QUICK GUIDE TO USING LENS-SENSOR SETTINGS & LUTS
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I think I discovered a "hack" that helps control image quality on budget filmmaking cameras. I learned this as I was testing a bunch of low-budget ($600 or less) CAMERAS (with every lens I could afford) while hunting for the film look. The short story is that I realized EACH COMBINATION needs its own settings! With this in mind, I started taking notes of film look settings for every lens and camera I tested. I ended up documenting so many lens-sensor combinations I had to create this website (to be able to look the settings up quickly). Now, I use these settings every time I shoot and it makes a lot of things easier (because you don't have to shoot in log!) So, let's go over the method.
STEP 1
CHOOSE YOUR CAMERA
THEN, CLICK ON YOUR CAMERA (OR CLICK THE "SEE SETTINGS" BUTTON)
Once you're on the CAMERAS page, you can click on either the picture of your camera (at the top) or scroll down to the notes about each camera, and then click the "SEE SETTINGS" button.
OR ENTER THE CAMERA NAME IN THE SEARCH BAR (AT TOP OF WEBSITE)
Another way to see the settings for a specific lens-sensor combo is to enter the CAMERA & LENS name into the "SEARCH" bar (the orange oval at top right of the website).
STEP 2
FIND YOUR LENS
WHEN YOU'RE ON YOUR CAMERA'S PAGE, SCROLL DOWN TO FIND YOUR LENS
Once you get to your camera's page, the lenses are listed by brand (and you can click on the brand name to go to that section). Find your lens in the list and then click on the “SETTINGS” button.
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NOTE: Some of the lenses have optional settings for using FILTERS. These are marked differently (so see the filter key, at the bottom of each camera's page).
OR ENTER THE LENS NAME IN THE SEARCH BAR (AT TOP OF WEBSITE)
Another way to find a specific lens-sensor combo is to search for the LENS name (by typing in the brand name and focal length) using the "SEARCH" bar or the SEARCH page. It can also be good to enter the name of the camera in the search (makes it faster).
STEP 3
(WHILE RECORDING)
ENTER THE CUSTOM "LENS-SENSOR" SETTINGS (IN THE PICTURE PROFILE)
This is the most important step, and it's easy (as long as you pick the right settings for your camera/lens combo). Most of the settings are accessed through the picture profile, but some are in other places.
START SHOOTING, ENJOY HOW EASY IT IS TO GET THE EXPOSURE RIGHT!
This part is kind of difficult to explain unless you've tried it. The short story is, it's easier to judge the exposure when using custom (lens-sensor specific) settings because what you're looking at is WYSIWYG.
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IF YOU SWITCH LENSES, SWITCH SETTINGS (AND SAVE CUSTOM SETTINGS)
This is probably the most difficult part of my whole process (because you have to change settings every time you change lenses) but it's actually pretty easy and fast to do. The other option is to save custom settings in your camera.
BUY AND DOWNLOAD THE "LENS-SENSOR" LUT (FROM THE LUTS PAGE)
You can download the lens-sensor LUT from the LUTs page but just remember, you'll need to use the custom "lens-sensor" CAMERA SETTINGS (while you're shooting) to make them work.
APPLY THE "LENS-SENSOR" LUT (USING YOUR VIDEO EDITOR OF CHOICE)
Apply the LUT to your clips using whatever video editor you use (as long as it supports LUTs). If you're editing shots from multiple cameras make sure to use the right LUT (specific to that lens & camera).
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*SOMETIMES THE SOOC SHOT IS GOOD ENOUGH (AND NO LUT IS NEEDED!)
My goal is to make "lens-sensor specific" camera settings that are good enough to work WITHOUT a LUT (the SOOC workflow) yet sometimes I do create a lens-sensor LUT if the image needs work.
MY GOAL IS TO MAKE BUDGET FILMMAKING CAMERAS LOOK BETTER!
When I started this website, my goal was to make it easier for me to get the "film look" with the budget filmmaking cameras I was using (the Panasonic GH4, G7, FZ1000, GX85 and G85). I soon realized the "secret sauce" was to use custom (lens-sensor specific) settings, and sometimes to add a LUT. I now use these settings every time I shoot, and I feel good about how easy these files are to work with in post...yet it's even better when I can go SOOC (and not have to spend any time color grading).