Congratulations. You just bought a fancy new camera.
The first thing that you want to do is to test it out. Immediately. So you head out to your backyard, or go to a local park, and you shoot some nice footage of -- trees and birds and such. Then comes the curiosity. "How does my fancy new camera handle skin tones? I wonder how far I can push the ISO before noise creeps in. Ooh, I bet I could stage some badass slow motion scenes," you think to yourself.
In hopes of putting a human subject in front of your fancy new camera, you call up your friend, or maybe your spouse or significant other. You ask for an hour of their time. "It will be quick and painless," you say. "I'll buy you lunch afterwards." They hesitantly agree.
The following is the true story of what your friends really think of you and your fancy new camera, especially after you proposition them to star in your camera tests.
This hilarious test comes from media producer Jon Cole, who shot it in S-Log2 on the new Sony FS7 with a Zeiss 50mm f/1.4. If there's anything to be gleaned from this test, however, it's not just that the Sony FS7 is capable of producing lovely images, but that our friends are really great for putting up with us when we're testing out our fancy new cameras.
Your Comment
28 Comments
Damn, I actually laughed. Pretty good test!
January 21, 2015 at 12:56PM, Edited January 21, 12:56PM
SO INCREDIBLE ORIGINAL! hehehe
January 21, 2015 at 1:28PM
Very funny and nice shots! But I still have not seen an FS7 or A7S test with good skin tones! Every test looks like no ones ever been in the sun before.
January 21, 2015 at 1:35PM
So many tests in USA look like they've been in the sun too long! People aren't orange either unless you're in California.
January 21, 2015 at 2:11PM
Yep California. But regardless everyone looks like a zombie with the Sony Log stuff and they color time to get some life in the skin and turn the teeth and whites of the eyes beige. Hopefully someone will find a formula that works...
January 21, 2015 at 3:45PM
You can get a very close match to Alexa/Amira skin tones with either F5/55 and therefore the FS7 as it's the same sensor as the F5.
January 22, 2015 at 11:56AM
Also watch Marco Polo, Slog3
January 22, 2015 at 11:57AM
https://vimeo.com/118506668
FS7 and Amira comparison. Bit magenta (FS7) but aparently that's already being fixed in firmware.
February 7, 2015 at 10:59PM
This I shot in SLOG-2 and I dont think there is anything wrong with the skintones. It was on the F5 but I have an A7s and SLOG-2 on the A7s is identical.
https://vimeo.com/85711136
Personally I love SLOG-2. I grade it in Resolve and usually dont use LUTS. SLOG-2 you can hand grade nicely and quickly.
Cheers,
Simon
January 21, 2015 at 5:36PM
Just want to add that if I was buying a camera at the moment I would pick the FS7 over the F5. But my last 3 shoots I've kept the F5 in its bag and just shot with the A7s so theres that.
January 21, 2015 at 6:38PM
Simon,
Love your Open piece - great framing and colors! Please prove me wrong and show me some FS7 and A7S stuff that looks that good. I'm not being an ass here, I truly want to use the Sony cams on my next feature but haven't seen any nice skin tones at all with either camera.
January 21, 2015 at 9:22PM, Edited January 21, 9:22PM
Hi Lance, I havent used the FS7 but everything I've read and seen shows its basically identical to the F5 and I'm yet to see footage from the F55 that looked any different to the F5.
My background is post production and I'm a complete pixel peeper and I honestly cant tell the difference between footage shot on the F5 and the A7s. Except dof due to the larger sensor on the A7s. Last week I had an F5 and A7s shot split screen in Resolve and I couldn't tell which was which. I will have to dig them up and post them to show what I mean.
The thing about SLOG2 and these Sony cameras is they capture such a great range that if skin tones aren't coming out right its likely the human grading it at the end of the line thats the cause.
I've used a lot of cameras but the F5 is the first camera I'd ever used that my first thought was "Wow that looks exactly how I remember it when shooting it". Colour wise they really look like reality and from there you can make it look like anything.
January 22, 2015 at 3:21AM
You may be right - it may just be the colorist. So many camera "testers" just stick a LUT or plug-in on a clip and call it graded. I see no reason why the FS7 at 10bit 422 shouldn't be able to achieve natural, Alexa-like skin tones, I just haven't seen it yet.
January 22, 2015 at 9:45AM
Here is the split-screen I mentioned between the F5 and the A7s. Not graded to match each other, just one with a quick grade and then copied to the other to see how close SLOG-2 is between the two cameras.
http://www.overseafilms.com/overseafilms-gear-tech.html
January 23, 2015 at 6:16AM
Hilarious! Poor friends of filmmakers.
January 21, 2015 at 1:53PM
Why do people get down voted for saying normal opinions?
January 21, 2015 at 7:17PM
This is perfect. And I actually like the grading they did in this cases... matches the tone of the voiceover really nicely. I'm super impressed by the FS7.
January 21, 2015 at 3:24PM, Edited January 21, 3:24PM
Great clip, trying to do something kiiinda similar for a sound and lighting test...
Just a thought for the publishers here on NFS: can you please stop the random placement of capital letters in the titles? This one's all over the bloody place!
Finn (A concerned, but appreciative reader)
January 21, 2015 at 4:10PM
Bro... That's How You Capitalize a Title in America.
http://titlecapitalization.com
Check it, man.
January 22, 2015 at 5:49AM
Absolutely not! You can use our language properly, or not use it at all.
March 18, 2015 at 12:14AM
haha! Yeah! Lets do more tests!
January 21, 2015 at 9:17PM
I am frichen dieing over here LOL, my wife can relate :D
January 21, 2015 at 9:22PM, Edited January 21, 9:22PM
Is "frichen dieing" a nationality?
January 22, 2015 at 7:32AM
Hah.. very keen sense of humor heh heh
January 22, 2015 at 7:26PM
Very funny and true to life. Nice work.
January 22, 2015 at 11:15AM
Very funny and well done and I seldom say such things.
As a FS7 owner, thanks for showing what the camera can do in the right hands. 'Course you cheated by using a Zeiss lens;-) I would be interested in seeing the same thing but in Slog3. Many of us feel the color balance is nicer and easier to grade with Slog3 and the 709A LUT.
Hope you folks are well and good,
Robert
January 22, 2015 at 11:26AM
Am I the only one who though that wasn't funny?
January 22, 2015 at 3:27PM
I didn't think it was funny either...
January 22, 2015 at 6:31PM
LOL, people complaining about skin tones... why do you think they have make-up departments on feature films? It's not just for creating vampires. Sounds like too many shooters here have been tricked into thinking people are supposed to look like fashion magazine photography, but in the real world, people's skin looks like ...skin, not some glowing bronze god. You should see what the TV news anchors wear to appear "healthy and normal" ... their makeup is so heavy they look like Sunkist oranges.
June 11, 2015 at 7:55AM, Edited June 11, 7:56AM