Daniel Meier

Great and informative thread! I would really appreciate looking into any moving picutes. Can you give us a trailer or excerpt of the film?

Just found an interesting article on the ASC Blog: https://ascmag.com/blog/shot-craft/diffusion-confusion

I want to dive more into narrative books again. I've always been a very audiovisual person, when it comes to perceiving and consuming storys. So I'd like to come back to the written storys, after heaving read so many non-fictional books about lighting, photography and cinematography. Can you give me some recommendations? I know it's rather subjective. But I thought, I'd meet some like-minded people, since we are all filmmakers and visual storytellers. Maybe I can give you a little help with my favourite films and directors, that I enjoy watching: - Kitano, Fincher, Tarantino, Danny Bolye, the Coen brothers, W. Allen, Gus van Sant, Luc Besson, Spike Jonze, - nearly all of the Studio Ghibli movies and some classic anime feature films like Ghost in the Shell, - Se7en, Lost in Translation and Good Will Hunting are some of my favourite films I can watch over and over again.

Thanks to all of you. That already helped alot.

You guys know any good websites where I can learn about diffusion materials and their distinguish looks and effects? After all I want to be able to distinguish between Frost, White Diffusion, Grid Cloth, Tough Spun and the like. Some best practices or examples of usage on real lighting setups would also be warmly welcomed. Or maybe even you guys can talk about your own experiences. Cheers, Daniel

Thanks Tyler and Vlad for sharing your knowledge. Here are two sample frames from a Prores BMPCC shot to illustrate my green-tint-issue. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8t78zdu3g6yhzl2/AADYjqNzZeLcfgnqP6aPaM9_a/Boz_BMDFilm_to_Rec709%20%282%29.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8t78zdu3g6yhzl2/AAAXq3Gsv0S8TKkkhG_PfV0pa/EOS-HD_SLOG_2_SGAMUT%20%282%29.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8t78zdu3g6yhzl2/AADbkFl7eQgOR9D8ie1jX9rQa/Boz_BMDFilm_to_Rec709%20%2812%29.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8t78zdu3g6yhzl2/AABwdT8-TPdr5mEvOje_JCgta/EOS-HD_SLOG_2_SGAMUT%20%2812%29.jpg?dl=0 I named the files according to the LUTs I've been applying to those shots. (No grading, just the LUTs being put on). As you can see the Boz BMD Film LUT has more green in the neutral parts of the image (mostly the mid-gray sections), whereas the EOSHD SLOG2 LUT results in a far more pleasing, neutral looking image. All of the usual BMPCC-REC709 LUTs give me that ugly green tint, just like the BOZBMDFilm LUT. This occurs in both situations, with and without any ND filtration. I even get better results with some heavier NDs (e.g. an ND 1.8), since it has a little magenta shift to it. I also did test the Hoya IR Cut filter, which gets hyped to death by every BMPCC user. I returned it after one day of testing, since I thought it was way overpriced for the effect it does. It fixes an issue that might just as well be removed in the grading process. I ordered the Rawlite OLPF yesterday, which also includes an IR Cut filter. But my main goal is to shoot RAW with less moiré. (Since RAW is way more prone to moirè than ProRes is on the Pocket).

Hey folks. This is an issue I've been running into several times before: I suspect, it is due to the lighting and its refresh rate. Unfortunately I didn't check out which source that was. Might have been some cheap CFLs or LEDs. The image itself didn't have that standard flickering (where the exposure goes up and down from one frame to the next). It just had this weird double outline on things moving. You can see it best when looking at the motion blurred parts of the images.

Interesting thread. I'm also a BMPCC owner, but didn't quite yet figure out exposing the camera with iso settings other than ISO 800. I tested all ISO settings from 200 to 1600 in RAW mode. I realized that at 1600 there was a bit more highlight detail (about 0,5 to 1 stop). Of course there was also more noise and the danger of seeing fixed pattern noise in certain situations. ISO 200 and 400 were really gross looking in terms of highlight detail. My theory (also read it on BMCuser) is, that in RAW mode the camera always peforms at its native ISO 800. So if you change your ISO to 200, you now feed the sensor with 2 stops more exposure through the lens. But since the camera is still set at 800 you overexpose the image and lose highlight detail. I guess it's something like Pulling and Pushing with film. Just in a crappy digital way. So changing to 200 will do the same as putting a -2 EV LUT on the display. Similar to Sony Slog2 LUTs, where you deliberately want to overwxpose the image. Here are some questions that still leave me being confused about the BMPCC: 1. The Camera is said to have 13 stops of DR. In which shooting mode does that apply (RAW and/or ProRes). At which Iso setting? 2. Since my test with different ISO settings I'm quite in doubt, that the above mentioned gray tone mapping also applies to the BMPCC. Lower ISO were definitely not giving me more shadow detail. Just less noise 3. So far I haven't seen anyone complaining about thr green tint the camera has. It can't be fixed with simple Tint slider controls. It only affects some parts of the image (especially the midtones) in some lighting conditions (mostly sun and overcast daylight). I found the Slog2 Lut for Sony's A7s2 applied to Prores BMD footage giving me thr most neutral looking colors. No one adresses this issue and no one uses this Lut. Maybe you guys can share some knowledge / experience. Would appreciate it.

