Is the F3 for me?

[Brian Lai]

Charles I totally agree with you with the consumer monitor approach. I do the same in Hong Kong and manage to get the 17" pro panasonics 90% close to the client's large Samsung consumer units, explaining that final colors can only be judged in front of the Da Vinci, or Lightworks, connected to $$$ monitors. We shoot TV ads and realize everybody's flatscreen at home are adjusted differently compare with our $$$ monitors. So WTF? Bottom line is we hope what the audiences see at home is a close balance to what we spend hours refining in post.

Brian

[Steve Kalle]

Something I like to do is use a LUT burned into the S-Log recording which reduces the amount of grading in post. I also can happily record internally to the SxS with the LUT because the image isn't as flat; so, I have a lesser chance of banding issues in post. However, for maximum latitude, you can't beat recording to Pro Res or DNxHD such as the PIX240. I'd imagine that some networks would welcome DNxHD masters.

However, for broadcast clients, I don't see S-Log creating any extra demand for you - the F3, most likely.

For rental prices, the best I have seen is $1200 for 4 days for the F3 + 3 lenses (lensrentals.com including shipping).

[Alister Chapman]

Steve, you'd be better off setting up a PP to get the look you want rather than using a LUT that way as your now applying two layers of gamma/gain to your footage before recording it, so you'll have more noise than you would wit a straight PP. You won't get any more DR than you would with a regular Cinegamma or even REC-709 as this is what the S-Log gets mapped back to.