How to increase the Canon 7D dynamic range
Posted on November 23, 2009 in Cinematography | 3 Comments
Tutorial on how to use picture styles to increase the dynamic range of the Canon 7D / 5DMkII.
Custom picture styles are an amazing feature that almost compensate for the lack of a raw codec for video capture on the Canon DSLRs. The default picture styles on the camera are geared towards producing nice results out of the box but are not very good if you intend to do color correction and grading in post processing. This tutorial shows how to use custom picture styles that produce very flat, high dynamic range footage (similar to real film cameras).
VIA: Luka
The actual picture styles have been made by other people, and here are some references:
Super Flat, Genesis Panalog and Velvia:
cinema5d.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3401
Marvel’s Cine Style:
marvelsfilm.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/canon-7d-picture-style-with-cine-gamma-s-curve-free-download/
If you have problems downloading them, you can get them from here in one package (crnkovic.org/video/picture_styles.zip). I do however recommend that you get them from the original sources and read the forum posts/blog posts associated with them.
The final example footage was shot hand held (Zacuto rapid fire + zfinder) at Skogskyrkogarden cemetery in Stockholm.
3 Comments
Actually, in the poster image, the dynamic range of the second picture is smaller than in the left part since the sky is blown out.
The author mixed dynamic range and stylized picture style a bit. Still very entertaining!
He didn’t increase the dynamic range of the 7D in that video… He simply used a common technique of shooting video in low contrast
Can you explain a bit better: I’ve uploaded the 3 styles to the 7D. I can see that when I use the super flat picture style, I record more information and it is easier to develop the picture in the raw converter. However, would you likewise suggest to shoot movies in that picture style, i.e. would you suggest to basically always use that style and then add the tones later in post, to pictures and movies?