mercer

Things change when you shoot video, so I would include a 3-5 second clip with every test shot. I’d also let the focal length speak for themselves by leaving the tripod in one locked down spot. Also try to do an interior and exterior version of your test. If you use a Variable ND, you can keep ur exposure similar by using the in camera meter. Obvious issues are the varying speeds of the lenses. To compare a wide open Voigtlander 17.5mm versus a 50mm 1.8 Nikkor wide open, the Nikkor will win every time. So it’s probably best to group your lenses by either focal length or speed... or both and have multiple groups.

Well I just had a chance to look at your videos @Mark Romero 2 and his videos and he can get away with a bunch more because he is selling a lifestyle and a story while you’re doing a walk through. Of course, he seems to be shooting videos for complexes as opposed to a lot of single family homes. But when you have actors or the realtors posing as homeowners, it’s easy not to notice any flaws or lack of DR. He’s also does shorter shots with more edits where your style seems to be more of a traditional walk through. And as a side note... his use of hyper lapses is a bit much. But I digress, I think your color looks okay. The real concern, if I were you, would be the YouTube compression. I think I remember reading somewhere that it is better to upload a 1080p video as 4K instead of an actual 4K video if you don’t get a ton of views because it denotes more bitrate to your videos that the algorithm wouldn’t normally give you. With that being said, maybe a GH5 with its 10bit would make more sense. As @Towd said, the CineLikeD Profile will give you most of the DR you’re after and that solid 1080p will give you more bitrate than the 4K you’re shooting with the a6500. Also, didn’t you say that these jobs are for medium pay and a quick turnaround? If you’re spending hours on the edit/grade, I’d assume you’re spending too much time?

I wonder if having the option to change so many parameters within Sony camera’s picture profiles, that it becomes a double edged sword. It seems like it may be a worth a test to just lower sharpening and then using the Color Space Transform in Resolve or one of Sony’s official LUTS to get the Log footage into Rec709.

Yeah, I’m really just messing around with the footage after I back up my files and Resolve is great for that because I don’t have to save any timeline, so it’s good to test out different workflows. I don’t portend to be a great colorist or editor, so the simplest workflow will be go to for this project. I still have to buy a better monitor so I’m not flying blind over here. Thanks for your help.

@kye good eye, yeah they are hard to compare. Both were shot wide open and the Canon is about a stop and a half faster. The Zeiss definitely has less contrast and is only a single coated lens. The WB is definitely different so, that would probably lend to the greener tint with the Zeiss. Also the Canon “test” was shot right after the Summer, so my actor was tanner, lending to his darker skin, which was near impossible to lighten. Motion blur aside, the Zeiss is probably a sharper lens than the Canon, which is crazy considering the Zeiss is probably 30 years older but that Canon lens has character for days.

@kye thanks for this. I may have to read a primer just to understand all of your references. Lol. The plug-in seems to work well but I will look into the other options. Btw, in the Raw Tab, there are only 3 options for color and gamma unlike the regular CST.

I think I may have posted this in my old “Midtone Detail” thread. I don’t really love the grade from either so it may be hard to tell any characteristics. But have it.

Haha, even the character in my film prefers Canon...

This shot is with the Zeiss 25mm 2.8. I posted a similar shot a while ago that was taken with my Canon 28mm 1.8...

Zeiss 85mm 2.8...

Is the Color Space Transform FX a new...ish feature of Resolve? Basically, I use Resolve as an intermediary to get my DNG files to ProRes and then edit and do a final grade in FCPX. Usually, in the Raw Tab I set up my color and gamut for Blackmagic Film and Blackmagic Film Log. I’ll also click the Highlight Box and then correct any WB if needed and add some Midtone Detail. But after using the MLV App, I’ve noticed that 5D3 ML Raw responds well to a LogC workflow, so I am testing the CST FX in one node by setting the input color and gamut to BlackMagic Film and Log and the output to Alexa and LogC and then I exported to ProRes 444. In FCPX, I’ll use Alexa LogC Camera LUT in the inspector and then do a basic curve and saturation tweak. So my question is... am I using the Color Space Transform function correctly? And should I be using any Luminance or Saturation Mapping when I do it?

