F-900/3 Detail

I spoke with Jeff Cree at SFW in Munich and he told me that the numbers that most affect the edge detail on the detail page had been flipped in /3.

This is a very big deal and others need to know about it.

I run detail ON and set low to -69 master. On and low is better for me than OFF.

I say Again the Frequency and the Black Limiter controls have been switched from Best smallest edge was at +99 to best and smallest edge now at -99.

Confirm this for yourselves.

And if you are of the Opinion that detail Off is best for you that's great no need to suggest that here. For those that know how to use detail and know how to improve the quality of the image without side effects this info will be very helpful.

Personally I'm kinda pissed that Sony would make such a change in the
first place.

Jeff Said "someone complained"

B. Sean Fairburn
Director of Photography
Castaic Ca

Take another look at knee point and slope in the /3 there have been a number of changes and your old numbers will need to be adjusted.

Shoot a chart (11 step gray scale DSCLabs.com) and over expose a bit 1-1&1/2 stops then start dialling in the knee point you can watch as it moves up and down set it where you like.

Slope same way set shallow or steep according to what you are doing.

Now slowly open and close the stop watching the chart on the monitor and the scope and become familiar with where the circuit is kicking in and working and the way its working.

Now make a note of where the chips merge together into white and the relationship to crossover also.

Now turn DCC on and do the same over under and make note of what is happening. Now when you use it in the On or Off position you will be familiar with what to expect in the field.

I virtually ALWAYS shoot with DCC in the ON position I have found that when old numbers get used on the new /3 it seems to be working more aggressively than ever before and may be less subtle in its performance.

I was astonished at the new higher level of range in the highlights but be mindful of when and how much its kicking in to gather the information.

Test this for yourself and see what works for you.

B. Sean Fairburn
Director of Photography
Castaic Ca

So approximately how many extra stops are you now getting on the F900/3?

According to Geoff's tests with the Viper-F900-5218, the F900 got approximately 2 stops before totally blowing out. Viper was very close to 5218. Does the F900 do a lot better in this respect, or did they just redistribute the dynamic range of the camera, so that you have less shadow before encountering too much noise?

Jason Rodriguez
Post Production Artists
Virginia Beach, VA

Sean,

You can always customize the manual knee to be less or more aggressive than DCC (auto knee) so you have two options to use in the field.

Manual knee will avoid the "ramping" that will occur when DCC is used in an extreme dark to bright transition.

Tony Salgado

Practically speaking, the /3 upgrade gets you another stop of overexposure latitude. DCC is a lot more effective and aggressive now. There is a slight increase in noise though.

David Mullen ASC
Cinematographer / L.A.

I am definitely a grommet in the HD world, but on my first feature shoot I experimented with the DCC both on & off and found the "ramping" very noticeable and distracting.

I was shooting a classic "white on white" sceneâ€¦.bright sun, light-skinned woman, bleached-blond hair, white shirt against a white canvas tee-pee (donâ€™t ask). I wasnâ€™t changing the focal length at all, but I was tilting up with the subjectâ€¦and I found that even with the camera steadyâ€¦when she moved slightly, the white clip would shift with the DCC on. The camera was a newly upgraded /3.

The good news is...with the DCC off...I was blown away by how well the camera handled that scene...especially compared to how our D-35 SD camera would have performed.

I would be interested in reading about other shooterâ€™s experiences with the DCC on.

Dan Fox
CPG
Denver, CO

>...I found that even with the camera steady. when she moved slightly, the >white clip would shift with the DCC onâ€¦

The DCC can *definitely* cause some ugly breathing in the image. It's really something to be used with a degree of caution. Kind of like an auto-iris effect.

It's a useful feature. Knowing when it will be objectionable should be something you sort out in prep.

I think it's dangerous if the ratio of dark/light in the frame is changing very much within the shot.

David Perrault, csc

David Perrault wrote :

>The DCC can *definitely* cause some ugly breathing in the image. It's >really something to be used with a degree of caution. Kind of like an >auto-iris effect.

David,

You can adjust the DCC attack rate on SX cameras to the point where it has instantaneous response. Can you adjust that on the F900?

Tom McDonnell
DP
New Orleans, La