Balancing a Fujifilm reference board

[Joseph Owens]

Comment also posted on Fujiboard

Looks like a pretty standard MacBeth Greitag chart on the right, and what Fuji would advertise as equivalent to the Kodak 18% CinemaTools chart. “Chart” is the correct terminology.

All three manufacturers will have recommendations as to what values you should set these up for with what would become a sort of LUT or basemem for your session. Some google surfing should bring up the correct documentation. I don’t use them anymore… because…

We used to use these (or at least that was the theory) all the time to set up film transfers and to sort of calibrate a telecine to act as an extremely expensive sensitometer, because we had these charts with point/exposure correlations so we could relay the info back to the DP that film timers used to when rushing dailies.

For your purpose, I’d set up the brightest white square on the Macbeth to around 80IRE, the blackest area down to 0, of course, and then check the gamma linearity. Adjust seasonings to taste, as if they were, you know, salt and pepper and this was a recipe. When you have made the charts look nice, that’s the “secret sauce” for this session. Don’t expect it to apply to everything… or, really, anything because usually these charts are shot under circumstances that have nothing to do with the actual shooting environment. Every one of these values will change with exposure, lens choice (sometimes even from ‘full wide’ to ‘tele’ on a zoom), set lighting… you name it.

jPo

“I always pass on free advice — its never of any use to me” Oscar Wilde.