For the second part of the ENG Essentials – Camera Matching Series, I will be adjusting the gamma settings on the VariCam 3700 (HPX3700) to match the gamma curves on the EX3. The HPX3700 has more gamma adjustability, so I chose to set the EX3 to a setting I liked and then adjust the HPX3700 to match. Every manufacturer has different gamma curves, so my goal is to set the two gamma curves to match as closely as possible using a DSC Labs ChromaDuMonde chart and Leader scope.
This is the first part of the ENG Essentials – Camera Matching series, and the first step to matching two cameras. White Shading is an in-camera process where a lens is matched with a camera’s sensor. Every lens and every sensor have unique characteristics, and the combination will often produce uneven color across your image. White shading corrects for this uneven color by adjusting individual color channels (R,G,B) from top and bottom and from left to right. This is done with a Leader waveform monitor and a white sphere that is designed to produce even white light.
Another important step after white shading a camera is to match white balance values. All pro cameras have preset and user defined white balance values – the P,A,B switch. If you run a white balance on two cameras looking at the same white card, in the same lighting environment, you will get very similar results. But if you plan to use the preset values (3200K,5600K) we need to be sure that both camera actually produce the same color white. Different lenses produce different white values, so even though the camera thinks you are at 3200K, it may be completely wrong. This can be corrected for by adjusting offset values in the camera, and making sure that both cameras have matching white values.
Watch my video below to see how these two steps are done.
Released last year, the Arri MMB-1 mattebox is a well-made, low cost mattebox that was originally conceived for compact HD cameras such as the Sony PMW-EX1 and EX3. Now Arri has released a group of accessories to expand the use of the MMB-1 for any camera. Watch the video to see how they all work together.
Visit Abel’s Booth C8537 at NAB to see these Arri matteboxes and accessories.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there about rolling shutters on electronic cameras and how they do or do not affect the image. The popularity of the Sony PMW-EX1 and EX3 cameras has really stepped up this debate. But what does it actually mean? In brief, a Global Shutter captures all of the information from every photosite on a chip all at once. A Rolling Shutter reads off the photosites line by line. But that’s just the beginning. Let me try to clear up some misnomers and misconceptions.
…continue reading The Global Shutter / Rolling Shutter Debate
Our friends at Flashpoint Academy in Chicago sent us this demo they shot using the CamTram 2500. It showcases some of the unique moves you can accomplish with the CamTram, and just how quick and easy it is to set up.
Flashpoint is a unique Digital Arts college that teaches both the art and science of digital media—audio recording, VFX and animation, gaming and film—they cover it all. Check out their website and blog to see what the school’s all about.
We’ve had the Wide Angle Ex3 Lens – Fujinon XS8x4 – for awhile now, and a client asked me to send him some snap shots of what it can do. Well I thought I would share it with all of you as well. It’s a nice lens – very well built and has all the functions of the standard EX lens. I did some quick testing on our sales floor at the widest end of both the standard lens and the wide end. Check out the images and I think you’ll be able to spot which is the wide one.
It appears that the Sony EX cameras exhibit the same form of IR sensitivity that the Sony F35 and the Panavision Genesis do. Therefore the best filter for these cameras is not an IR Hot Mirror but instead a Tiffen IR ND non-Hot Mirror filter. This filter set was created for the F35 and Genesis. It is also less expensive than the Hot Mirror type filters such as the Formatts we sell for the RED.
Please note that different types of cameras and sensors require different type of filtration. The Formatts remain the recommended solution for the RED but the Tiffen non-Hot Mirror product is best for the EX1/EX3.
Art Adams over at ProvideoCoalition.com is doing an IR Filter Shoot Out to see how filters from three manufacturers work with the RED, F35 and EX Cameras. You can check those tests out here.
