RX10 IV, Friedman's Book, useful tip (my derivation) Zebra
Sep 17, 2018 13:09:44 #
a6k
Loc: Detroit & Sanibel
Based on the good reviews here on UHH I bought the Gary Friedman book on my SONY RX10 IV and I'm quite pleased with it. I bought the Kindle version and can read it on either my iPhone or my Mac, depending on where I am, etc. He offers a 3-way purchase of the digital book but for more money. I'll admit, however that some of the pages don't work quite as well on the small screen.
Thanks to the author I learned a bit about the Zebra function which appears to be similar to the "blinkies" on other brands.
As many of you have already pointed out, the histogram on this and perhaps almost all cameras is conservative with respect to the high end. It's set up for JPG and raw has more headroom. Translation: not very helpful for ETTR, should you wish to use it. Thanks to Friedman, I found out what those numbers on the Zebra sub-menu mean and found that there are 2 custom settings available.
I tried setting C1 to the highest possible setting (109) and took 3 pictures out my window with the cloudy sky visible, surrounded by grass and trees. I used, of course, three exposures. The bottom line, after examining the results in both FastRawViewer and then in CaptureOne v.11 Pro is that the Zebra function comes very close to being correct at "109+". In other words, If I see a Zebra pattern while that setting is active, it's right near the upper boundary of my dynamic range. And, I don't have to look at the histogram which, as Friedman points out, doesn't tell you where the problem is, just that it exists. My new, pet Zebra pointed out that just a tiny bit of white cloud was blown out.
I suppose it would be easy to set up the other custom Zebra for video since that is what was the original idea when this stuff was invented.
Worth every penny!
Thanks to the author I learned a bit about the Zebra function which appears to be similar to the "blinkies" on other brands.
As many of you have already pointed out, the histogram on this and perhaps almost all cameras is conservative with respect to the high end. It's set up for JPG and raw has more headroom. Translation: not very helpful for ETTR, should you wish to use it. Thanks to Friedman, I found out what those numbers on the Zebra sub-menu mean and found that there are 2 custom settings available.
I tried setting C1 to the highest possible setting (109) and took 3 pictures out my window with the cloudy sky visible, surrounded by grass and trees. I used, of course, three exposures. The bottom line, after examining the results in both FastRawViewer and then in CaptureOne v.11 Pro is that the Zebra function comes very close to being correct at "109+". In other words, If I see a Zebra pattern while that setting is active, it's right near the upper boundary of my dynamic range. And, I don't have to look at the histogram which, as Friedman points out, doesn't tell you where the problem is, just that it exists. My new, pet Zebra pointed out that just a tiny bit of white cloud was blown out.
I suppose it would be easy to set up the other custom Zebra for video since that is what was the original idea when this stuff was invented.
Worth every penny!
Sep 18, 2018 08:13:23 #
Sep 19, 2018 14:58:39 #
a6k
Loc: Detroit & Sanibel
lwerthe1mer wrote:
I want to follow this discussion and learn more about Zebras.
Both kinds have stripes, but only one is an animal. Want to clarify?
Sep 19, 2018 15:13:28 #
Sep 19, 2018 15:48:49 #
a6k
Loc: Detroit & Sanibel
The Zebra setting in your camera is not an animal. However, if there is one on your camera you may have a problem!
Sep 19, 2018 18:52:54 #
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.