mercer

Ok, @hyalinejim this makes perfect sense. Thanks for the the detailed reply. Right now I am processing my MLVs through Raw Magic to create my CDNGs. I was using MLRawViewer and exporting as "LogC" and I was VERY happy with the results, but ever since I updated my Mac to Sierra it has become very temperamental. So I've been going the Davinci Resolve route as Blackmagic Film. I'm still shooting so I am not really invested in any particular method yet, but I have deleted most of my original MLVs, so I have to go forward, with this project at least, using a program that will accept DNGs. For the "dailies" I've been just processing them out as ProRes, as shot, and then doing a basic correction/grade in FCPX. Inside FCPX I've been testing various LUTS, in Color Finale, including BM Film to Rec709 LUTS, Arri to Rec709 LUTS, a universal LOG to Rec709 LUT or running it through Colorista IV as Alexa. I've also tested just using the simple Color Board tools in FCPX. I was very adamant about WB while shooting, so the footage usually need little to no adjustments and I am mostly playing with saturation and exposure and then adding a finishing LUT or using Tint, and/or Colorize as a final "look." I then use Sharpen, in FCPX at default. I have found many looks and methods I like but I am a little concerned because correcting/grading a long project is something very new to me. Other than a couple tests, I've never tackled to color anything long form, so I am searching for a method that will offer both ease and consistency.

I've been testing out a simple LUT workflow and I have found a few that work fairly well. This is known as Hunter's LUT. The idea behind it is to underexpose 5D3 ML Raw footage by about a stop and then this LUT is supposed to help mimic Alexa footage. Here is where you can find information. And here is a screen grab from my film using the LUT and some slight adjustments in FCPX... I've just been testing some different looks for my film. It seems like an interesting concept, but it isn't a hundred percent what I'm looking for. Here is another screengrab using Captain Hook's Basic LUT for BlackMagic Film... they work pretty well with 5D3 Raw footage... I believe @hyalinejim made a Kodak Ektar LUT for 5D3 Raw as well. Does anyone know of any other LUTS specifically designed for ML Raw footage? Or some that work well with it?

Looks awesome. Congratulations on some of the best GH5 video I have seen. I've been very critical of the work I've seen coming from the GH5, but you have definitely proven that this camera is a force to be reckoned with. I look forward to the finished video!

I liked the XC10 a lot. It just lost its value way too fast for my comfort zone. Especially since prior to that, the most I had ever spent on a camera was $600. I didn't notice the ghosting as much as others did. I shot comfortably up to 1600iso without any real noise issues. I haven't shot with 5D3 Raw at higher than 1600 either, but it hasn't bothered me. This was 5D3 at 1600 ISO, but with the Nikkor 35mm 1.4 wide open, so that's still what... two stops better than the XC10 would be at 1600. If my memory serves me I'd say 5D3 Raw is cleaner at 1600.

I've been lucky the past year or so. I took a $2000 purchase of the XC10 and was able to sell it, for a small loss, but use that money to test a bunch of cameras. While I figured out what I wanted to shoot with, I consistently spent a small amount more to constantly upgrade what I tested until I was able to afford the 5D3. Also I always bought better lenses than I had. So over the past couple years I was able to narrow down what I wanted to keep and make a good return on previous lens purchases. Four years ago I could barely afford my $200 eos-m. now I should be able to afford a 1DC by next spring.

Btw, I thought you really liked the 80D?

Online polls are outliers. There are too many ways to fix the poll. I could go there all afternoon and vote a hundred times by clearing out my cookies. Too many people can vote who would never ever buy a Canon no matter what the features were. Way too many variables to sway the poll.

Well, interesting article, but you probably shouldn't use an online poll from a rumor site to support one of your thesis statements.

Yeah this season was great. I liked the episode where the prison transport bus crashed and they ended up in the bowling alley. Ray Wise was so great and unexplainable in this season. The nighttime woods scene looked great.

That's pretty cool. I've always wondered about those. Do you have your in camera meter set to spot or multi?

