[John Sharaf]

Basically you’d use your light-meter for lighting; setting the key, fill and ratios
You don’t really need it for setting exposure

JS

[John Sharaf]

Gary,

I should have given up on you a long rime ago, but I’m compelled to correct the misstatements and inaccuracies you continue to state.

For one thing Lexar no longer makes the 3600x cards, presumably because of the high failure rate.

ARRI could care less about the money they make selling media; their interest is to minimize their users problems with third party devices that are qualified for use in their products and they have no reason to lie to me about the failure rates they determine by scientific testing.

No one is out to get you or unreasonably profit from you. These are issues that all heavy data rate users must contend with. It’s ultimately an issue of the proper tool for the job and suffering the expenses involved. There is no free lunch, that’s why there are the myriad choices of cameras and media available.

To state a fact, the most reliable (and coincidentally the most expensive) media is that made by CODEX and that’s why ARRI, Canon and Panasonic all collaborate with them on their high end cameras, and per Moore’s law, even their media keeps coming down in price while increasing speed and capacity over time.

A perfect example of this is their new “Compact Drive 1TB (CA08-1024)” for the ARRI Mini LF which is “only” about $2300US. While this might seem expensive to you, for professional users used to paying twice that amount for the same capacity is is “cheap”.

JMHO

JS

[John Sharaf]

Well yes, in that case you’re screwed, except they’ll give you a new card

JS

[John Sharaf]

HI Gary,

Maybe B&H won’t sell it to you, but ARRI will

The point is that not even two Sandisk cards come out of the factory the same. This is similar to why there’s so many bad LED lights, inconsistency in their production and low standards in many light manufacturers in choosing (or testing for) qualified elements among the stock they bought. Those manufactures that are very choosy charge more. It’s logical to pay more in the professional environment for reliability.

The failure problems should only occur with long takes at high data rates from codec and/or framerate. If these are your norms, consider to use the qualified cards for anything especially meaningful or commercial, or if this is something you do only occasionally, buy one or two especially for those purposes.

And you’re right, we still have failures, but they’re mostly with the older Lexar 256 cards (3600x) which they would replace, or refund most of the cost, until recently with Lexar no longer making the product and out-sourcing the refund process. Now it’s like going to the dentist’s office!

JS

[John Sharaf]

Yes it is compared to the Arri certified version

[John Sharaf]

I’ve come to learn from ARRI that the SanDisk Extreme Pro cards are highly susceptible to failure, especially at high data rates and long clip lengths. The issue is heat and the damage it creates. What ARRI has done is create a test jig that their cards are subjected to and report that as many as 25% fail. They charge a premium for their cards that are “qualified” this way, and they are the only cards I use now for my own work and especially for rental. I understand that most folks buy their kits with cheap price being the most important characteristic, but in the case of media, I would advise otherwise

JMHO

JS

[John Sharaf]

Hi Patrick,

As you’ve proved already to yourself, keeping all the source color temperatures is the key to avoiding a mss match between the foreground and the background

One simple solution is to use the same tubes that are in the practical overhead lights in a 4′ kino flo instrument and then wb on that. We often refer to this as “poisoning” the light.

Alternatively but never as foolproof is to add green gel to your key light in order to match the “ambience” created by the overhead fluorescents, but it’s still pretty much trial and error in determining whether 1/4, 1/2 or full Plus Green gel is the appropriate amount.

If this is something you do all the time, investing in a 4′ Kino 4Bank is a really good solution

JMHO

JS

[John Sharaf]

Use a white sheet and keep the light off of it, ratio of foreground light to it will determine grayness

All this at no cost to you

JMHO

JS

[John Sharaf]

Yes, obviously you have a problem
But it’s your problem, you must “take the time” to have your subject and location sign a release or you’ll end up in legal trouble one of these times

JS

[John Sharaf]

Well in that case you ARE liable for any legal action as regards profiting from sales
You should have your subjects and locations sign model releases

JS