Of the hundreds of videos on YouTube promising to demonstrate the spectacular new features in DaVinci Resolve 17, nearly all are in low dynamic range. It's our belief that those who've only watched the LDR tutorials are really being deprived of understanding just how powerful new tools like the Color Warper and HDR Color Palette... Continue Reading →
Watch Those Knobs!
While out on a shoot yesterday morning, we noticed that the pan control on our Gitzo 1545TA went missing. Sad day indeed, because the refractory knob set us back $35.00, or a month's worth of morning coffee. For some reason, the knob does not tighten down as much as the others, so that's something to... Continue Reading →
Gerald Undone’s a7s III Exposure Settings (in HDR)
We put Gerald Undone's recommended exposure settings for S-Log3 to the test! He suggests setting C1 to Std+Range 55% for 18% gray, then using C2 Lower Limit 94+ to check for highlight clipping, resulting in an ETTR of +1.66. Previously, we just used the C2 setting by itself but often found it difficult to recover... Continue Reading →
Adjusting Exposure in Final Cut Pro
I was just in the middle of doing yet more tests to determine the very best zebra settings for the a7s III when I came across this - arguably the single most important step toward getting vibrant, contrasty, High Dynamic Range images in Final Cut Pro - adjusting exposure. Simply pulling shadows down till they... Continue Reading →
Upgrade to the 50mm f/1.2 GM?
Buying the latest and greatest is seriously tempting, but is it really worthwhile? Going from the MeFoto RoadTrip to a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod; from the a7 III to the a7s III; from the Shogun Inferno to the Ninja V; and from the iPhone 7 to the iPhone 12 Pro Max: those were all substantial... Continue Reading →
Sony a7s III S-Log3 ISO 160
A few appallingly rude, ignorant forum members over at DPReview prompted me to shoot a clip at ISO 160 - only to discover that it looks perfect, with great colors, pleasing skin tones, good contrast and detail, and low noise. In a pinch, if I didn't have an ND filter, I wouldn't hesitate to use... Continue Reading →
Leaked Images Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM
Nokishita has leaked images of the Sony 50mm f/1.2 GM. Cost: $2,198.00. If the 135mm GM, 24mm GM, 35mm GM and 20mm G are any indication, this should be a killer lens!
Reason for 35mm GM Delay
According to sonyalpharumors: Now we know the reason why the Sony 35mm f/1.4 GM lens shipment start has been delayed. Sony Hong Kong notified that the early batch of lenses may have an issue with the ornament plate. Those lenses will now be repaired for free. Here is the press text: — Notice to Owners... Continue Reading →
Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM Coming To SE Asia Soon!
Super stoked! 🥰 Arriving on these shores March 19th, USD $1,521.00.
LG CX: How To Kill Annoying Apps Launcher
If you use your LG OLED as a grading monitor, few things are as infuriating as having the apps launcher pop up every time you get ready to work on a project. I believe my television started behaving like that with the latest firmware update, not sure. Anyhow, here's how to immobilize the dreaded apps... Continue Reading →
Sony Taking the Piss Out of a7s III Owners?
A DPReview forum member who goes by the user name of iirrbloss writes: Got a newsletter from Atomos saying they're working on FX3-support with wb/iso-support in FCPX. It's almost like they're mocking those who bought the A7SIII. Technically it should be the same firmware fix for both FX3 and A7SIII as the internals are the... Continue Reading →
Monster Guide: HDR10 in Resolve Studio 21 (Part I)
Part I: Project settings, Project Render Settings, Generate MaxCLL and MaxFall HDR10 Metadata Part II: RAW Part III: The Grade Note: The information in this guide is continually revised and expanded and the reader is urged to check back occasionally for updates. The current recommendations are valid as of macOS Tahoe version 26.3.1, DaVinci Resolve Studio 20... Continue Reading →
Calibration Obsession
If I want accurate colors from my a7s III, I shoot the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport Video, and in post, (1) I pull diffuse white down to 200 nits; (2) white balance using the white, grey and black chips, color curves and RGB overlay; (3) correct colors using the color chips, vectorscope and hue vs. hue;... Continue Reading →
Apple’s Been Listening!
It looks like we can expect to see significantly redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros in the 2nd half of the year, with flat-edged top and bottom, slimmer bezels, mini-LED backlighting, HDMI port, SD card reader, physical keys rather than a touch bar and a return to the MagSafe power cable, along with other design... Continue Reading →
HDR: The Single Most Overlooked Aspect
There have been countless videos and articles explaining what high dynamic range is, with nearly all focusing on the technical aspects: acquisition requirements (e.g. frame rates, resolution, bit depth, color gamut, dynamic range and so forth), followed by reviews of consumer televisions (measurements of screen uniformity, peak brightness, color accuracy, etc.) and more recently, tests... Continue Reading →
HDR Reference White
The ITU-R BT.2408 document describes a reference (i.e. diffuse) white level for HDR content of 203 nits. It might seem logical therefore to render SDR content at 203 nits peak, by simply scaling the luminance. Recent research suggests that this approach does not preserve the ‘look’ and ‘creative intent’ of SDR content. In addition, despite... Continue Reading →
iPhone 12 Pro as a Consumer Reference Display (cont’d)
Part I: The iPhone 12 Pro Max as a Consumer Reference Monitor Part II: iPhone 12 Pro as a Consumer Reference Display (cont’d) Part III: iOS Devices as Client Reference Monitors Part IV: Consumer Displays: When Your Client is David Fincher A few years back, when a younger, more handsome Vincent Teoh of HDTVTest declared in his review... Continue Reading →
HDR Grading Tips
My longest HDR video to date, it took Compressor a ridiculous 4-1/2 hours to create the HEVC 10-bit file and an additional 24 hours for YouTube to finish processing the HD version! I’ve received many requests to do an HDR grading tutorial on YouTube, but a screen recording with QuickTime would be in SDR with... Continue Reading →
The Daejeon Chronicles 