Camera Setup

[Dale Mccready]

you should be able to set it up under any light balanced to the camera setting, although I found that after setting up the chart on Tungsten, I got better results matching two cameras under daylight sources.

I think rigorous measurement of the light source with a colour meter and matching that to the camera settings is the way to go, I think that the tungsten lamps I had used were a little warm.

Also definitely make sure you have a waveform monitor that can present a parade dispaly so that you can correct each channel’s black levels and gamma.

[Gary Adcock]

[Dale McCready] “ou should be able to set it up under any light balanced to the camera setting, although I found that after setting up the chart on Tungsten, I got better results matching two cameras under daylight sources.”

Dale is correct here Joe,
the camera does respond better when using daylight balanced light sources to setup your camera (from my Varicamp notes)

gary adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation

[Tony]

Joseph,

3200K is the standard for setting up the camera especially if you are adjusting the presets white balance settings. Use tungsen lighting although some engineers use kinoflos with tungsen bulbs.

Set Iris so that peak whites on the chart are at 700 millvolts or 100% depending on how you have set the waveform display set. I do not open the iris WFO or use the long end of the lens when setting up cameras.

Make sure you are using a color critical properly calibrated HD monitor as a reference when setting up cameras or else all your work is invalid.

Tony Salgado

[Gary Adcock]

[tony salgado] “3200K is the standard for setting up the camera especially if you are adjusting the presets white balance settings. Use tungsen lighting although some engineers use kinoflos with tungsen bulbs.”

that is not the case with the varicam Tony,
to quote Robert Goodman – writer of the definitive manual on the varicam, posted this on another list for HD filmmakers just yesterday.

“Every HD camera does not use 3200K as its base color temp. Some are switchable from 3200K to 5600K so you can
white balance for tungsten or daylight with a clear filter in the path. To suggest that because Sony does it one
way only is the only way to do it is short-sighted. There are a dozen ways to skin a cat.”

Robert Goodman
Author/Photographer

gary adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation

[Bret Lanius]

Despite the instructions from DSC and the Varicamp I’ve found if I set the Chart in daylight when we go to use the camera in Tungsten the color is not very pleasing. However if set up with tungsten it looks pretty good.

Further I feel that the chart over chromas the camera a bit in the reds and causes the blue channel to look a little noiser than it should.

I use the chart if not going telecine (tape to tape on Spirit or such) and tend to back off the correction a good deal if going straight to edit.

Bret Lanius – AC – Digital Tech
Atlanta Ga

[Dale Mccready]

yeah I agree with the red being overly saturated even after a neutral chart setup. Interestingly I see normal reds while shooting and they really pop up in the grade, and we have to secondarily wind them out. Anyone else find that? I don’t mind too much, but I like to get a closer setup to shoot with so that I can light more accurately. I think I even pumped more red into a few shots in the hope of getting more saturated. Should’ve seen thhose ones! eek.

Dale

[Tony]

Gary,

Please re-read the underlying topic of my original post which referred to adjustment of the preset W/B gains. I never inferred that Sony’s method was the only way instead I stated what my personal professional experience working as a video controller/DIT and video engineer has been.

I believe Robert is referring to using the electronic white balance which forces 5600K when using the clear 3200K filter. FYI the Dalsa Origin camera used 5600K as it base value not 3200K. Cameras which use the electronic daylight white balance gain an additional 2/3 stop increase because the 85 filter is not used.
BTS now Thompson/GV does use electronic WB which works quite good compared to other camera brands.

My personal engineering setup which I have used successfully for years along with dozens of other qualified video engineers and DIT’s who I work with start with the 3200K filter when adjusting the preset W/B values in addition to all the other baseline values. I have used this procedure on Sony,Ikegami and Panasonic cameras SD and HD with great success so I can only speak from personal professional experience that this technique does work for me and others. In addition the major rental facilites I deal with are using DSC charts under 3200K lighting (kinoflo or tungsen lamps).

If you properly set up the preset W/B all the color temp filters in preset mode will track correctly including the 5600K and 6300K filters. In addition multiple cameras will match precisely in preset W/B mode which is useful for film style shooting as well as run and gun reality tv shoots.

There are dozens of way to catch a mouse also.

Tony Salgado