FS5 Blown-Out Whites | How Did I Get It So Wrong? (Is the FS5 internal 4k just crap?)

FS5 Blown-Out Whites | How Did I Get It So Wrong? (Is the FS5 internal 4k just crap?)

by Brett Turner

on Jul 13, 2019 at 12:28:16 pm

Hello everyone - I have to hold my hands up and admit I screwed up quite badly on a shoot recently and would prefer not to repeat again! The issue I have is dark skin and white, reflective clothing in bright light.

It's natural to blame our tools but rather than say my FS5 didn't have the latitude to handle the scenes in question I'd love to know from the experts out there if I'm doing something obviously wrong.

I shoot in Cine 1 / Pro to go with my Film Convert plugin and because I can lower the ISO in these crazy bright conditions (I live and work in Dubai). I've always had great results before shooting like this, so this is a new one for me. I shot this footage in 4k which is 4:2:0 8 bit on the FS5 I believe - is that where I went wrong?

Others clues I can think of - I was probably shooting with the electronic ND filter engaged to get the f-stop I wanted; does that explain the horrible magenta going on?

Oh and a final clue - with flat lighting the chap in the back seat came out fine... I have a feeling I switched off the ND for this one but can't be sure:

Rather than 'go buy a Shogun' I'd love to hear the communities input on how I ballsed-up so badly. Should I have under-exposed slightly to get more of the highlights and risked noise in the faces / skin-tones? Was shooting 4k in challenging conditions on the FS5 my mistake? Or does Cine 1 simply not have the latitude?

Thanks in advance -

Brett

"If it's not good enough, you're not close enough."

Brett Turner
Director / DOP based in Dubai
http://www.shooterbrett.com
insta @shooterbrett

Re: FS5 Blown-Out Whites | How Did I Get It So Wrong? (Is the FS5 internal 4k just crap?)

by Blaise Douros

on Jul 15, 2019 at 4:32:42 pm

First, your shots are just plain overexposed. I'm wondering if you shot these with the intent to keep skin tones at 72 IRE on the waveform monitor? If so, that is a big part of your problem--that rule is meant for light skin, and unfortunately, there are fewer guidelines on where darker skin "should" live on the waveform. You have to make a judgement call on set, and look at the highlights as part of your overall exposure equation.

These are the situations where Slog2 and Slog3 really become useful. In bright sunlight with white cloth, you're pretty much screwed unless you're shooting in a log gamma or in RAW.

I would suggest underexposing a bit if you have to shoot in a standard gamma--if you're blowing your highlights there's nothing you can do in post, while a little bit of grain won't kill you. I would also suggest picking up some scrims and flags, so you can cut the light on your actors a bit on set.

Re: FS5 Blown-Out Whites | How Did I Get It So Wrong? (Is the FS5 internal 4k just crap?)

by Brett Turner

on Jul 15, 2019 at 4:49:38 pm

Great answer Blaise, thank you for taking the time. It's really interesting that you think S-Log would have helped, I didn't think there was a lot of difference in terms of latitude between that and the Cine profiles. I'll certainly go back to shooting Log in future and whack on the ND's. I'm also new to shooting with any kind of setup other than run-and-gun / documentary style shooting, so your suggestion of scrims and flags is much appreciated as well.

Re: FS5 Blown-Out Whites | How Did I Get It So Wrong? (Is the FS5 internal 4k just crap?)

by Blaise Douros

on Jul 15, 2019 at 8:30:41 pm

Slog profiles will change the way you think about shooting--they are designed to take advantage of the full dynamic range of a sensor. In high-contrast situations, they will save your bacon *if* you take the time to understand how they work and how to expose correctly for what they do.

When shooting 8-bit 4:2:0, they are not a cure-all, but it's better to do that, IMO, than lose highlight data.

Do you know how to use the waveform monitor? I forget if the FS5 has it--I shoot the FS7. If it does, you should enable it and make sure you know what you're looking at--it's incredibly helpful in this kind of situation.