Does the PXW-Z150 has an ISO display option (instead of gain)? A friend of mine has this camera and wants to use his hand held meter with the camera, but can't find a way to set the camera to display ISO settings. I downloaded the manual and see no mention of an ISO display setting.

No, thankfully the Z150 designers did not give in to the silly ISO fad. ISO has no business on a video camera and just leads to confusion and incorrect exposure. And even on those cameras that do show an ISO, the number is almost never correct. Another complication is that the ISO value would fluctuate from gamma to gamma anyway, so the first step is to setup the camera with a specific Picture Profile -- and then rate it himself. Only then will he be able to determine the camera's true ISO number for that particular configuration. You should advise your friend to set his meter aside and use zebras instead. Everything he needs is bult right into the camera and far more accurate and faster than using a light meter. He should take that as good news - faster, easier, and more accurate. Put the meter down and step away.

Along with ISO, they need to keep a 1/50 shutter selection OFF of the 60p codecs! They added that into one of the X70 firmware updates and now I have to jog through 1/50 to try and hit 1/30...SONY!!!!

Paul

Both Paul and Doug discussing geeky camera stuff in the same thread? This is my happy place.

Andrew

Thanks for taking time to reply, Doug.

I agree that rating a camera is crucial to understanding its sensor's sensitivity, and that the ISO response can vary with different gammas used. Such is the case with my SONY FS5 picture profiles.

This is the first time I have heard anyone advise against using a light meter. Many cinematographers swear by their light meter as a great tool for lighting and calculating ratios, and I see them used on set all the time.

No, thankfully the Z150 designers did not give in to the silly ISO fad. ISO has no business on a video camera and just leads to confusion and incorrect exposure. And even on those cameras that do show an ISO, the number is almost never correct. Another complication is that the ISO value would fluctuate from gamma to gamma anyway, so the first step is to setup the camera with a specific Picture Profile -- and then rate it himself. Only then will he be able to determine the camera's true ISO number for that particular configuration. You should advise your friend to set his meter aside and use zebras instead. Everything he needs is bult right into the camera and far more accurate and faster than using a light meter. He should take that as good news - faster, easier, and more accurate. Put the meter down and step away.

The 1" sensor in these cameras doesn't have enough dynamic range to sue a light meter. Light meters come from the film days, where latitude was several stops in either direction from proper exposure. How many 6db gain steps up or down do you think you can get away with on the Z150 and still have usable highlights or shadows, even in 10 bit?

Paul

Dave,

Let me clairfy. There is nothing wrong with using a light meter to set exposure with any camera that allows full manual exposure control. And that certainly includes the Z150. However, the operator absolutely must rate the camera themselves after they have painted the camera, and not rely on the bogus ISO numbers that might be displayed onboard the camera. In other words, if someone knows the true sensitivity of the camera, a light meter is perfectly fine. But the flip side is that it is also harder to use, takes more, time, and is more prone to causing an exposure mistake than using zebras. On the other hand, zebras are built into the camera and are fool proof for an experienced operator.

Could you you write a best-selling novel with a pencil or a typewriter if you wanted to? Yes. But most authors would choose a word processor today. We've got better technology in our cameras than light meters offer. Film is dead and we are all using electronic cameras now that offer tools not available to cinematographers 50 years ago.

Thanks, Doug. I learned a lot about my FS5 from renting your video series on that camera, so I appreciate your insight. I have favored using gain for a long time, as it simplifies the process when switching between various gammas on the FS5. I often run into multi-camera shoots where someone insists we match ISO settings on different cameras. I have explained that it isn't an accurate way to match cameras, but that usually falls on deaf ears.

cheers,
Dave

It sure does!

Not sure I'm clear on your reply, but setting different cameras to the same ISO has NOT been a reliable match in my experience.

I don't think 35mm film and ISO was developed with gamma and knee in mind.

Paul

What difference does gamma and keen make? None. Either f/2.8 or f/4 or whatever, is the right exposure or it is not. And a light meter can tell you whether the exposure is correct or not if you know the sensitivy of the camera. How the camera treats certain tones within the image is entirely irrelevant to the overall exposure. A spot meter may even help with getting contrast ratios within certain tolerances, but that is not the same as setting the exposure. If you don't think a light meter can be used today, I think you should drop in at the ASC clubhouse in Hollywood and do a demonstration that shows all the top cinematographers why they are wrong.

If someone can't use a light meter to set exposure with modern video/cinema camera then they don't know how to use a light meter. A light meter is just as useful as it was 100 year ago, but what has changed is that we have even better tools today. A typewriter works every bit as good today as it did in 1950, but there's no reason to use one anymore because we have better tools at our disposal in 2018.

I just meant that you can set an "ISO" and exposure in a Z90, change the PP, and you will see dramatic shifts in observable "apparent" exposure. I am still a bit baffled why anyone would want to even attempt to use a light meter set gain/ISO on a video camera...I mean, they invented viewfinders a few years ago if I remember correctly. :)

Paul

And lest we forget, the light meter that tells us what we're actually getting is also called the Waveform Monitor.
For a laugh, talk to someone at RED about the fact that they seem to have recently changed the 'meaning' of their ISO rating -- the same ISO setting on a current camera might produce a full stop brighter image than the same numeric ISO setting would have provided a couple of years back.

Exactly! They're all bogus numbers unless you take the time to rate the camera yourself for the exact paint (or LOG) settings you will be shooting with.