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Proper use of Dynamic and I Resolution settings on GH3 for movies
  • I am confused about how to use the Dynamic range and I resolution settings on the GH3. I have three of these cameras for shooting weddings and I have them matched pretty closely. Coupled with this is the fact that these cameras are used by shooters who may not know the camera that well. Most of the shots are in poor light, so I used AVCHD rather than Quicktime. I have Dynamic range set on standard and I Resolution turned off.

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  • Do not use iDynamic in poor light, it will be too noisy. But i found that using it on High, is good option for well lit high contrast scenes. Here is example where all the time iDynamic was set on High.

  • @greytail2013

    Most of the shots are in poor light, so I used AVCHD rather than Quicktime.

    It seems like you have several misconceptions about what works well and what doesn’t. The IBP 50 MB/s mode on the GH3 is the best mode to use in any situation. AVC-HD is never a better option on the GH3 for image quality in any conditions.

    The I.dynamic feature does what it is intended for. By definition there is no way to losslessly enhance the dynamic range. However, you can simulate an increase in dynamic range by lowering the exposure to save highlights and then boosting the curve in the shadows at the expense of more noise.

    I would use I.dynamic only if dynamic range is a priority over noise. It is simple as that. However, if I was trying to synch up footage from 3 different cameras I would make sure that all automatic settings like i.dynamic were turned off. You are probably better off just trying to increase the shadow exposure in post processing.

    The bottom of the page at the link below shows what affect I.Dynamic has on the GH3.

    http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonic-lumix-dmc-gh3/15

  • Um. WOW! That looked amazing I would love to see a comparison between those shots with it on vs off though to really get the efffect.

    P.S. love the tune, AIR is a great band!

  • Guys, from some tests I feel that i.dynamic doesn't work at all in low light. In daylight works fine. I think it works only when the camera measure a great highlight in your frame. At night to me, only when the camera looks straight at a lamp i.dynamic starts otherwise, even if I am +2 exposure there is no midtone boosting with i.dynamic high.

  • @starios From my GH3 tests on panasonic lenses it works only at high contrast scenes and only at aperture set darker than f2.0 or even f2.8, but it works fine all the time on manual lenses and switches off only at really flat scenes like white wall.

  • @ala_img I didn't know that, then it is very very useful setting.

  • @mpgxsvcd I find AVCHD a better choice for low light. Mov compression on the GH3 looks harsh and too contrasty. Look at this comparison I posted a while ago http://www.personal-view.com/talks/uploads/FileUpload/52/07c27747430be3d2bd9d1935310e07.png

  • I want to ask you if you know... the fact that i.dynamic brings noise in the mids, sounds to me like boosting mids in a "post incamera way" I mean, it does'n make a multi-exposure-something or switching iso, so, the question, If I just boost the mids in post is it going to be much worst than i.dynamic?

  • My results showing that lifting the shadows in post bring the same amount of noise as when using idynamic. But using idynamic with Tiffen UltraContrast filter brings the shadow level more on the right on histogram, so cleaner image and more dynamic range to start grading. Also I notice that Gx7 has 1 step increase of dynamic range over G6 with same settings when used in normal mode ( no idynamic).