FS7 Low Light Test at DVinfo.net

Mark Watson · February 15th, 2016, 10:39 AM

I did some low light testing, just to get an idea of what I can expect from this camera. Not an exhaustive test, but told me what I wanted to know for now. When I reviewed the footage of the FDR-AX100, I thought I messed up the focus, it seemed soft. Went back and re-shot it, but the focus turned out to be fine. Just noise apparently. The test shows just how nice the lens on the XF305 is. The test against the Canon 6D shows the 6D to have nice low light capability, but pitted against the FS7, the footage looks more contrasty, which I think is due to the FS7 having better dynamic range.

Mark

Tom Van den Berghe · February 15th, 2016, 12:35 PM

nice test Mark. The FS7 has the cleanest low noise picture to me. The canon 6D picture is too contrasty.

Piotr Wozniacki · February 16th, 2016, 06:24 AM

Thanks Mark!

Mark Watson · February 16th, 2016, 04:37 PM

Thanks guys. If there's some particular testing scenario you'd like to see, let me know, I might be able to oblige. I have the standard Metabones adapter (Mk IV), as well as the Speed Booster.

I am trying to get my low light tests to provide more useful information to people. Thinking about how to make the results easier to interpret. Something I forgot to include was to make note in the video at which point the scene appears to match what I'm seeing with my naked eyeballs. I made the comment in my microphone during each testing phase but just didn't include the info in the actual video. I also considered adding the Media Info data for each camera file, just to provide info such as color space, bit rate, etc.

I tested my Canon 24-105mm f/4, 28-135mm and 50mm f/1.4 on the FS7, 6D and 7D as well. But didn't see much more value by including all those other lenses and both Metabones adapter combinations. Also did some HFR tests between the AX100 and FS7.

Somebody recommended that a light meter reading be taken for my testing, so I got the Sekonic Litemaster Pro L-478DR Light Meter and was able to give the foot candle value. Other thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

Something I found odd was when I did a white balance, with a white card, the cameras gave wildly different Kelvin values; 4300 on one and 6000 on another camera. Maybe that's normal, I don't white balance too often.

Mark

John Mitchell · February 28th, 2016, 08:19 PM

Thanks Mark nice test. The only thing I'd suggest is putting the FS7 in ISO mode when comparing with a camera like the 6D so you have ISO versus ISO rather than Gain versus ISO.

You would think they should look similar at similar ISO's although the 6D was obviously noisier.

February 15th, 2016, 10:39 AM	#1
Mark Watson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Whidbey Island Posts: 873	FS7 Low Light Test I did some low light testing, just to get an idea of what I can expect from this camera. Not an exhaustive test, but told me what I wanted to know for now. When I reviewed the footage of the FDR-AX100, I thought I messed up the focus, it seemed soft. Went back and re-shot it, but the focus turned out to be fine. Just noise apparently. The test shows just how nice the lens on the XF305 is. The test against the Canon 6D shows the 6D to have nice low light capability, but pitted against the FS7, the footage looks more contrasty, which I think is due to the FS7 having better dynamic range. FS7 LOW LIGHT TEST on Vimeo Mark

February 15th, 2016, 12:35 PM	#2
Tom Van den Berghe Major Player Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: BELGIUM Posts: 395	Re: FS7 Low Light Test nice test Mark. The FS7 has the cleanest low noise picture to me. The canon 6D picture is too contrasty.

February 16th, 2016, 06:24 AM	#3
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	Re: FS7 Low Light Test Thanks Mark! __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive

February 16th, 2016, 04:37 PM	#4
Mark Watson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Whidbey Island Posts: 873	Re: FS7 Low Light Test Thanks guys. If there's some particular testing scenario you'd like to see, let me know, I might be able to oblige. I have the standard Metabones adapter (Mk IV), as well as the Speed Booster. I am trying to get my low light tests to provide more useful information to people. Thinking about how to make the results easier to interpret. Something I forgot to include was to make note in the video at which point the scene appears to match what I'm seeing with my naked eyeballs. I made the comment in my microphone during each testing phase but just didn't include the info in the actual video. I also considered adding the Media Info data for each camera file, just to provide info such as color space, bit rate, etc. I tested my Canon 24-105mm f/4, 28-135mm and 50mm f/1.4 on the FS7, 6D and 7D as well. But didn't see much more value by including all those other lenses and both Metabones adapter combinations. Also did some HFR tests between the AX100 and FS7. Somebody recommended that a light meter reading be taken for my testing, so I got the Sekonic Litemaster Pro L-478DR Light Meter and was able to give the foot candle value. Other thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Something I found odd was when I did a white balance, with a white card, the cameras gave wildly different Kelvin values; 4300 on one and 6000 on another camera. Maybe that's normal, I don't white balance too often. Mark

February 28th, 2016, 08:19 PM	#5
John Mitchell Contributor Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 873	Re: FS7 Low Light Test Thanks Mark nice test. The only thing I'd suggest is putting the FS7 in ISO mode when comparing with a camera like the 6D so you have ISO versus ISO rather than Gain versus ISO. You would think they should look similar at similar ISO's although the 6D was obviously noisier.