a7s vs 5dmkIII raw in midday sun

[Rungunshoot]

5dmkIII raw (converted to LOG-C and then rec709):

 

Sony a7s (cine 4 - color, saturation and contrast dialed down -1, then gamma lowered and shadows raised a bit in FCP X):

 

My thoughts are that the a7s can give you some nice skin tones and balanced color if you don't try to do S-LOG 2.  I consider midday sun to be a challenging environment for 8-bit cameras, as the color can easily become washed out and desaturated.  I find that I need as much saturation from the camera as possible (without clipping) before processing.  Then I lower the gamma a bit in post and lift the shadows in order to give it more of a filmic shadow response.

 

What you can't do with the a7s in my experience is extreme shadow recovery like this backlit shot:

 

 

[mojo43]

Thanks for posting Brandon. I will have to try out cine 4 with those settings. The skin tones look great, but a touch saturated for my tastes. They look way better than I have been getting. I'll try it out.

[Rungunshoot]

Sure thing, man.  Sorry I can't post more, but this footage is from a paid job and I don't want to release any unauthorized footage.

 

You can easily dial down the saturation in post on the color from the a7s, so long as it hasn't clipped in-camera.  I find that dialed-down saturation from 8-bit cameras tends to look better than boosted sat from footage shot flat.  The only time I think I would shoot all the way flat on the a7s is if I'm filming something like a nightclub or neon signs where I'm dealing with crazy saturated light sources in-frame.

[mojo43]

I agree, I tried bringing back saturation before and it never looks as good. Easier to dial it down.

[mojo43]

I was actually shooting some test shots and by the looks of it Deep with contrast at -3 and sat +1 seem to work well with skin tones as well. I know it's not a profile, but I love Nikon colours and have been trying to get something close.

 

[mojo43]

And look at me talk about too much saturation :)

[mojo43]

Ok I have been testing a bunch more and Slog seems to work for skin tones, but I think sgamut may be the problem. I have to say though that I am not seeming to have many problems with skin tones in any of the modes. I am not sure why. Anyhow, I will be shooting a bunch tomorrow in slog2 and colour mode (yes I know how to spell colour): Cinema. 

 

I'll post my findings...