Thanks to Jim and Jarred, I had a chance to spend some time with the Dragon last weekend...
My goal was to explore the color and dynamic range of the new sensor specifically on people and skin tones.
First off I want to make a few things clear...
This camera's color science is beta, in fact the version of RCX I used is still using RG3 & RC3 so they are not yet matched to the immense DR and color info of these files.
This camera also had a brand new IR filter installed and no adjustments had beed made to the CS or RCX for any impact that might have on color rendering.
All of the above meant I felt in order to be fair to the camera and sensor I needed to do some color correction beyond RCX, to that end I did a single primary pass in Resolve on the Prores 444 output.
The kelvin and tint settings noted in the video are my approximation of the ambient lighting according to the eye-dropper in RCX, I developed at different settings when I though it looked best. I also pushed the color saturation as far as I felt I could before looking garish, this is not actually my preferred taste but I felt it was important for the test.
Last off I am not a colorist, I'm a DP and I'm sure a professional who works in Resolve every day could do an even better job given how much color info is in there.
Ok, now I can gush a bit...
Wow, it's hard to describe the amount dynamic range, sensitivity and color information coming off this sensor. It it's really weird to just hold everything, the highs the lows and know you just got it. My feeling is there is more DR visible here than the stated spec, but it's hard to quantify. You'll also notice I was very good about avoiding any hard clips. Even the fire ball shots hold color. Another thing is I'm really in love with the grain-like noise when the sensor is pushed to ISO 3200+ it's really organic and gives the truly high ISO material a beautiful pushed film quality. It also handles mixed and discontinuous lighting like nothing I've seen. The shot of the girl dancing at 6400 ISO is shot under just an LED street lamp and plays much brighter than my eyes were seeing.
As far as skin tone the sensor picks up all the subtle colors and variances in the flesh and make-up, this is the trade off for so much info and detail and if you really want smooth skin rendering you'll need to have a great make-up artist and really understand filtration. The only diffusion filter I used on some shots was a Schneider 1/16 HD classic soft just to take the edge off. It's noted in the video when I do. You really can go pretty much anywhere with all this color info in post though.
One final note some of you may be asking where the tungsten studio test is and I will be honest and say that I did shoot one, but it was tacked on to another show I was shooting at the same time and the make-up artist was not really able to give the attention I felt necessary to make the test useful. If I get a 2nd chance with the Dragon before my Epic gets it's upgrade then I'll take a 2nd crack at it in earnest.
Special thanks to Poolhouse Productions for putting this together on such short notice.
Originally Posted by Phil Holland
