A6500 4K PP9 Log Footage looks grainy/ poor

[rajnesh]

Greetings,

 

   I bought a Sony A6500 and shot some 4K Footage in Picture Profile 9. (S-Log3 / S-Gamut3)

   I imported the footage into Apple's Final Cut X (Ver 10.3.2) as well as Premiere Pro CC.

 

   In Final Cut X, I applied the Log Processing for S-Log3/S-Gamut3.cine.

 

   However, I find that the quality of my footage is very poor. It's grainy, muddy and lacks detail. It looks nothing like what I've seen on YouTube as samples from the A6500.

 

   Any ideas on what the problem might be?

 

   I've attached 2 screen grabs. The first one shows more of the FCX window. The second one just shows the footage.

 

   Some of the settings that I though would be relevant in the Camera:

 

Menu2 are:

Movie/S&Q Motion = Aperture Priority

File Format = XAVC S 4K

Record Setting = 30p 100M

e-Front Curtain Shutter On

Steady Shot On

 

Menu1 are:

High ISO NR Normal

Color Space Adobe RGB

ISO 3200

Metering Multi

White Balane Auto

Priority Set in AWB Standard

Picture Effect Off

Picture Profile PP9

 

 

   Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

Regards,

Rajnesh

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[rajnesh]

I shot another test. This time, in HD, in Picture Profile 9. (S-Log3 / S-Gamut3)

I imported the footage into Apple's Final Cut X (Ver 10.3.2).

 

In Final Cut X, I applied a LUT for for S-Log3/S-Gamut3 to Rec709 using a Plugin called Color Finale.

 

However, I still find that the quality of my footage is very poor. (i.e, it's not sharp and it's grainy)

 

I've uploaded a screen grab here.

 

Some of the settings that I though would be relevant in the Camera:

 

Menu2 are:

Movie/S&Q Motion = Aperture Priority

File Format = XAVC S HD

Record Setting = 120p 100M

e-Front Curtain Shutter On

Steady Shot On

 

Menu1 are:

High ISO NR Normal

Color Space Adobe RGB

ISO 800

Metering Multi

White Balane Auto

Priority Set in AWB Standard

Picture Effect Off

Picture Profile PP9

 

 

Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

Regards,

Rajnesh

[dailyrushes]

 

I shot another test. This time, in HD, in Picture Profile 9. (S-Log3 / S-Gamut3)

I imported the footage into Apple's Final Cut X (Ver 10.3.2).

 

In Final Cut X, I applied a LUT for for S-Log3/S-Gamut3 to Rec709 using a Plugin called Color Finale.

 

However, I still find that the quality of my footage is very poor. (i.e, it's not sharp and it's grainy)

 

I've uploaded a screen grab here.

 

Some of the settings that I though would be relevant in the Camera:

 

Menu2 are:

Movie/S&Q Motion = Aperture Priority

File Format = XAVC S HD

Record Setting = 120p 100M

e-Front Curtain Shutter On

Steady Shot On

 

Menu1 are:

High ISO NR Normal

Color Space Adobe RGB

ISO 800

Metering Multi

White Balane Auto

Priority Set in AWB Standard

Picture Effect Off

Picture Profile PP9

 

 

Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

Regards,

Rajnesh

 

Hi Rajnesh,

 

Since nobody responded to you, I've created an account here so I can. I also have the same camera which I bought on March 11 and have been struggling to understand and use S-Log 3 ever since. What I have finally learned is, S-Log is not a magic bullet except where you have a wide variance of light beyond about 6-7 F-Stops. This is because it's an 8 bit camera and so there's very few bits to share in terms of resolution and color when you stretch that out to 12-14 stops! But don't worry, the image you showed with the two women could have been very easily captured in non-S-Log format and would look absolutely wonderful! The pond shot with the green also has so little latitude in brightness, you don't need S-Log for that either.

 

And in those rare situations where there's extreme levels of brightness in the scene you want to capture, then use S-Log 3 and be sure you expose well enough so that your dark areas are well-exposed. Also, do lots of tests to find where your low-light limits are so you don't mess up a paid shoot or something important. If this sounds like good advice, let me know and I'll send you some links letting you know where I found all this out.