For fast turn around work where footage won’t have a chance to go through the post production process of being color graded, F5/F55/FS7 shooters have the option of baking in a user uploadable 3D LUT to the camera – or using one of four Sony 3D LUT presets (called LOOKS) built right into the camera.
Amongst the built-in LUTs are LC-709A which I wrote about in a previous article “F55 Matches ARRI Alexa’s Color” that mimics the REC709 mode of the ARRI Alexa for some very pleasing results. One catch about baking in 3D LUTs however is that you must shoot in the CineEI mode where there is no option for custom white balance. Instead you must chose one of the three color temperature presets; 3200k, 4300k, or 5500k.
Working with three WB presets might not always be a problem but for shoots where you might be dealing with very specific color temperatures or even mixed color temperatures and the footage will not be going through extensive post, having only three WB presets can be problematic.
For that reason the Hypergammas (HG7 and HG8) are still my go to gamma curve when I shoot in the Custom Mode on my F55. One thing some might not realize is that on the F5/F55 & FS7 cameras, HG7 and HG8 have the same dynamic range as slog did on the Sony PMW-F3 (800%) giving you around 12 stops of dynamic range so you are still getting an incredible amount of dynamic range without having to use Slog.
Seen in the featured image above is a frame grab from a recent shoot on the F55 in custom mode with the camera set to 2000ISO. The image is more or less straight out of the camera with only a small adjustment made to improve the blacks and a small bump on the mid-tones. I think it turned out quite nice and looks great overall.
Here is video clip with slightly more grading using DaVinci Resolve:
vimeo.com/261574282
As for differences between HG7 and HG8, below is a Hypergamma Chart taken from my Ultimate Exposure Guide. I tend to use HG7 for lower light situations or scenes with low-key lighting and HG8 for brighter scenes or sunny days.
Hypergamma Chart taken from The Ultimate Exposure Guide for Sony F5 & F55 Cameras
Other Related Articles: Out Of The box F55 Skin Tones, F55 Matches ARRI Alexa’s Color, F3 F5 F55 Gamma Curves
Pardon my ignorance, what is “Legal Signal” in Hypergamma chart? Thank you!
Hello and thanks for taking interest in my blog. Legal signal means white does not exceed 100% IRE. Thus it is “broadcast standards” or “legal”.
Cheers
Hi Dennis
Shooting cameo. Lighting the subject with a black background for interviews. Would I be better with hg 7 or 8mwith custom.
Not familiar with hg and cine yet
Thanks,
Mark
Thanks for visiting the website and sorry for such a late reply. It’s hard to know the answer and if you are shooting with hypergammas you might be better off to try both once on set with lightning in place to see which one you prefer. HG8 is better for higher contrast situations over HG7.
Hello and excellent write up,
While exposing for HG7 & HG8, where should I be setting my zebras on a white card? Since this is in the REC709 space (I assume), would 90% be a safe bet while exposing?
Regarding base ISO sensitivity for HG7& HG8, if shooting in the HyperGamma space, is the base ISO still 2,000? Or does this change since you’re no longer shooting in the S-Log color space?
CineEI mode for S-LOG2&3 is impressive, but I’ve been experimenting more with the HyperGamma space since I don’t always have enough time to go into Lumetri and Davinci Resolve for coloring my work.
Hi James, thanks for finding my blog and glad you found the article useful.
To find out exactly where white is mapped for HG7 & HG8 you can expose grey card for their middle grey value (as seen in the table above) and then replace the grey card with white paper. This will give you a good idea of where white card would land, then from there you can adjust your zebras to light up where you like. My guess is that they would fall around the 90% mark so without doing the test, this is probably a safe bet.
When you are in custom mode shooting HG7 or HG8, on the FS7/F5 the base ISO drops slightly to 1600 ISO. Going to 460% HG’s result in a base ISO of 800 ISO.
Hi there,
I’m finding that every time I shoot with HG7, the image is ridiculously noisey – irrespective of lighting conditions, and I have no idea how to rectify it !
In cine EI mode, I have no issues at all with noise.
Any tips ? Thank you !
hi Max, thanks for visiting my website and taking the time to post. Try an all reset on the camera, maybe you have some other settings at play when using HG7 in custom mode. Other things to look for a settings to noise reduction. Hopefully the rest does the trick, HG7 should be quite clean.