Well, I know one person that owns a Canon (myself) one person that owns an Olympus and one person that owns a Panasonic, so obviously only Canon, Olympus and Panasonic have sold any cameras in the past year... ? But yes seriously... I really wonder how many units have been delivered. If I were to use this site and online videos as a metric... it could be in the hundreds or low thousands. Either way what BM produced here for the price is pretty spectacular... I’m just curious if maybe they were using preorders to finance production and that is the reason for the hold up? I mean, for a niche product, I would think 10,000 preorders would be a respectable number and I cannot imagine why it would take more than a month or two to fulfil those preorders. We’re almost 6 months out since September. It just seems odd. The good news is that most people that received theirs is really happy with it.

That’s unbelievable. I wonder how many cameras are actually out in the wild... for all we know there could only be a hundred cameras shipped and the preorders are paying for each manufacturing run.

Yup, it reminds me of movies I grew up watching from the 70s and 80s. And yeah I remember now why I watch a lot of these videos with the volume down. Btw, congrats on your Vimeo Staff Pick... is this your second one?

Pentax lenses aren’t soft, I cannot imagine that would be it.

How do you like the Century Optics Anamorphic adapter? I’m looking for a simple Anamorphic set up for my 5D3 and it seems like the SLR Magic and Century options are the simplest... other than an Iscorama 36 or 54 but they’re way out of my price range. Btw, which Zeiss 25mm did you use here?

Actually... maybe it will be able to record to dng... I thought I remembered hearing it was for ProRes Raw... but I could be ProRes Wrong.

@Ingerson nice job, thanks for coming back to post it. Since we discussed this in a B&W thread, I must say I loved the crisp look of the B&W from the DVX200. How did you like working with that camera? Sorry to hear about your depression. I am not clinically depressed so I don’t want to minimize your condition by saying I get it. But I can appreciate it being difficult for anybody to open up and show their work... or even finish their work. There are times I just want to throw my camera across the room, sell all of my lenses and quit. Filmmaking is physically and mentally grueling and often it is lonely. Moving boulders all day would be easier and in some ways, more people would be appreciative of it. But there’s that drive or obsession to see what you imagined in your head on a screen. With that being said, I’m glad you finished and shared it. I watched it on my phone and was really impressed but I want to wait to get more specific until I watch it a second time on a bigger screen. So stay tuned...

I believe it’s for ProRes Raw which is currently only compatible with FCPX.

The difference in ISO is in ProRes only I believe.

Yup, that was the case with the Micro as well. I used 4400 as a sort of AWB and I would get better color with that setting and adjusting in post than I would trying to nail the WB... but I admit that could be user error. I admittedly had trouble grading BMD Film with the Pocket/Micro and eventually was one of the reasons I switched to the 5D3.

@BTM_Pix great test, you are always one of the most helpful and considerate members of this forum. Quick question.... Does IS from Canon lenses work through the Lens Regain?

Yup and if the Z6 didn’t have the IBIS, it wouldn’t even be worth it to me. At that money and size, I’m starting to get into cinema camera territory.

I was literally just wondering if I could use a ninja star for the 1080p Raw output but I assume the recorder needs to accept a Raw signal, so that will leave use with the Ninja V as the cheapest, smallest option... right?

I was so quick to dismiss it because of the external recorder but I truly forgot it had IBIS. So yeah, it's something to keep an eye on. For now I'm all set but maybe in the Summer or Fall I can find one for a better price and by then, I'll be working on a different project that maybe could benefit from 4K ProRes Raw... definitely on the list. Ehh... I'll probably just stick with the 5D3.