matching Z280 and FX6

[Tom Van den Berghe]

Yes, finally found and bought a second hand pxw-z280 with low hours (48) in perfect condition for a great price.

I shoot mostly stage shows and want to use the Z280 for the close ups and my FX6 for the wide shots.

On the fx6 I selected : shooting mode custom, SDR mode and from the base look ITU709 (you have here also s-cinetone, standard and still)

on the Z280 I selected: SDR, gamma setting on, category STD 5 (R709)

Both were on WB5600K for this test.

I have no idea i selected the best matching color profile on both.
They didn't matched perfectly. The red is not matching good. more orange on the fx6. I did color matched them in post and this was the best result I got.

So any tips on this for a better match?

[Doug Jensen]

I think that is a pretty close match. Well done.

I shot a 3-camera pro bono stage performance earlier this year with my Z750, Z280, and FX6 and was also able to get a pretty close match using similar settings to yours. The fine-tune in post.

[Christopher Young]

Originally Posted by Tom Van den Berghe

They didn't matched perfectly. The red is not matching good. more orange on the fx6. I did color matched them in post and this was the best result I got.

So any tips on this for a better match?

I have a suggestion which helps me out when mixing the Sony single chip S35 and FF cameras with the Sony three chippers. The Z280 tends to push a little to magenta compared to the FX6. But then most of the previous PMW series did as well. Of which the Z280 is a descendant of.

As a starter, go into the paint menu of the Z280 and look for the matrix menu and in there you will find a "phase" adjustment. If you want the reds on the Z280 to come closer to the reds on the FX6 adjust the Z280's phase to around -9. You will see the Z280s reds slowly move more towards the slightly orange reds of the FX6. Play around with that phase adjustment to get as close as you can. Ideally, it's best to do this on a switcher while using a vector scope, so that you can wipe between the two cameras on a monitor to see the adjustment. Failing this, shoot a number of clips at say -5, -6, -7, -8, -9 etc. up to maybe -12 and then compare them in your edit software to see which one comes closest to the FX6 reds.

Conversely, if you want the FX6 to come closer to the FX9 adjust the phase on the FX6 in the + direction. IMHO the reds on the FX6 are more accurate, so in the past I've always adjusted the three chippers to match the FS7, FX6 and FX9 cameras.

Chris Young

[Tom Van den Berghe]

When I have more time I will try your tip Chris with the phase adjustment.

Yesterday I filmed outside with pxw-z280 a performance.

Shot this in UHD 25P. Shutter 1/50, variable nd, aperture manual at F1.9 and auto gain. The gain was mostly at zero db. Only at the end it went to 3db when it become darker outside.

But looking at the footage it is not that sharp. Autofocus was not always good (I used peaking) and everything was in red I thought.

-> SDR, gamma setting on, category STD 5 (R709)

[Doug Jensen]

Well, there are a number of things that could be going on. Here are some random thoughts, take them for whatever they are worth.

First, your paint menu settings for detail and aperture might be too low. All of my custom Scene Files have higher detail settings and different aperture values than the default settings. HD and 4K both have separate detail settings in the menus, which is great.

Colored peaking is inferior and less precise. You should be using Normal peaking if you really want to ensure sharp focus. Colored peaking is a prosumer camera feature and should never be used on a pro camera that offers Normal peaking.

AF on the Z280 is only reliable when you're using the Face Detect mode. Were there focus boxes around those two faces? If so, which one was the camera actually using for focus? Only one face can truly be in focus at any given time unless both faces are exactly the same distance from the camera. In this shot it looks like the man should have had priority over the woman. Did it?

If no Face Detect boxes were shown, then you're not using the right settings. AF on the Z280 can only be trusted for human faces. But in my experience, in that mode, it is infallible with the right menu settings. Almost Perfect.

Try stopping down to f/2.8 or even f/4. You don't need the shallowest DoF in a situation like this. You bought a used camera, right? Maybe then lens is not performing perfectly anymore. Stop down a little and see if it sharpens up.

I'd never use Auto ISO under any circumstances, but it probably has nothing to do with your sharpness problem. It seems odd that you're using variable ND and then allowing the camera to raise the ISO. Seems contradictory to have two settings fighting each other. If you want better results, exposure should be on full manual 100% of the time.

STD5 isn't appropriate for outdoor uncontrolled lighting. You should be using one of the HyperGammas.

When was the last time you adjusted the back focus?

3 Ways to Maximize Performance of the Sony PXW-Z280 on Vimeo

[Tom Van den Berghe]

hey Doug,

Thx again for your time to answer my question. Yes, It was a second hand one with only +/- 45 hours on it.
I did not set up the back focus so far.

I didn't know about the normal peaking. I used it today for my test. It gives you a white color if I did it correct. To me the colored peaking are easier to see.

Yes I used the face detection prority mode.Mostly there was a box with a orange line underneath it and the other box was grey or white. Not sure about that color. I can't remember the man had priority over the woman.

