Matching Z1 and XL1s

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Hi,

I didn't know for sure to post it in the XL1s or Z1 board, so I did it in here...

How easy is it matching a Canon XL1s and a Sony Z1 if both are shooting in 4/3?
Is it reasonable to shoot letterboxed Z1 with the Sony and shoot fake 16/9 with the XL1s, or will that give me troubles bringing both footage in at Premiere Pro afterwards?

I can apply postproduction color correction, but I want to get an idea to how much work that will take...

Thanks,

[Ervin Farkas]

I will respond to the color matching part: it's not easy. The two manufacturers use different implementation of color - of course you start with white balancing, so white will be white on both cameras, but that's about it. You certainly can do color grading in post, but it will have to be scene by scene and if this is a project where you need perfect color matching, it will be not incredibly time consuming but virtually impossible.

One trick I tried to attenuate the difference - if that is possible in your situation: I used one camera exclusively for wide shots, and the other one for close shots - this way the difference was less visible as we percieve color one way when looked at from close and another way when looked at it from a distance. You can also try playing with the different presets/profiles and that will bring them closer.

Of course all of this is totally subjective, what worked for me may not be acceptable for you so do some tests before!

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Hi Ervin,

you're right, one would be used for close-ups and one for total shots.

But chances are big I maybe will be able to get a XL2 as second camera, so those won't be big of a problem matching.
Thank you for the advice!

[Waldemar Winkler]

Originally Posted by Ervin Farkas

... You certainly can do color grading in post, but it will have to be scene by scene and if this is a project where you need perfect color matching, it will be not incredibly time consuming but virtually impossible. ... I used one camera exclusively for wide shots, and the other one for close shots - this way the difference was less visible ...

I concur. For a couple of years I had to use SONY and Canon cameras on the same event. Using the SONY as a wide angle camera and allowing the two Canons for mid and CU's certainly reduced the apparent color differences, but every clip had to be color balanced throughout the entire project. Now, even with three Canon Cameras (two different models) color has to be carefully monitored.