Jacobs Ladder stills where taken straight from the Blu-Ray. Prisoners was screengrabbed of of Amazon Prime Video Player.

Thanks Brian. M theory with this was that maybe the white levels were taken down a bit, since the audience would have a more comfortable viewing experience (they wouldn't get blinded by highlights as much).

Hey Folks, I've been experiencing this for a few times now. On some feature films the white levels seem to bee pulled down a bit. They look very muted due to this. Here are some examples from the movies 'Prisoners' (2013) and 'Jacobs Ladder' (1990): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3ij761e9fxhwydd/AABVaH4o325Ct6wQZzAofGsTa?dl=0 While looking at the frames of 'Prisoners', you can clearly see, that even the brightest, blown-out highlights (muzzle flash, windows, etc.) aren't at 100 IRE. They fall at 80-90% most of the times. Whereas on the other hand 'Jacobs Ladder' (1990) has got its white levels at proper 100%. Is there a technical or artistic reasong behind this? And during wich production state is this happening? Whilst shooting, in the DI, during DCP export?

I guess some of you guys have done this mistake before. It's that shameful feeling you that get, when you realize you had been recording in between two takes. I wonder if there is a cinematic term for this mishap?

Since I'm not able to edit the opener post, here are the fixed links: - Sigma 50-500mm (http://www.lenstip.com/244.1-Lens_review-Sigma_50-500_mm_f_4.5-6.3_APO_DG_OS_HSM.html) - Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary Version (http://www.lenstip.com/434.1-Lens_review-Sigma_C_150-600_mm_f_5-6.3_DG_OS_HSM_Introduction.html) - Sigma 150-600mm Sports Version (http://www.lenstip.com/417.1-Lens_review-Sigma_S_150-600_mm_f_5-6.3_DG_OS_HSM_Introduction.html) - Tamron 150-600mm (http://www.lenstip.com/403.1-Lens_review-Tamron_SP_150-600_mm_f_5-6.3_Di_VC_USD.html) - Tamron 150-600mm G2 (https://www.amazon.com/Tamron-150-600mm-5-6-3-Canon-Digital/dp/B01LNSAYJ4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1496265333&sr=8-4&keywords=tamron+g2+canon)

Hey Guys! I'm looking for a good telephoto lens with a zoom range of about 100 - 600mm (more or less). EF Mount. I want to use the lens on a Sony E-Mount and Bmpcc Camera via Speedbooster. The following lenses have caught my eye, since they seem to have a good zoom range and optical stabilization, plus they are not too pricy: - Sigma 50-500mm (http://www.lenstip.com/244.1-Lens_re...DG_OS_HSM.html) - Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary Version (http://www.lenstip.com/434.1-Lens_re...roduction.html) - Sigma 150-600mm Sports Version (http://www.lenstip.com/417.1-Lens_re...roduction.html) - Tamron 150-600mm (http://www.lenstip.com/403.1-Lens_re...Di_VC_USD.html) - Tamron 150-600mm G2 (https://www.amazon.com/Tamron-150-60...amron+g2+canon) My favourite one seems to be the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary. But I heard that the focus ring is a bit tiny and akward to use. So I'd rather go for the Sports version. But since I haven't found that many videos on the web about it's cinematography capabilities, I wanted to get some information first hand. Do you guys have experience with any of the listed lenses? Any recommendations or advice? (Considering image stabilization, f-drop during zooms, focus behaviour...) Thanks, Daniel

I was just wondering how to darken those chinese paper lanterns to control the light output. Which is the best suited paint for that matter? Also was looking for a way to paint my white polystyrene panels black on one side to use them as neg. fill. Any suggestions?