1600ISO for highlight preservation?

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Jon O'Neill

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1600ISO for highlight preservation?

PostWed Apr 17, 2019 9:39 pm

Is shooting at 1600iso a good method to preserve more range in highlights on ursa 4.6k?
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rick.lang

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1600ISO for highlight preservation?

PostThu Apr 18, 2019 1:43 am

Yes, it should be in theory, on the original URSA Mini 4.6K but be careful of starving the shadows for light as ISO 1600 may not be as clean as you want.

In tests I did ages ago, I found you could expose for ISO 800 and adjust in post and get better results than shooting ISO 1600.

Always fearful this discussion will go viral and frankly it’s just not worth it. Theory is nice but doing your own tests in various conditions to find what you prefer is more persuasive than any arguments I would make.


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AbdoulUK

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Re: 1600ISO for highlight preservation?

PostThu Apr 18, 2019 6:37 am

I agree with Rick. In theory it makes sense, but in testing, the results were never clean enough for me to be happy with and I always get the same desired exposing for 800 and pushing in post.
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Jon O'Neill

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Re: 1600ISO for highlight preservation?

PostThu Apr 18, 2019 6:49 am

Thanks Guys :-)
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carlomacchiavello

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Re: 1600ISO for highlight preservation?

PostThu Apr 18, 2019 6:00 pm

Lower iso lower noise
Higher iso for more headroom for highlights

Good sense tell me that if I need more highlights headroom I not have problem of noise be cause I have enough light for shadow to avoid noise, but is not ever real. If I had large highlights and at same time deep shadow could be better to lower iso and add a big of gain later (or better add light in shadow).


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Matt LaCorte

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Re: 1600ISO for highlight preservation?

PostFri Apr 19, 2019 7:39 am

I want to clarify- I'm not sure about shooting in ProRes but when shooting RAW (either CDNG or BRAW if they ever release it) the camera is fixed ISO. Dynamic range is maximized for ISO 800- try looking at your zebras in an overexposed area, you'll see that it doesn't change from ISO 200-1600. I know Arri (& Red?) cameras shift dynamic range latitude with ISO but the Ursa shouldn't.
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rick.lang

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Re: 1600ISO for highlight preservation?

PostFri Apr 19, 2019 4:18 pm

It’s true that the clipping point doesn’t change because you only select a different ISO as the same light is reaching and overwhelming the sensor.

My remarks about ISO 1600 versus 800 and recommendations to shoot 800 and push one stop in post apply when you are also exposing for ISO 1600 or (under)exposing for 800, not just turning the dial without changing either shutter angle or the aperture. Apologies if that wasn’t clear.

With CinemaDNG raw, just turning the ISO dial does change how many stops are allocated above and below middle grey. So for a scene that is primarily bright, you will protect the highlights better at ISO 1600, but watch you still have sufficient shadow detail.

Similarly if shadows are most important, ISO 200/400 will give you better graduation of shadows but leave you with a harder roll off of highlights—which may look fine or may be jarring depending upon the scene.

You can see these effects best when you run a test and review results in post.


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