I guess the STD5 was not a good idea to use outside. I didn't know about that.

I made a short video about my back focus test, sharpness test and the face detection.

sony pxw-z280 back focus test - YouTube

When zooming out for the back focus test my subject was not more in focus. Yes, I followed your tutorial and it was F2.8 and full manual focus.

So i wanna fix this back focus issue but I have no official chart. In your video you say: anything with high contrast and lots of detail will work. But I have no clue what that could be?

[W. Bill Magac]

Google images for back focus chart and you will find numerous examples you can download and print. Here is an example: https://www.mediacollege.com/video/c...ack-focus.html

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Tom Van den Berghe

I didn't know about the normal peaking. I used it today for my test. It gives you a white color if I did it correct. To me the colored peaking are easier to see.

That's what everyone says when they first see Normal Peaking (also called edge enhance peaking). Dial down the settings so you can barely seem them. It takes a trained eye to get use to it but you will never accept colored peaking once you get used to it. Some of the higher-end Sony ENG cameras do not even offer colored peaking because no experienced operator would ever use it. Trust me, disregard your initial reaction and use normla peaking until you get used to it. Nobody in any workshop I have ever taught ever wanted to go back to colored peaking.

Originally Posted by Tom Van den Berghe

I made a short video about my back focus test, sharpness test and the face detection.

In the test with the metal bird the back focus is way out of whack and needs immediate attention.

Originally Posted by Tom Van den Berghe

I guess the STD5 was not a good idea to use outside. I didn't know about that.

STD 5 is a 1990's era gamma with horrible dynamic range and easy clipping outdoors. In those olden days of STD5 Knee was used to try to bring it under control, but even then it still looked awful. When people say something has a "video" look, one of the main culprits is a bad gamma. The various HG gammas are a far better option on modern cameras.

Originally Posted by Tom Van den Berghe

So i wanna fix this back focus issue but I have no official chart. In your video you say: anything with high contrast and lots of detail will work. But I have no clue what that could be?

It literally could be any flat surface with lines and strong contrast. The bigger the better.
A small chart like Bill recommends might work, but I'd rather use a brick wall or a big poster on a wall or something like that instead of an "official" printed back focus chart that is only 8x11. Bigger is better. If it doesn't work the first time you can always try again with something else. You could also take the chart Bill linked to and display it on a big TV to make it many times larger. Done that before and it worked great.

[Tom Van den Berghe]

thx for the help Bill and Doug!

Today I adjusted the back focus when displaying a focus chart on my tv.
I think it worked! Watching it on my tv it seems to stay all the time in focus.

So manually focused on the metal bird again.

back focus chart test - YouTube

This test was now with a hypergamma (HG2). Now I have to match a hypergamma with my FX6 for multicam.

[Tom Van den Berghe]

difficult to match the hypergamma (HG2) with the FX6. the FX6 has 4 profiles. still, s-cinetone, ITU709 and standard.

In my test I could not decide which was closest to the Z280 hypergamma.

Any thoughts on this? Next weekend i have to shoot a stage show and want to use these 2.

[Tom Van den Berghe]

I found this video:

Changing the FX6 Base Look using a LUT - YouTube

Still testing right now

[Tom Van den Berghe]

after color match I got these results. still not perfect but close I think. It seems that the FX6 has a warmer color at the same 3200K white balance. So lowering to for example 3000K brings it more closely I think. (judging on the lcd monitor of camera)
Can this be true?

But the biggest problem I had with filming was the shutter speed! I think this more a general question.

I set my shutter on the Z280 on 1/50 because I film 25P. auto iso was mostly 0db gain but the diafragma went up to F8 sometimes! So I switched the shutter speed to 1/100. It reduced to F2.8 - F4 mosty.

When shutter was on 1/120 or 1/60 I got horizontal lines in the footage -> see example

I was affraid for loss in sharpness with F8 or higher. When I set the shutter on auto it sometimes dropped to 1/25 and I don't want that for motion blur.

So how do you guys do this? In the past I always filmed 50P and I think in that case the auto shutter won't go below 1/50. Not sure about this but I takes lots of space on my hard drive.

[Doug Jensen]

I would never use auto shutter on any video camera in any circumstances.
And if you live in a 50 Hz part of the world, you want to stick to shutter speeds that are multiples of 25. 1/60 and 1/120 are for 60 Hz area -- thus the horizontal lines you experienced.

[Tom Van den Berghe]

thx for the answer Doug! Can you also answer my other questions?

[Doug Jensen]

I'm not sure what you are wondering about specifically. Ask again.

BTW, you can never match color on cameras by dialing-in the same color temperature number The numbers are virtually meaningless. You need to manually WB both camera on the same white target at the same time and location. For example, when I'm shooting a multi-cam stage events I have the facility give me "show" lighting and then I bring each camera to the stage and white balance them one at at time on the same white card. Even then there will be differences between different models/brands of cameras, but it gets them very close and usually a little adjustment in post is enough to get a pretty good match.