I'm shooting a project with my EX1 and the director will be operating his camera (hpx170). He wants to match my camera to his.

Here's his settings, maybe you could let me know how to adjust my camera to match his:

Detail - +1

Chroma level - 0

Chroma phase - 0

Gamma - B-press

Matrix - Cine-like

Thanks,
Mike

The two cameras are quite different, so don't expect matching to happen easily.
Think of all the differences - chip size, sharpness, different chip colorimetry.
Forget about 'matching by the numbers', and start with a really accurate monitor and scopes, and of course a variety of colors and contrasts to shoot. I've found it possible to match my EX1 pretty well to the HDX900 when required, though have had less luck matching to the old Varicam (I was able to get the same pinkish skin tone, but never could get the same soft image from the EX1.)
Of course once you get them close you should also think about which camera to use for what shot to better hide the differences.
Whataver tests you do, give them to the editor BEFORE you shoot, so they can add their 2 cents at an appropriate time!

Cool, thanks. Unfortunately, we don't have access to a monitor with scopes. I really appreciate your tip about what camera to use for certain shots. That makes a lot of sense. And I forgot to mention that the HPX170 will have a Redrock M2 adapter on it as well. The EX1 will be naked, so, we'll have to find some kind of "grain" filter to apply to my Sony footage in post.

So shoot some tests and at least split screen them in your NLE so you can see both images simultaneously in the same screen. Then tweek the camera settings a little and look at the (revised) split screen. Repeat until you have something you think is workable.

Check the picture profiles thread. Andy Shipsides from Abel Cine Tech posted picture profiles that emulate the standard profiles in the HPX-170.

Here is the post from that epic thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/110902-picture-profile-recipes-29.html#post1008414

Check the picture profiles thread. Andy Shipsides from Abel Cine Tech posted picture profiles that emulate the standard profiles in the HPX-170.

Here is the post from that epic thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/110902-picture-profile-recipes-29.html#post1008414


Thanks a lot Andrew.

So shoot some tests and at least split screen them in your NLE so you can see both images simultaneously in the same screen. Then tweek the camera settings a little and look at the (revised) split screen. Repeat until you have something you think is workable.

That's what I was planning on doing. I just wanted a jump start. And thanks to Andrew's post. I got what I was looking for.

Thanks.

By some freak of nature I remembered approximately where it was in the PP thread. You only want to go through that thread once and take carefully notes.

One more thing.. Be careful with those profiles particularly with the setting the highlights in the more common settings like CINE V, CINE D and so on. I have been informed by Panasonic veterans that it is best to underexpose the highlights and bring it up in post. Similar to what you will hear from Sony operators as you can crush the highlights in a compressed part of the gamma curve and not be able to get the nuance and shading back in post.

The prudent thing to do would be some test shooting under the conditions of your upcoming work to see how the gamma curve is applied in practical terms.