fs100 stock lens + rated iso + db gain =?

[Rob Katz]

fs100 stock lens + rated iso + db gain =?

i'm still very interested in the fs100.

if i bought the camera i would buy the stock lens and the fmu (especially with the present rebate).

with that in mind, i'm walking the dog in the woods (and yes, there are woods to walk in metro nyc!) in the early morning 720am light.

as i am walking, i'm thinking about the fs100 super 35mm sensor.

i pull out my iphone and open up my handy light meter app.

(i know it is not precise but it is pretty darn good)

i set the app's iso to 500.

i thought i read the fs100 is rated at 500 iso.

is that correct?

i take a reading.

i need to shoot at f1.6 and 1/20thsec.

no good.

i bump up iso to 800.

i am imagining that this is +6db on the fs100.

on the meter i am now at f3.5 and now 1/48.

f3.5 has me thinking of the fs100's stock lens.

now it's still pretty early and i'm in the woods.

i walk into a clearing and i'm at 1/60th/f3.5/800iso.

i look around and imagine a talking head interview with only a z96 for eyelight.

i am liking what i'm thinking.

does the above film "algebra" make sense?

i look forward to any and all thoughts.

be well

rob
smalltalk productions

[Shaun Roemich]

Meter on the iPhone is wrong unless you changed targets between your ISO500 and 800 tests. A jump from ISO 500 to 800 doesn't quite work out to a doubling of sensitivity but jumping from f1.6 at 1/20 to f3.5 at 1/48 is in the neighbourhood of an 8 fold increase.

I would have expected f1.6 at 1/48 TOPS at ISO800 if your first meter was accurate.

[Gabe Strong]

I will tell you this. You can bump the gain up WELL beyond 6db and still
be very clean on the FS 100. I had put together this video to show
someone on one of the boards, you may have already seen it:

Grady - YouTube

The internet isn't the best place to judge grain. But, I bumped the
gain up to 12 or 15 and it looked just great. 18db still looks clean.
At 21db, you may see just a little grain. Even at 30db, the grain
seems about what it would be at 9db on a video camera....just
really clean. You also should realize, that some of those shots
were NOT at 18mm so I wasn't shooting F3.5 on them all either,
some were at F4.5 or F5. If you keep the kit lens at the wide
end, I think you will be more than fine. Of course, that's
just my guess, but being in Alaska where it is dark quite a bit
of the day, I have had no problems yet.

[Shaun Roemich]

Further, I will verify that Gabe's assessment of gain and grain is pretty much on par with what we have noticed. 15dB is pretty darn clean!

[Rob Katz]

gabe/shaun-

thanks for sharing your thoughts.

i think it was gabe who said, "think about gain in a whole different way".

so, with all of this clean gain that offer me 1-3 full stops, can i bring less large tungsten lights to my indoor talking head interviews?

will i now not need a 1k in a softbox when a less powerful flou or led will work even with their rapid light fall off?

be well

rob
smalltalk productions

[Shaun Roemich]

I recently shot a series of oral histories for a new national museum using 2x1000LED lights for key and fill (backlight was a Lowel 250w Pro Light) and was shooting f4 at 0dB on the kit lens.

Looked great!

[Rob Katz]

shaun-

again, thanks for sharing.

i am thoroughly encouraged by your response.

my company, "smalltalk" does a lot of oral history here in nyc and on the east coast. i love it. it is what i have my BA in so i am hoping that the fs100 offers me the opportunity to bring smaller set-ups to various locations.

if i may ask:

what LED lights were you using?

where did you shoot: in studio, on a location, in folk's homes?

one-man band or crew?

thanks in advance.

be well

rob
smalltalk productions

[Gabe Strong]

Originally Posted by Rob Katz

gabe/shaun-

thanks for sharing your thoughts.

i think it was gabe who said, "think about gain in a whole different way".

so, with all of this clean gain that offer me 1-3 full stops, can i bring less large tungsten lights to my indoor talking head interviews?

will i now not need a 1k in a softbox when a less powerful flou or led will work even with their rapid light fall off?

be well

rob
smalltalk productions

Rob,

Ok, let me give a video example, as I think showing works better
than just telling. I got a job to go shoot some B-roll and
interviews with a Coast Guard crew who had completed a utterly
remarkable, life saving mission. Although it was only 90 miles
away, in Alaska there are no roads (except in Anchorage area)
so I had to go by jet. That meant packing gear up and
letting the airline touch my precious stuff....and they
have broke too much of it. So, I threw my FS-100 with
kit lens in my backpack, along with a lowel Prolight (250
I think). Also a little 32 inch reflecter folded up went
into the pack. In my tripod bag, I stuck a light stand
and my 'cheap' tripod. Carried it all on the jet so they
couldn't break any of my gear. Now as usual, it was
crazy.....running around, shooting B-roll, getting permission
to go out onto the field...trying to get permission to go out
on a search and rescue mission that was happening, being
denied permission, then given permission, suiting up in a
flight suit, then finding another Helo had just rescued the
people, and so on. When it got time to do the interviews, I
(as usual) had very little time to set up and do them.
On this job, I only had about 4 hours as I had to catch my
jet home, but it always seems when I do one of these that
I am ALWAYS rushed, as the work expands to fill the time
I have allotted. Anyways, I had a couple minutes tops
to set up interviews.....in a dark helicopter hanger
with one little light and a reflector. Here is a
quick little excerpt:


CG interview - YouTube

[Rob Katz]

gabe-

again, i'm going to embarrass you by thanking you for sharing your fs100 experiences.

your participation (and others) in these forum discussions have really been informative.

let me know when you are in nyc and i'll gladly buy the first round (coffee/tea/beer/other!)

as for the clip, great sound bite.

obviously, you were able to have these coast guarders comfortable enough to speak of their rescue efforts. nice work.

care to share any shoot details:

kit lens i know but how zoomed in?

guess the f/stop?

how much +db?

by the way, i have that same lowel pro and it's a workhorse!

i look forward to your responses.

be well

rob
smalltalk productions

[Gabe Strong]

Rob,

I shot 3 different interviews with a variety of focal lengths. I tried
some at 18mm, but shot some at 100mm just to see how it looked.
F stops were between F3.5 and F5. So the gain varied between 3db and
9db. I think that specific shot was at 40-50mm and F4.5. Gain around
6db.....maybe 9db. I had more 'clean gain' left if I would have had
to go up, because I even tried a shot at 200mm and was able to make it
work just fine, even though the Fstop went down to F6.3.