Man, Jon I love your passion about filmmaking. I don't always agree with you, but I appreciate the depths you'll go to improve your craft. With that being said, ETTR is a bad habit to rely on. Sure it can work, but in a lot of instances you're setting yourself up for more work in post and risking ruining shots if you can't pull back those highlights or you end up with weird skin tones because now the curve is messed up. It all depends on the curve. sLog2 needs to be overexposed by about 1.7 to 2 stops, otherwise it is an unrecoverable, noisy mess. CineLikeD works best -2/3 to +2/3 depending on the shot. You have lucked out in your tests because you've needed the +2/3 and it seems to coincide with ETTR. Plus from your test, we've already surmised that since you are relying on the lens' aperture stops and not an incremental change from a variable ND or a clickless aperture that you are actually not even truly using ETTR correctly. Try it with an actor with a bright blue sky behind them and trees in the background in mid day sun. Or light an actor's face until 100% zebras appear and then back off with a variable nd, clickless aperture or the dimmer from the light. Those skin tones will be a pain in the ass to correct. Why do you think Panasonic cameras have their zebras set to 80% and 100% out of the factory? The 80% is for skin tones. These cameras are only capable of so much DR. I don't think it's worth the risk of losing shots with ETTR to get an extra half a stop. I respect your pursuit of craft, you have way more patience and skill than I have, but you would probably be better served with a light meter than from the Leeming LUT. In most instances, the camera's light meter is sufficient enough. I was constantly worried about ETTR after I dumped my EOS-M for an NX500 and all of my footage suffered from banding and bad color. Part of that was my lack of skill, but part was due to my ETTR with every shot, in every scenario, without regard. I did the same with the G7 and I had the same results. Finally, after getting the GX85, I started using the in camera light meter instead and I had better results overall. But it really wasn't until I got the D5500 which won't even meter on older Nikkor lenses, let alone has zebras, so I had to go back to exposing by eye and without a doubt it was some of my favorite and best work. No doubt that zebras are a tool and they are great for reference but they are not a reliable measurement of light and exposure. If you want or need that then you should definitely get a light meter. I don't mean to keep bringing this up to argue with you about, but if you Google ETTR and video, on the very first page, near the top, the infamous Ebrahim Saadawi's long post about it pops up. When I first started coming around this site, I thought he was an authority on video, I took some cues from his bloviated posts because I thought he knew his shit. We know how that turned out. Again I think ETTR can work in some instances and I would never not use it when needed. Hell, I use it most of the time now with ML Raw but even then, I will back exposure away if I feel the shot requires it.

If you liked him in 2002, then you should definitely go back and listen to him during the OJ trial. His show was never as good as it was then.

Think about it, Canon doesn't have a grudge against 4K or the filmmakers and consumers that may want it. There just aren't enough to warrant the R&D to implement it yet. Even if they did include it in the 6D2, it would have been cropped in MJPEG, so you would have complained about it anyway.

Well Sony, Panasonic and Samsung were early adopters because they needed consumers to create content to watch on the 4K TVs they wanted to sell. Nikon, Olympus and Fuji followed suit because Sony, Panasonic and Samsung convinced content creators and consumers they needed to shoot Billy Jr's baseball game in 4K. Or should I say are now starting to convince consumers of that. Canon will flip the switch when their market research shows they are losing a lot of sales to the other manufacturers.

The problem with this argument is that it comes from a child's perspective. 20 years ago me and my friends didn't buy real cameras either, we bought disposables. Children never buy high ticket items and manufacturers don't cater to them for that reason. In 10 to 20 years when they stop going to the bars and start having children and hobbies, then they buy cameras. Sure the low end consumer camera market will never be what it once was but it hasn't been that for years and most of the companies have already adjusted for it. I'm sure I sound like a dinosaur but don't underestimate the amount of money a middle class man will spend on a hobby as they grow and accustomed to adulthood.

I highly doubt Canon has a huge attitude about how photographers should shoot or what tech they need... they have a board that they answer to and they are beholden to their shareholders. Through market research and profit margins they've come to the conclusion they don't have to include such features to make profits. It's really that simple. If the lack of video features begin to disrupt their profit margin, they will start including them. The End.

