At BASE OF EXPERT TRAINING, we often ask ourselves the all-important question: “How does it actuallywork?”
This time, LED supervisor Johannes Grieb and I wanted to investigate how different camera technologies from a variety of manufacturers behave under LED light and in front of an LED wall.
As use cases of mixed equipment within productions are common, this topic is very relevant to our day-to-day practice.
Can different cameras be matched? Not just on white balance – that always works – but entirely. Are there certain camera combinations that provide a more inconspicuous match than others, especially under LED light and in front of an LED wall? 🔎
On purpose we disregarded resolution, moiré, OLP or depth of field for this experiment. Our chosen focus was on gamma and colour reproduction, based on a technically correct white balance, without a specific look.
Nine current camera models, with optical prism block or Bayer pattern, found their way to our Hamburg lab for our hands-on research:
➡️ ARRI Alexa 35 Live
➡️ Grass Valley LDX 110
➡️ Grass Valley LDX 150
➡️ Grass Valley LDX 180
➡️ Panasonic UCX-100
➡️ Panasonic PLC-100
➡️ Panasonic UE-160
➡️ Sony HDC-5500V
➡️ Sony HDC-F5500
As basis for our camera research, we chose an adaptation of Sony’s standard look on LED light. All cameras were then matched to the HDC 5500 series in terms of their characteristic, i.e. gamma curve and colour matrix, and thoroughly tested in comparison in front of an LED wall.
We learned a lot about the tools that different camera systems provide for colour matching. Not all manufacturers stick to a linear 3×3 matrix, for example. All knowledge gained will directly benefit our workshop seminars. Especially our newest one: “LED wall for broadcast and event”.
Many thanks to all manufacturers for their trust and invaluable support. Without it, such practical action would not be possible.
Marcus Diessner, Fujinon for the B4 and PL lenses.
Thomas Stoschek and Jannik Abelt, ARRI for the Alexa.
Kevin Hein, Grass Valley for the three LDX’s.
Justus Künanz, Panasonic for the two 100’s and the PTZ
Dirk Dern and Pieter Heijne, Sony for the two HDC’s
It was a huge playground full of top-notch camera technology. This is how investigating new technology is great fun! 🤩. Next year we’ll repeat the exercise in HDR/WCG 👻 .
And, yes, there actually are camera combinations that match more inconspicuously than others 🎈.
To be continued… Answers always lead to new questions 🚀 .
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