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Epic VS. F65 Side by Side Test

Dominik Muench

Dominik Muench

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Hi Guys


I will have the chance next week to use both cameras side by side in a studio environment. My Epic, a Sony F65 and two sets of Zeiss Cp2 lenses and I wanted to check with you guys what sort of tests I should perform or what sort of side by side comparisons you guys would be interested in seeing.

Obviously I will have a few color and focus charts with me and there might even be a scantly clad model to show all the haters that the Epic skin tones are as good as any other cameras, but yeah...taking requests now so please let me know and I will post the results here.
 
Actually... at Tom...

What I am more curious about, is WHERE the stops fall...

So as both shoot RAW.


Shoot them at identical WB/ISO settings. 5600/800 could be good for both.

And start off with ND 1.5 and 22 aperture at 180 degrees in broad daylight for a wide DR shot and shoot incremental stops until 1.3 aperture. Add an extra stop by going to 360 shutter.

What I am curous about is how the colors alters in the different exposure ranges and how many stops over/under eachother the cameras work ok.

Let us say (as an example) that the Epic has a range that goes 2 stops below the F65, while the F65 has two extra stops in the top.

Stuff like that, is what I am curious about.

And also access to single frames from those two side-by-side exposures...

Cheers!

G
 
Great test. Try to shoot something at your lens' optimum f stop to compare detail levels.

I will be posting some examples from an informal shootout between my non OLPF Scarlet and a Arri BL35 with the ultimate filmstock, VisionIII 5203 ISO 50 .
Should be doing the initial scan of the 35mm today.
I've never seen anyone post examples of film vs Red.
 
Would not hurt to have a Macbeth in there (ca in the middle of the exposure lightwise)
And two persons, one sitting in the highlight and one in the shadow, to test a bit for skintone tolerance while you are at it...
 
For me personally I don't need to see any resolution tests but this side by side on Youtube has 94 comments and a lot of people refer to it as proof that the F65 is a much sharper camera. It would be good to have a side by side resolution test we could point to that was done right. Like using the Epic's full 5k, not a 4k crop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZcKFonZtGw
 
Justin O'Neill said:
For me personally I don't need to see any resolution tests but this side by side on Youtube has 94 comments and a lot of people refer to it as proof that the F65 is a much sharper camera. It would be good to have a side by side resolution test we could point to that was done right. Like using the Epic's full 5k, not a 4k crop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZcKFonZtGw
Click to expand...


It also looks like the Epic could very much benefit from a slight unsharp mask on that test. I would love to take a look @ the R3D.

BTW, from this test the F65 only seems like having a stop more latitude than the Epic: http://www.cinematography.net/C-V-Tests/Camalot-Vocas-Tests.html
 
IMPO F65 is a hands down winner for producing remarkable imagery.
...it has little to no noise in shadows and produces trouble free shoot days right out of the box each and every time.
The F65 is a most extraordinary camera......
However, it is a BEAST...huge, heavy and impossible to run and gun with.

EPIC MX produces incredible images too, but it aint an F65......

EPIC is cool, small, easy to transport, carry-on planes, hide in a bag for run and gun guerilla shooting, but there are trade-offs.

We shoot with both and produce great work with each camera...
IMPO it comes down to what trade-offs and benefits you are willing to put up with when choosing the right tool for every job.
 
Dominik,

I would love to see a forced IR contamination test.
Swatches of fabric over skin in bright sunlight with at least 1.5ND and no IR filter.
 
I am grading a feature I recently did with a F65 as A camera and my Epic as B camera . I suggest you look at how the cameras react to mixed lights (fluorescents) and skintones, the difference in tungsten and daylight and dynamic range. That is where I found the biggest differences. Overall the F65 beats the Epic (and Alexa) on almost every image comparison, except resolution in daylight (Epic wins) and size/weight . But that is just my experience, so everyone should do their own test .
 
Mick van Rossum said:
I am grading a feature I recently did with a F65 as A camera and my Epic as B camera . I suggest you look at how the cameras react to mixed lights (fluorescents) and skintones, the difference in tungsten and daylight and dynamic range. That is where I found the biggest differences. Overall the F65 beats the Epic (and Alexa) on almost every image comparison, except resolution in daylight (Epic wins) and size/weight . But that is just my experience, so everyone should do their own test .
Click to expand...

Could be because Sony reports that the F65's sensor is natively Tungsten balanced... whereas the Epic's 5000K MX is certainly closer to daylight.
 
Would like to know about time consuming differents in postproduction for the test and the differents about witch platform you to go for best results! And moneywise! Epic 3:1 compression? And f65 raw!
 
Gunleik: yep will definitely be shooting RAW and no worries, will put up the side by frames for you guys to download. Gonna put in a standardised color chart for sure.

Brian: I see what I can do, the shoot might not be till late afternoon so I cant guarantee sunlight, but I see what I can do :)

Mick: the mixed lighting scenario is interesting, will definitely give that a try.

Robert: I will post details on which postpro path was taken for the tests, I've never worked with F65 material before, in the past all my work was done on FCPX or Premiere.

Eric: unfortunately not, the two sets of Cp2s is as good as it gets for this one.
 
Someone may have mentioned this already. How about turning the cameras around and shooting out the studio door. Some high contrast daylight stuff would be excellent please!
 
Please include a thorough assessment of data management in terms of time required to offload and archive, and ease of use for each system.

I recently had an Epic and an F65 side by side, shooting with identical glass.... besides the obvious form factor issues - the data management side of things for the F65 was kind of a big PITA.

Corrupted frames of several shots from the F65 which rendered entire clips unusable and had to be downloaded a second sometimes a third time... Poor DIT was pulling his hair out.

Maybe just a bad experience?

No question the Sony makes pretty pictures, the mechanical shutter and the internal ND's are great....but it has to be a balanced equation or it doesn't make a lot of sense. I hear

that many shows that use F65 just pull the cards and send them to the lab for offloading/archiving.
 
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