Why RAW view and RedColor view doesn't match at ISO 800

[Karim Iglesias]

Why RAW view and RedColor view doesn't match at ISO 800 in Cameras with MX Sensors

thanks

 

[Florian Stadler]

Raw view is a representation of what the sensor is capturing, a "digital negative" of sorts. It is the "undeveloped" sensor image. Redcolor is a curve/matrix (sometimes called LUT) applied to that image to make an instantly pleasing and viewable image for the editor/client, etc.

 

[Jonathan Stevenson]

I think the MX is still a 320 ISO native sensor, same as the old M sensors. But Red doesn't like to talk about the sensors in terms of "native" ISO anymore as it leads to too much confusion. What they DO say is that 800 ISO is a sweet spot in terms of highlight protection/noise floor on the MX and recommend shooting there.

 

[Florian Stadler]

The M sensor was more like 120-160 in its "native state" when looked at on a Waveform. This rating is irrelevant though as you want to expose the camera at its sweet spot, not at its absolutely weakest spot (at least from a dynamic range perspective).

 

[ericyoung]

Karim - if you want RAW view on the Red One M or MX to match the RGB Redcolor view for exposure then set the Red to ISO320. But you won't be taking as much advantage of the decreased noise floor of the MX sensor as perhaps you should. If you expose MX for Redcolor at ISO800, you will be effectively underexposing the MX sensor by a stop and a bit. This protects your highlights more, but the less noisy sensor allows you to bring the shadow areas back up in a grade wthout the penalty of excessive noise due to underexposure of the shadows.

 

[Karim Iglesias]

Karim - if you want RAW view on the Red One M or MX to match the RGB Redcolor view for exposure then set the Red to ISO320. But you won't be taking as much advantage of the decreased noise floor of the MX sensor as perhaps you should. If you expose MX for Redcolor at ISO800, you will be effectively underexposing the MX sensor by a stop and a bit. This protects your highlights more, but the less noisy sensor allows you to bring the shadow areas back up in a grade wthout the penalty of excessive noise due to underexposure of the shadows.

thanks Eric that was very helpfull!