Noisy Epic footage?

[Eric Haase]

I've had a few shoots recently where I am noticing that the shadows appear somewhat noisy with my Epic X. I've diligently done black shadings at "current fps", etc before each shoot (sometimes just before rolling). It appears to me that the footage (shot at 7:1, 5K) is more noisy than Red MX footage shot at RC36 4K 16:9. I first noticed it on black shirts that subjects were wearing in controlled, well-exposed lighting situations (under tungsten OR daylight balanced lighting conditions). I've included a link to a test clip I shot today, along with a picture of the exposure check from the Epic touchscreen. The purple areas on the exposure check I might expect to have noise, but looking at the black shirt and the jacket on the chair I am seeing quite a bit of noise all over it. Wondering if anyone has any insight into this? It just looks noisier than I am used to after shooting the last couple years on RED and with the MX sensor since it became available. I shot the same setup with a RED MX and will post that footage as well as soon as I get it. In the meantime, any help is greatly appreciated.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/904379/Epic%...ise%20test.zip

[Sid Idris]

alas the noise isn't limited to your shadows. At 400% your green screen is peppered with quite a bit of blue noise.

[IAN SUN]

I have some of these concerns myself where I think I have gotten cleaner footage out on my R1 than from Epic under similar circumstances.

[Harry Clark]

Hey Eric,
Did you try it with lower compression?
Anyone know if there ever any definitive answer from Red regarding what the new compression ratios mean as compared to the old "Redcode 36", "Redcode 28", etc.? I know people had posted here that 8:1 was like one thing, 5:1 was another, etc. but I never saw any OFFICIAL statement from the Red Team.
Just wondering...
Cheers,
Harry

[Patrick Tresch]

You used 3600K for a 5000k+ sensor. It's like 1.5 stop of noise in your blue channel (2400 asa).

Pat

[Alexey Milokost]

So, 80C filter is a solution?

[Patrick Tresch]

Yes, at minimum. If you have enough F stops to shoot with... 80C eats you 1 stop, but RGB would be equally "saturated".


Pat

[Alexey Milokost]

So why, as some say, R1 is better with the same settings than Epic?

[Patrick Tresch]

So why, as some say, R1 is better with the same settings than Epic?

I have no idea of what they are talking about. Epic has really a lower noise level... I didn't do any green screen with the Epic yet.

Pat

[Eric Haase]

You used 3600K for a 5000k+ sensor. It's like 1.5 stop of noise in your blue channel (2400 asa).

Pat

I normally use an 82C filter when shooting under tungsten lighting and am aware that tungsten light makes the blue channel more noisy. I have shot scenes with the MX at 1000 under tungsten lighting at lower light levels than this with no filter that are far less noisy than this. In addition, this Epic is producing this noise even under daylight lighting conditions. Here is a link to an R3D of a shot under daylight balanced lights. Notice the noise in the chair.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/904379/A003_C002_01053Z_001.R3D

I'm just seeing more noise than normal based on a few years of shooting RED. Wondering if it is this particular camera, firmware (2.0.5 beta) or Epic in general. I will try to test more today and get a hold of the R3D of the MX shot that I made at the same time. It has less noise than the Epic shot when viewed under the exact same settings. I hope to be able to post that later. If anyone has any clue or has any similar experiences please let me know. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.