Geoffrey

Some good advice here many thanks, with stuff leading me into territory of where I am mostly ignorant. But that is good as I will learn. Mr SMW - using shutter to control the light is a way to go but as it tends to start messing up movement (and have ruined a shoot in the past doing this), I tend to be wary of that approach but I should not neglect it - I have got into the habit of trying to leave the shutter speed double the frame rate for the most natural movement (so 50 at 25p). Regarding the colour profiles this is where I need to learn. I have looked at V-Log but there are two problems for me - when setting up the shot, the visual feedback is so poor and washed out that I struggle to get excited about what I am seeing plus doing so much in post is beyond my skill set at present (though I guess if I had a got to colour profile it could be quick and simple?). Dual native ISO is not something I have come across / understand so will have to look it up. I also looked at HLG but I worry about 10-bit files on the modest Mac laptop I have to use for everything at the moment (H265 would add to that problem). I also don't really know what HLG is! At the moment I have been using Like709 which is fairly flat but I will try Flat as Mark suggests. Regarding sharpness - the camera is sharp isn't it - is it generally thought the profiles should all have sharpness dialled down a bit? I tried a high contrast situation the other day in some woods on a brightish but cloudy day (that kind of milky grey-white sky) pointing the camera out from the darkish woods to the open sky - always tough and I have a pet hate of blown out skies so used a 3-stop filter and closed the aperture down a lot (I just use the 20-60 kit lens at the moment) - the shot looked nice except for a noticeable white halo around some of the twigs against the sky which looked liked an issue with closing the aperture down too much - it is this kind of situation that is a good test for optimum settings and seeking to get a handle on this.

New here and just purchased an S5 - very interesting discussion. Really liking the camera. I'm not a pro but have quite a bit of experience with HD video. Not got top end gear so shooting in 25p, UHD 4k, 8-bit. Though the 1080p looked pretty good too (was stunned by the comment earlier that 1080p and anything 8 bit, including 4K, is 'garbage' - what are people on?). Was wondering about some more basic stuff from users who have had more time with it: what ISO range and aperture do you find most efficacious for 'normal outdoor shooting? This is the best quality camera I have owned personally and with other cameras I always avoided cranking up the ISO (grain) and closing down the aperture too much (defraction) and so always use an ND filter as much of what I shoot is outdoors. I bought a couple of nice NDs for the S5 - 3 and 6 stop (Breakthrough). If I use the 6 stop, even with the aperture wide open, I have up the ISO a bit (but not that much), whereas with the 3 stop I find I have to close the aperture to 6 or more and leave the ISO on 100. But then the aperture goes up to 20 I am not used to this range or high quality ISO. Thoughts / experiences?