white balance card vs screen vs cc filters & noise... and throw in ir/uv for good measure.

[steve waschka]

I looked for a thread that goes over this but i didnt see one.

 

So we tune our video cameras to get the look we want. I used to use paint chips. Ive been using the Kamermann app for just under a year which allows me to tune my iphone 4 screen then i pull the lens place the phone against the lock ring and hit the wb switch. granted you need a presaved screen for lenses and conditions but ive done that. And i can tune it for a range of outputs i think it will get viewed upon. And i get some pretty cool looks. BUT and this is a big one. A bit back I was running some footage through my processor and i saw shadow noise. "WT#!" "how longs that been there?" turns out the answer is since is since i started using the app. So im pushing the amps in the camera too much i guess. So i need to do a true white balance and use cc filters?

 

And if im gonna buy new ones of those to fit my mattes, Im gonna do the dark clothing test and see if i need an ir cut while im at it.

 

I dont really like these ideas. Stupid matte boxes are heavy enough already.

 

Whats your guys experience?

[steve waschka]

black clothing test: ir pollution not present.

[David Mullen ASC]

Is this a single-sensor camera or a 3 CCD camera? Some of the 3 CCD cameras w/ prism blocks are filtered in such a way to make 3200K the "native" balance rather than near daylight, which is what sensors generally prefer.

 

Anyway, a minor push of individual RGB gains to create color effects or to get a white balance shouldn't cause much noise except at high ISO ratings, but if you plan on bigger color effects away from the native color balance of the camera it would be better to use camera filters if you want to minimize noise.

 

Or your camera may need to be black balanced more often...

[steve waschka]

Thanks David. Yeah its a 3ccd and its a Sony. Its 3200. I spent some time with the crispening, aperture and level dependence and reduced the noise quite a bit in some static shots. Im going to shoot some field tests and see how it looks in practice. I think its ok where im at now. Course I thought that before I became "aware".

 

I used to black balance every use. Then I read a sony doc that said the internal battery has to drain to loose that data. But I prob do black balance every 10 shoots. It seems to fluctuate with settings and im not sure if even the service manuals explain all the interdependencies in those systems.

Edited November 1, 2013 by steve waschka