I think there must be something wrong with my eyes because I still kinda like the soft, organic look of Canon 1080p. I think the 1DC has the best 4K image around, specifically at its price point or lower, and I think the 1080p out of a hacked GH2 looks better than any of the new Panny 4K. Sorry I keep going on about this, but I am utterly surprised and I can't understand why hacked GH2 video looks better and more organic, to me, than the 4K from the GH5. Obviously the GH5 has more resolution, is sharper, has way better features, but there's gotta be a technical reason the GH2 videos look so filmic and more organic to my eyes?

Interesting, your footage lately has really looked like you are trying some new things and as usual it looks great. I know it's not your thing, but I'd love to see you shoot a narrative. We could use a modern Mean Streets shot guerilla style on the streets of NYC. I only shoot horror/thriller/suspense/mystery stories so I've really been experimenting with using my midtones to add my contrast. I'll raise my blacks to like 10 ire and then drop my mids to bring in the contrast and deeper color tones. But as we all know, there isn't a paint by numbers way of doing this. If you need to see into the shadows a little bit and you want them clean, with certain cameras, you have to overexpose slightly. Each shot is different but I think it's safe to say that with most of these cameras, the sweet spot is between -1 and +1 and the closest you can stay to +/-0 on your meter is the best bet. In my opinion. And if one can see some dynamic range in the shot while you're filming, then that will probably be the best you're gonna get, or the most you can expect. There's a reason why Hollywood films use lights and flags with an Alexa... and that has what... almost 16 stops of DR. Okay that makes sense now. The scene with the state trooper, in the last episode, looks insane. I have been really into B&W lately, planning a film in the Fall/Winter.

Yup I learned it the hard way. I wasted about 8 months of my life with the NX500 and G7 shooting everything ETTR. I stopped using zebras altogether... Well, I am shooting ML Raw now, so obviously I ETTR. But with other cameras I'll use the meter as a guideline, but my eyes are more important. Once in a while I'll throw them on to see if I blew out an important highlight but my eyes can usually see if I did. I hate color checkers too. I have also stopped doing pointless tests. If I want to test something, it is going to be something I can possibly use. I actually have a small short planned for late summer where I am going to test how close to the middle I can shoot ML Raw. I know it goes against the grain, but I have seen some amazing 5D3 footage that wasn't ETTRd. I assume I'll lose some DR, but I think in the end it could be easier to get a more uniform correction and better skin tones. But I will say with sLog you do need to expose to the right or you will have a hot mess going on.

If you can make money with an 80D, then I'd say definitely get that. It wins with photography and AF and it really has a decent all-i 1080p. Post work will be quick and easy. And you can get a Refurbished one from Canon for a great price these days.

Yeah she is a work of art. Good actress too.

I didn't think I could afford one either, but after selling a few things plus a credit from BH, I asked myself... why do I keep testing all of these cameras? I didn't have a good answer but I knew I liked the image I saw from the 5D3 better than anything I have seen from any 4K camera on the market I could afford. I figured, if my movie is gonna suck, it may as well suck on Canon Raw.

Man it was difficult finding some examples and these are the closest I could come across. It's crazy the amount of looks that they used this season. Honestly, you're a better colorist than me, so you'd probably know better if it is obtainable with a GH5. I think @AaronChicago made a LUT for the GH5 emulating one of the various looks from this season of Fargo, so he'd probably know better than me. Are you thinking of taking the GH5 plunge? Now I just like this shot and color...

Go vintage. There is very little so satisfying than using a lens from the 1970s or 80s with 5-axis IBIS. To be able to go handheld and focus with your left hand on lenses built for manual focus with smooth focus rings is just a joy with that camera. Plus you can find such bargains on old Nikon lenses, or Minolta MDs, or Pentax or Takumars, or Russian lenses. They force you to take your time with composition while setting up your shot and they help to take away that digital look inherent in modern digital cameras.

I remember after Technicolor released CineStyle, for Canon cameras, there was an onslaught of SOOC Flat "cinematic" videos posted on YouTube... I wondered if any of these people ever watched a movie. But has anybody watched this season of Fargo? The last couple episodes they did a beautifully desaturated look in the exteriors. I swear it was almost black and white but with color skin tones. It looked so cool.