Picture of low contrast preset
 

Currently I'm playing with a preset that is very low in contrast. I like this look for filmmaking, as to me it resembles "the film look" more than the hyper contrasty, super saturated look that I used to think was "it".

I'm trying to get maximum information in both highlights and shadows.

This preset consists of:

Knees Low
Blacks Stretched
Master Pedestal at +9
Cinematic Gamma 2
Cinematic Color Matrix 2


http://www.hall-e-woode.com/pictures/barnabas01.jpg

Still playing with it, don't think I've arrived yet. Any thoughts?

I think it's a pretty good idea to take this approach if you want dynamic latitude at acquisition (and some options in post). Although I think the XH/XL stock settings are pretty flat and low-contrast to start with.

Have you A/B'd this shot with different presets, including the default settings? That's what I would do and compare what happens with the highlights especially, and how they fall off.