XH-A1+Letus Extreme grainy

[Zissou]

Using my A1 with the letus and a canon 50mm f1.4 or 28mm f2.8, I have a recurring issue of graininess in blown out whites as well as mild noise in blacks; my cam settings are at the bottom.

This issue is most prevalent with the iris stopped past f3.3 on the A1, which I can understand, but I would prefer to shoot at the cameras optical sweet spot of f4 and f5.6. I understand having the 35mm lens stopped down past f4 would cause ground glass grain to be more prevalent if not problematic, but I'm having blacks/blowouts grain issues even at f2.8 on the 35mm lenses. I am reviewing the footage on a 32" 1080P 16X9 native high def LCD TV as well as a 32" 1080i 4X3 native high def picture tube TV (NOT LCD or Plasma) in letterbox mode. The grain is most noticeable on the LCD TV. I prefer to throw more light at a subject rather than to up the gain, so I never have it past 0, and I keep my shutter speeds around 1/24 or 1/30.

Auto gain control off
gain set to -3 (lowest setting)
Letus on
VividRGB
image stabilization off
NR1 low
NR2 medium
ND filters off

this is not an issue with camera only or lens specific, all batteries are new or fresh, exposure is correct, letus is set up properly (have a mild backfocus issue but working on getting it perfect), and I am properly focused on the GG.

 

[Lenilenapi]

is this static grain just more common noisy video?

 

[Zissou]

Good question; it's grainy video; I'm a photographer; I phrased the question in terms of stills, the noise is localized in the shadows/blacks but it is static in highlights; I am going to run some very specific tests tomorrow afternoon to be sure and to isolate the problem to specific framerates f-stops and other settings in a much more specific manner; I suspect it's my technique and/or style more than a camera or 35mm adapter issue. Really I am open to any suggestion; I am new to this camera and 35mm adapter and it's use, so chances are it's me. It's mostly the highlights that bother me; for the grain is localized tightly if not static; the shadows could just be sensor noise when trying to stretch the blacks because thr grain moves.

Tomorrow I am going to try adding more ballast to the letus vibrating weight in the hopes that my issue can be resolved with broader gyration of the ground glass, but only after I turn noise reduction off and increase lighting, and reducing black stretch to 'normal' and 'press' as well as manipulate 'stepping' etc. I will try to resolve this logically but any suggestions or criticism are welcome!

 

[smithy]

Does this problem come up if you shoot without the VividRGB preset? If not then it maybe the preset that is producing the problem. Even with the adapter with camera lenses, HDV has very little leeway in terms of Fstops vs shooting on film. Film has a huge forgiveness value versus video. So what you may measure in terms of what's acceptable for film, In video you will have to really crank down your stops so it won't over/underexpose your shot, hense get grainy shots. Use your zebras and that will help a lot.