The power of sLog - and why i'd pay $6,000 for it.......

I am with Ryan... That shot under the overpass is amazing. That kind of shot has always been the nightmare scenario for me. I can't believe how it turned out.

So let me ask. You expose your skin tones for 35 IRE, so, on the exterior shots without people, do you expose middle grey to 35 IRE? Is that the exposure method you used under the overpass? From that, did the overexposed areas, mostly to the left in the frame, meter at 6 stops over, or more?

We have to be looking at, what, a good 12 to 13 stops of luminance range in that shot? Yes, no, maybe?

I just can't get over that shot. WOW!
 
Glad to see the Log to XDCAm vs OFfboard LOG is cleared up.

Had a lot of people saying no way in the beginning and others saying yes you can. The concept, from the get-go, completely defeats the idea of recording to onboard in the first place, and yeah it is too bad that you have to go off-board, but if you're spending that much you'd might as well drop the extra to insure what you've already spent.
 
you can still retain a lot of the DR on the, on board recording. but when it comes to pushing the image to get your nominal midtone exposure back, it fell apart really quick. the macro blocking alone really killed how "clean" this camera actually is. and color rendition was nowhere close. didn't post the xdcam cause we felt it was pointless, at this point I think it's pretty clear that xdcam is a mediocre acquisition codec. all its' really good for is shoot for a delivery that is gonna go through minimal post and virtually no color correction. the merits are there, but I personally don't really like any long gop codec with that much compression on it. the offboard recorder is a small price to pay considering that it's high quality recording wherever you go, with any camera you use that has hdmi or sdi output. it really is a worthy investment for any DP that owns his own gear. just like anybody who bought a nanoflash, it was 2 grand in itself I believe, and a lot of people still till this day don't regret having it just for the fact they can record much better than the internal recording can wherever they go.
 
Some thing to pay attention to...

In the Vimeo version you are missing a lot of the fine details. Download the big version and pay attention to certain things as follows, in the scene with the canal, the first shot, look to the bottom left, and you will see the reflections of the chainlink fence in the water, crisp and sharp and with so much clarity that you can see in between the links, in the reflection. Another to look out for is the wide shot of the bridge with the weird crane on the left. Look out to the furthest tiny details on the bridge, behind the bridge, and in the distance. This is the kind of detail you see when you reduce 4k to 1080p. Its present in KIpro recording, but not on the xdcam. The F3 i think is one of the sharpest 1080 cameras i've used. its quite amazing. this test as i look back over it is telling me more and more.
 
Sorry, didn't mean to sound like it was a question of the value... it's pretty clear that the value of an extra two-thousand dollars is there. Just that the initial thought that you would just get S-Log and be glorious was a far stretch. From the onset everyone recognized that on-board and off-board were two completely different animals, and I think a lot of us settled on the idea that the off-board was a must have for any owners competing for dollars.

What's the tally now? Between just the camera body, s-log, recorder, and media?

Minus PL or whatever lens mount, etc.
 
Awesome test. Thanks for taking the time to post this.
Absolutely fantastic stuff here.


Though I have to say, when Harris pops up on screen, looking all surly with the smooth voice of Jobim behind him... I literally laughed out loud.
:)
 
Tim, were your recomendations 35 ire, 6 stops over etc based just on shooting with 422 clipped in pro res on aka mini. Would you have +7 with avid codec at 109 etc. Still debating on what reorder and codec in 422. And if slog is crippled by 422 codec. 444 just not on the menu. But would still like to get slog.Thx.
 
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No, its 6 to 110.

The ki pro does "clip" but it actually there, you just have to recover it in post.
 
Kholi said:
So, roughly 20K, after tax and media perhaps.

Got it. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Actually, that's not even recording 444 (full signal information). I agree 10-bit is king and 422 is still really great but if you want to setup the F3 to shoot RAW like the RED you have to add $3.3k for SLOG and $9k for a Gemini 444 recorder. So $26k for a "dslr killer" that is S35 frame size.
 
Well sLog is not raw, but it is FARRRRR less compressed, when recorded to SR, CineForm, or uncompressed (obviously). Truth is, its easier to grade this signal. Its ultra clean, and had a truck load of color info.
 
Can you please school me on how SLOG is not equivelant to RAW?

(Just looked up Cinedeck rental rates, $250/day, $1000/week)
 
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