BMCC Dynamic Range Stress Test

Shot some DR tests today. Nothing fancy or artsy, emphasis was on contrast handling
(not on smooth camera moves - had that lightweight travel tripod with the crappy head again - but walking several miles with a 40lbs Vinten?)

So I went out to the German version of Central Park at mean noon sun.
That, combined with a lot of trees is usual a receipt for DR disaster.
Deep shadows with puddles of super bright sunlight.

Point is, the material It looks not really spectacular, but just natural - more what your eyes see (not exactly but you get the idea).
So yeah, mission accomplished BMC - on all other cameras under 18000 bucks most of the lights would be completely blown out and the shadows just dark blotches. This is RED HDR and Alexa territory IMHO.

Looks really, really nice, Frank.

I hate you! (Jealous.)

(Joking!)

DR and image detail is astonishing but it´s also pretty noisy in the darker parts of the image.
But my tests of downloaded BMC RAW footage showed that noise can easily be removed without sacrificing noticeable detail.

DR and image detail is astonishing but it´s also pretty noisy in the darker parts of the image.

When you stress the dynamic range and hold onto it in the grade, you'll always get noise as your noise floor encroaches on the shadows. We're used to this floor being crushed in the typical 8-10 stop contrast curve.

A bit of noise reduction would probably make this look fine.

Original files are pristine - but compressing them down to H264 and than - whatever Voodoo Youtube does to them - they are probably going through 3-4 changes of color space from camera to your screen.

Thanks Frank, very nice. I noticed there was no black dot in the sun at 2:12...did you fix it in post or has the new firmware dealt with the problem?

It's the new firmware

Score one for BMD! Outstanding!

Very sensual.. much love.

Cheers

[CaptainHook]

Thanks for posting Frank.

Thanks for posting, nice composition! Very impressive !

Frank,

Wow. Very beautiful imagery. For some "throwaway" footage, it was really quite striking. It makes me feel that the BMCC has the ability to handle real life lighting situations and make them look great.

Any chance you could upload to Vimeo and provide a link to download an HD version similar to what Marco Solorio did with his "Canon 5D vs BMCC" test? I'd love to get a chance to see something better than streaming video can provide.

Here you go:

Nice shots. What lens/lenses did you use?

Cheers.

as always Frank!!! Thanks a lot, i'm becoming a frank fanboy!!!! maybe a frankboy??

as always Frank!!! Thanks a lot, i'm becoming a frank fanboy!!!! maybe a frankboy??

He had me at hello.......

Thanks for posting! Looks really good

Did you apply any sharpening to any of the clips? Some of those shots had so much detail in them....I can't get detail like that out of my 5DmkII without post processing some sharpening.

Cheers,
sean

No sharpening, the detail is just there (and that vintage Vivitar glass is not exactly super sharp) - imagine what an Angenieux Optimo PL zoom could deliver or som of the Zeiss glass.

Great job Frank, loving the frames
My photographer was wondering during the pans if the jitters is from the Vimeo movie or ?
All I can say is that its just beautiful

"My photographer was wondering during the pans if the jitters is from the Vimeo movie or ?"

I was wondering that myself. I've noticed jitter in nearly all the footage I've seen.

Found it:

Regarding the judder:

There are two sorts. One is crappy tripod motion (mostly panning) and the second one was introduced by encoding for web.
Like the tilt in the first pan is pretty smooth on the original material, but looks horrible after encoding.

I promise, next time I break out the heavy duty Vinten.

Frank

Thank you, Frank. Beautiful example of dynamic range. Nice grade, too.

The frames remind me of a movie that I cant remember.
Same colors and feel.
Driving me nuts thinking about it.
Thanks again Frank for that

Great stuff Frank!

when someone will stop shoot these "tests" and will shoot something real... like shortfilm or something...

flowers, dogs, people on the streets, old boats... it's seems like creative impotence...

what's the point to get bmcc and shoot nothing..

when someone will stop shoot these "tests" and will shoot something real... like shortfilm or something...

flowers, dogs, people on the streets, old boats... it's seems like creative impotence...

what's the point to get bmcc and shoot nothing..

Frank shot this test for himself for an upcoming shoot if I'm not mistaken and felt like sharing it.

when someone will stop shoot these "tests" and will shoot something real... like shortfilm or something...

flowers, dogs, people on the streets, old boats... it's seems like creative impotence...

what's the point to get bmcc and shoot nothing..

Many times when I look at what I have done I ask myself exactly the same thing.....but for you to ask this of someone else, tad rude don't you think ?

when someone will stop shoot these "tests" and will shoot something real... like shortfilm or something...

flowers, dogs, people on the streets, old boats... it's seems like creative impotence...

what's the point to get bmcc and shoot nothing..

How arrogant of you.

when someone will stop shoot these "tests" and will shoot something real... like shortfilm or something...

flowers, dogs, people on the streets, old boats... it's seems like creative impotence ... what's the point to get bmcc and shoot nothing..

How rude. Jealous?

I'm jealous of Frank, too, both of his talent and the fact that he has a BMCC before I do. But I only hate him in jest.

Don't feed the arrogance!!!!

LOL - yes, it was actually an internal test for an upcoming docu I shoot at the end of the month. After looking at that material I thought it might be of interest.

Frank