p.1 #1 · Homogenise the chromatic tones of the lenses
Hello everyone,
Being primarily into photography, I’m finding myself increasingly drawn into the world of video.
My lens collection was mainly conceived for photography and is fairly heterogeneous: Sigma Art, Sony GM, Zeiss, and Sigma Contemporary. I’m completely satisfied with it.
However, in video—especially during multi‑cam shoots—I’ve noticed that the rendering differences between brands (or even collections) can be significant. I mainly use the GM/G lenses (35 mm, 20 mm) and the Sigma Art lenses (50 mm f/1.2, 85 mm f/1.4). Sigma lenses are noticeably warmer than the Sony ones, which isn’t easy to handle during color grading.
So the question I’m asking myself is: would it be worth homogenizing all of this? Should I convert my GM lenses into Sigma Art (the latest Sigma releases look promising) or vice versa?
I admit that Sigma’s ethos resonates with me (small production, 100 % made in Japan, local investments, product quality). Yet I also find the GM lenses fantastic.
I think my photo/video ratio is about 70 %/30 %. What would you do?
Thanks for your advice, as always, very insightful.
p.1 #2 · Homogenise the chromatic tones of the lenses
Yes, there is a problem.
Once I had a shoot were I used almost equally often
Sony ZA lens, Sony AF DSLR lens, Minolta AF late 1980s and Sigma EX DG from 2000-s...
Despite picture from any of it looked great match it together were almost impossible.
Wish I have all zeiss or all Sony etc. but couldn't (I use much shift lens for wide-angle shots - Canon and Laowa, Zeiss for 35 and 55, Sony for longer, thinking sometimes about moder Sigma or Tamron...)
Maybe I'll go just for Zeiss (If I could find Batis 135 cheaper) and Laowa (If I get 20mm shift to replace Canon TS-E 24)...
p.1 #3 · Homogenise the chromatic tones of the lenses
Before buying or selling expensive nice gear, I'd look into color profiles. All the color differences you noticed between lenses can be compensated by profiles to provide a common result. E.g. Gerald Undone has a set for slog, that will equalize color differences between different manufacturers (Sony, Canon, etc). I don't think he has specific ones for different lenses though, so that may not be your solution. But something similar to compensate for the lenses is certainly possible. You could even generate your own.
p.1 #4 · Homogenise the chromatic tones of the lenses
Daran wrote:
Before buying or selling expensive nice gear, I'd look into color profiles. All the color differences you noticed between lenses can be compensated by profiles to provide a common result. E.g. Gerald Undone has a set for slog, that will equalize color differences between different manufacturers (Sony, Canon, etc). I don't think he has specific ones for different lenses though, so that may not be your solution. But something similar to compensate for the lenses is certainly possible. You could even generate your own.
Yes, (probably) carefully profilig in different lighting and with a good (at least 24 patch) target will help much.
p.1 #5 · Homogenise the chromatic tones of the lenses
tuxounet wrote:
Hello everyone,
Being primarily into photography, I’m finding myself increasingly drawn into the world of video.
My lens collection was mainly conceived for photography and is fairly heterogeneous: Sigma Art, Sony GM, Zeiss, and Sigma Contemporary. I’m completely satisfied with it.
However, in video—especially during multi‑cam shoots—I’ve noticed that the rendering differences between brands (or even collections) can be significant. I mainly use the GM/G lenses (35 mm, 20 mm) and the Sigma Art lenses (50 mm f/1.2, 85 mm f/1.4). Sigma lenses are noticeably warmer than the Sony ones, which isn’t easy to handle during color grading.
So the question I’m asking myself is: would it be worth homogenizing all of this? Should I convert my GM lenses into Sigma Art (the latest Sigma releases look promising) or vice versa?
I admit that Sigma’s ethos resonates with me (small production, 100 % made in Japan, local investments, product quality). Yet I also find the GM lenses fantastic.
I think my photo/video ratio is about 70 %/30 %. What would you do?
Thanks for your advice, as always, very insightful....Show more →
What are you making videos of? Home videos? Client videos? Art pieces? Also what are your goals in the video?
Its hard to give someone opinions since there is such a huge delta in what you are trying to create. I would also say that the final product in a video, color grading is really low on the list for a good end product when looking at broad topics.
Sound quality, shaky video, good focus etc are all much more important to the final output then matching color across scenes with different lenses. Again though it all depends on what you are doing. Color grading becomes important but not initially- What I mean by that is- Spending money on quality microphones, gimbals etc could be money much better spent and create an insanely better end product vs worrying about color in accuracies that will largely go unnoticed by most-
p.1 #6 · Homogenise the chromatic tones of the lenses
Daran wrote:
Before buying or selling expensive nice gear, I'd look into color profiles. All the color differences you noticed between lenses can be compensated by profiles to provide a common result. E.g. Gerald Undone has a set for slog, that will equalize color differences between different manufacturers (Sony, Canon, etc). I don't think he has specific ones for different lenses though, so that may not be your solution. But something similar to compensate for the lenses is certainly possible. You could even generate your own.
