's not for me.
 
It depends on how you test: he finds the same DR in slog2 and cine4, as macgregor did. I put the "usable" level a bit higher (I shot something dark with texture, and demanded that the texture be visible in order for those shadows to count) and found a 1-stop advantage for slog2 WRT cine4. Here.
 
well i tried cine4/PP off for fun. i also bought this camera for slog2. as a colorist i was dreaming of a bmcc when sony came along with it's FF,slow-mo, high iso and slog.
imho slog pwns cine4.

my graded slog footage looks mostly like this. i love my blacks and slog is all about highlights.
Screen Shot 2014-10-21 at 10.02.40.jpgScreen Shot 2014-10-21 at 10.09.37.jpg
i can't wait to get 4k sharpness and 422 out of this baby.
 
Has anyone tried Adobe Photoshop CC? You can import a video and convert it to a smart object, then apply the "Raw Camera" filter, and boom - you have the Adobe ACR controls. Pulled down a demo and it really makes the footage dance.
Can't recommend it enough!
 
Got the idea from here:
http://vimeo.com/96267743

Even with boring standard mode I can knock those highlights down and raise the shadow level. Only down side is the rendering isn't the fastest, but I couldn't be more thrilled with the interface. Even allows for vignette correction, and you can save your presets for quick work.
 
sparky33 said:
At 1080p on a 60" Sony, I certainly couldn't tell much of a difference between standard profile dialed down for sat/contrast + using the built in DRO vs Cine4.
Click to expand...

Curious, what is the general consensus regarding the use of DRO -- with or without a Picture Profile?

Is it an adequate means to achieving higher levels of dynamic range with the Picture Profile turned off?

And, am I correct in assuming that it is a mistake to use DRO when shooting SLOG2 -- as it would skew the curve?
 
DRO is disabled when using picture profile 1-7, just as silent shooting is disabled.
I think I'm going to stick with the default PP6 and grade footage with the ACR sliders in Photoshop CC. It seems to do everything I need it to, include correcting for vignetting.
Plus I can save my "grading" presets easily.
 
sparky33 said:
DRO is disabled when using picture profile 1-7, just as silent shooting is disabled.
Click to expand...

Ahhh ... I see. Thanks.

And regarding its use with no Picture Profile, is it an accepted means to achieving higher dynamic range -- or is it simply "corralling" or shifting the signal to fit nicely within a Rec.709 space?
 
jurny said:
well i tried cine4/PP off for fun. i also bought this camera for slog2. as a colorist i was dreaming of a bmcc when sony came along with it's FF,slow-mo, high iso and slog.
imho slog pwns cine4.

my graded slog footage looks mostly like this. i love my blacks and slog is all about highlights.
View attachment 92908View attachment 92909
i can't wait to get 4k sharpness and 422 out of this baby.
Click to expand...

yeah jurny, looks amazing. please share your work here.
 
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