Hi all

My first post :-)

I have owned a XF100 for a couple of weeks- I have to say, out of the box I am not too impressed with the flat images. But, I know this camcorder IS capable of more and would like to get the most out of it with custom picture presets- something that I simply cannot get my head around as there are various CP's.

I will be shooting mainly Asian weddings (colourful)/outdoors & guaranteed to face low light conditions. I must admit I have no clue about CP's and do not know where to start. I would be grateful if someone can point me in the right direction.

Many thanks

Shaf

I love the flat image it gives me so much to work with in post.

Shaf, chk out the canon profiles listed on vimeo's xf channel. It has downloadable profiles. No reason to be unhappy with daylight video on this cmera. Low light might be disappointing though.
https://vimeo.com/groups/canonxf/forum

The Alan Roberts 'BBC' recommendations work well for me. I use the Film settings & the video matches well with my 5D2/5D3 DSLRs using Faithful picture profile. http://thebrownings.name/WHP034/pdf/WHP034-ADD65_Canon_XF100-105.pdf

As a traditional camcorder the low light performance is OK & far better than I used to get with my HDV XHA1. It is only in comparison with the performance of the DSLRs that it seems not so good.

Hello Shaf

I have an XF105 that I purchased at the end of last year. It also produced dissappointing results until I downloaded CP files from Brian Weed. Use His HiGain CP file but make sure that Coring is up to 25.
I do a lot of Indian weddings and functions and the XF105 was very grainy at first until i used Brian's CP file.
I will upload a modified CP file from Brian tomorrow that works very well for me.

Regards
Afzal

Unless you're going to shoot very flat and do lots of adjustment in post, I really recommend learning the basics of customizing the CP files so you can get your preferred look.

I like a very sharp, contrasty, vivid look in-camera with:
Cine1 Gamma, lowered Black Gamma and Black Master Pedestal, raised Sharpness Level, 0 (or lower) Sharpness Coring, and really high Color Matrix Select, but...

...I only use that setting when I can keep gain at +6 db or lower. If I'm having to rely on +9 to +15db of gain, the settings files you've been pointed to here are pretty good.

For High Gain use, the settings files usually use one of the Normal Gammas, 0 or slightly lower Black Gamma and Master Ped, 0 or minus Sharpness Levels, and high (+4 to +10) Coring. This all reduces sharpness but masks noise. You can dial up the saturation a bit (Color Matrix Level) but don't overdo it.

If you're happy with the online files, great! But feel free to adjust them to suit your needs.

After posting I saw Afzal's post - that's exactly what I recommend. Take that HiGain CP file and adjust it to your needs - like Afzal obviously has. I must say, +25 Coring is way softer than I've ever used, but it may work beautifully for your situation.

CP file LO_NOIS2 has been modded to remove noise in low light situations.
This has worked great for me. I have attached a copy of the files from my SD card.

As David has mentioned, feel free to mod the settings as needed.

We really need to have the CP files hosted here so that they're directly downloadable straight from our forum. Not just the files as post attachments, but detailed settings as well. If somebody is willing to do that, I think I can make it worth their time. Contact me by email, chris at dvinfo dot net.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the through responses, VERY helpful. I am currently testing Brian's CP's. I also like the look of the BBC CP- nice and sharp. I have also downloaded J.Cine12 preset off movieingmemories.com- im yet to test this.

And one more thing- after loading and selecting a CP, do
I still need to be messing around with the gain button or is the gain incorporated in the presets?

CP file LO_NOIS2 has been modded to remove noise in low light situations.
This has worked great for me. I have attached a copy of the files from my SD card.

As David has mentioned, feel free to mod the settings as needed.

Hi Afzal, where can I find the mentioned file?

Hi guys,

Thanks for the through responses, VERY helpful. I am currently testing Brian's CP's. I also like the look of the BBC CP- nice and sharp. I have also downloaded J.Cine12 preset off movieingmemories.com- im yet to test this.

And one more thing- after loading and selecting a CP, do
I still need to be messing around with the gain button or is the gain incorporated in the presets?

The CP files include Color Gain, or saturation, but most of the posts in this thread are referring to exposure Gain, which is not in the CP files. I start looking at exposure settings and f stops to see how much Gain I'm going to have to use. If I'm going to have to go over about +6 or +9 on the Gain, then I switch to a different CP file (one that will minimize the Gain).

Hmm the CP's by Alan Roberts are not that easy to translate on the PDF...so many numbers :)

There are downloadable CP files that include the BBC Cine1 settings and the BBC Normal3 settings. They I think were posted on the vimeo group. If you can't find the download, I have them and could email them to you.

I have to confess, I don't know if I can attach them or upload them here for posting. They are file type .cpf.

Hi Shaf

Sorry for the delayed response.
I am having a bit of trouble uploading the files to this forum.

If you still require the files, I can mail them to you.