I decided to shoot a test using several of the available Picture Profiles for the Canon 5D.

I shot the same subject using the Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Faithful, Neutral (Philip Bloom settings) and the new Technicolor Cinestyle profile.

The first clip was done without any color correction to show the different latitudes that the camera records in the different profiles. I also did the same shots with and without the Lightcraft Workshop Mark II VariND filter just to show how it effects the image as well. I picked a scene that had very neutral colors buy also a large dynamic range just to show how the different profiles handle blown out backgrounds and detail.

Here is a link to the shots without any color correction:

Canon 5D Picture Profiles - No CC on Vimeo

Here is a link to the version that is then color corrected using Apple's 3 Way Color Corrector in Final Cut Pro:

Canon 5D Picture Profiles - Apple 3 Way CC on Vimeo

Finally, here is a link to the shots color corrected in Red Giant Software's Colorista Free plug in. Again done in Final Cut Pro.

Canon 5D Picture Profiles - Colorista Free CC on Vimeo

As a reference, here is a link to a clip that I shot with my daughters when I was in a hurry and forgot to change the Picture Profile on the camera to the Technicolor Cinestyle profile. I shot it in Canon's Landscape Picture Profile on accident. I was intrigued by how it came out and decided to then do this test.

Natasha and the Butterfly on Vimeo

I would appreciate any feedback that people might have. I am still up in the air as to how I will set the camera up going forward.

Thanks,

Daniel Weber

I would appreciate any feedback that people might have.

Daniel, although I can't make much out of it, I appreciate that you took the time A/B testing those settings. It would be interesting to hear your consensus of it all. The final video, of your daughter & butterfly, is just one of those textbook precious shoot -- reminds me of my dad's 16mm that he shot of us as kids. Happy days.

-- peer

Daniel-

What lens did you use on that Butterfly shot? Love the closeup on the flower/butterfly!

Thank you for putting this together Daniel!

I'm guessing you applied the same CC to all picture styles. I would be interested to see a screen shot of the Levels histogram of each of these to see the differences in codec breakup as you apply the CC. Obviously you have a lot more latitude with the Cinestyle or Neutral picture styles but the question becomes what happens to the codec when you begin to stretch the contrast on those clips. A screen shot of the Levels or Waveform of each would be cool to look at where we could look for spikes on the Levels or banding on the Waveform.

Let me try to work on getting that up soon....

Daniel-

What lens did you use on that Butterfly shot? Love the closeup on the flower/butterfly!

That was my Canon 24-105 F4 L lens. Very happy with how it works with the 5D.

Thank you for putting this together Daniel!

I'm guessing you applied the same CC to all picture styles. I would be interested to see a screen shot of the Levels histogram of each of these to see the differences in codec breakup as you apply the CC. Obviously you have a lot more latitude with the Cinestyle or Neutral picture styles but the question becomes what happens to the codec when you begin to stretch the contrast on those clips. A screen shot of the Levels or Waveform of each would be cool to look at where we could look for spikes on the Levels or banding on the Waveform.

Steve,

Here is a frame grab from within Final Cut Pro of the Cinestyle shot without the VariND and before any color correction.

I did some testing tonight using LUT Buddy on the Cinestyle footage and I will post it a little later. So far I am impressed. I need to play with it some more.

Daniel

Those shots of your daughter are, indeed, fantastic. You'll be glad you got those in years to come!

Regards feedback on the rest of your material, for what where you testing or investigating?

J.

Justin,

Thanks for your comments.

I guess that I decided to do the test after seeing how the shots of my daughter turned out. Ever since I picked up my first Canon DSLR (7D) I heard that the cameras setting needed to be set to capture a very flat image to make up for the short comings of the imagers and the way they capture video. I have always shot using the neutral setting on the camera the way that Philip Bloom suggested. This does then require some CC in post.

Then I made the mistake when I shot my daughter and forgot to change the setting on the camera. I liked what I saw and then decided to do the test. The test left more questions in my mind.

Last night I played with Red Giant Software's LUT Buddy plug in along with the Technicolor Cinestyle S Log profile. I will post the results of that soon, but I was much happier after adding in that part of the work flow.

My main purpose for posting this test was the hope that someone else could add their comments and maybe also learn something as well.

The good old days of picking a film stock to match the look that you wanted are sure over!!

Daniel

That was my Canon 24-105 F4 L lens. Very happy with how it works with the 5D.That really is a great lens and a perfect all-purpose zoom for the 5D Mk. II. Thanks a bunch for posting these clips!

Chris,

Your welcome. This site has been such a great resource over the past 10+ years and I just wanted to return the favor.

Daniel

One final clip:

Here are the two Cinestyle shots after applying the LUT Buddy FCP plug in. I used the S Log profile that was made available by Technicolor.

Cinestyle with LUT Buddy Plug In on Vimeo

Steve,

Here is a frame grab from within Final Cut Pro of the Cinestyle shot without the VariND and before any color correction.

Thank you for this Daniel. It really shows how well the Cinestyle works to flatten the image well within limits. Lots of room to work there. Do you happen to have a frame grab after CC for comparison?

I will post a frame from the CC as well as how it looks after applying the LUT Buddy plug in.

Probably later tonight...

Then I made the mistake when I shot my daughter...

Yes, that sounds like a mistake... =)

All kidding aside:

I think too many happy amateurs fall into the trap of shooting flat and then spending 4 hours on a computer to recreate what the camera could already have done for you internally pre-compression.

The ability for shooting flat is great for speciality needs, and the 5D mkII, is used extensively in professional environments, but that doesn't mean that it is the end all for family clips.

And going from 0 to 2 on sharpness might do wonders to your clips. Aliasing and moiré are still there even if you set sharpness to 0.

Technically it's best not to sharpen in camera, but you will then need to do it in post, and that can be time consuming for small projects.

Yes I have also "shot" many other people including Hillary Clinton. Funny how you can use such a simple word and it is taken the wrong way!! :) I try to use "film" instead of "shot" but that doesn't really work well either.

I really don't shoot much family stuff. It just happened that my girls found the butterfly and came running in and I grabbed the camera.

I will try out your suggestion of raising the sharpness a little. I may play with the contrast some as well.

I do like the Technicolor profile if you run it through LUT Buddy. You need to underexpose about 1/2 stop as well.

Thanks for your comments and sense of humor.