Changing the settings of AX2000 recordings: GAMMA

HDR-AX2000 / HXR-NX5 (2010).
Post Reply
Arkady Bolotin
Posts: 60
Joined: 24 May 2010 16:46
Location: Beersheba, Israel

Changing the settings of AX2000 recordings: GAMMA

Post by Arkady Bolotin »

Apropos of the picture profile items (such as SHARPNESS, COLOR LEVEL/PHASE, WB SHIFT, etc.), I have made a full circle.

At the beginning, I was in love with them, exploring them, adjusting each of them in any imaginable direction. However, later on, I put them back to their default values realizing the simple truth: you cannot make your camcorder essentially better (like multiplying its resolution or increasing its dynamic range) by merely adjusting its picture profile.

Besides, chances are that your camcorder’s default (i.e. factory-set) picture profile is already the best possible one.

For that reason, I had low expectations when I tried to change the default setting of the picture profile of my AX2000.

Nevertheless, to my surprise and delight I found that changing GAMMA from STANDARD one to CINEMATONE1 GAMMA (along with CINEMATONE1 color mode) could really add some extra color depth to the image (seemingly increasing its resolution) without worsening its other aspects, especially in a very bright environment. In addition, this gamma feature allows avoiding overexposure of the image highlights (apparently by moving the white clip point farther to the higher levels of illumination).

To make my findings more tangible for you (and for your entertainment), I present here two pictures made with and without CINEMATONE1 GAMMA; other recording parameters were as follows: shutter speed = 1/50, gain = -6dB, ND filter = 3 (1/64), WB = manually adjusted, frame rate = 25p.
Attachments
Clouds.jpg
(93.97 KiB) Not downloaded yet
Fence.jpg
(89.76 KiB) Not downloaded yet
User avatar
Stephan
Site Admin
Posts: 592
Joined: 20 Mar 2010 18:51
Location: Paris, France

Re: Changing the settings of AX2000 recordings: GAMMA

Post by Stephan »

Nice A/B test Arkady! The results are very subtle, I think I see less clipping and more gradation on the clouds in Clouds.jpg (that's good!), but on the other hand in Fence.jpg I can't see any difference.

I recall previous camcorders were very extreme in Cinematone presets (to the point I felt these presets were unusable). It seems much nicer now, that's good.
Arkady Bolotin
Posts: 60
Joined: 24 May 2010 16:46
Location: Beersheba, Israel

Re: Changing the settings of AX2000 recordings: GAMMA

Post by Arkady Bolotin »

They say a picture is worth a thousand words… In our case, even a short artless clip costs a lengthened exquisitely worded post.

So, please take a look at the clip I made with CINEMATONE1 GAMMA enabled:
http://vimeo.com/13248414
User avatar
Stephan
Site Admin
Posts: 592
Joined: 20 Mar 2010 18:51
Location: Paris, France

Re: Changing the settings of AX2000 recordings: GAMMA

Post by Stephan »

The contrast between the scorching sun and the shadows is so tough on camcorders... Considering the unforgiving lighting conditions in your area, I'd say the AX2000 performs quite admirably here!

If you want to put it to the ultimate test, check with a human face close-up. Not asking you to share that on the Internet of course (keep private stuff private), but human faces have all sorts of gradations and shadows (esp. when wearing a cap or hat) that are really difficult to record nicely without extra lighting or soft reflectors.
Arkady Bolotin
Posts: 60
Joined: 24 May 2010 16:46
Location: Beersheba, Israel

Re: Changing the settings of AX2000 recordings: GAMMA

Post by Arkady Bolotin »

Thus what I’ve recently done, it’s not an “ultimate test” – I could not capture someone’s face at close range, but nevertheless my recent clip http://vimeo.com/13362951 shows up the AX2000 dynamic range on human (young and pretty) faces.

It also demonstrates the color reproduction of the cam: please observe the police officers’ florescent-orange vest and the florescent-green announcement on the advertiser pillar. Capturing such colors are always problematic when working within standard (sRGB) color space (perhaps, in 10-bit YUV or x.v.Color space it would be different).
User avatar
Stephan
Site Admin
Posts: 592
Joined: 20 Mar 2010 18:51
Location: Paris, France

Re: Changing the settings of AX2000 recordings: GAMMA

Post by Stephan »

Nice. Solid performance! I would tune WB one notch or 2 towards blue, but that's personal preference.

Makes me think I probably don't want to go back to a one-sensor cam. These 3-sensor cams (FX7, AX2000) really exhibit splendid colors (once you've learned to use the presets). I love the crisp color contrasts. If only they could make the AX2000 smaller for me...

About the orange vest, did you notice the big pixellation on the edges? That's 4:2:0 interlaced encoding - nothing anybody can do about it. When shooting, better avoid anything with saturated reds.
Post Reply