At NAB, Sony announced a free firmware update for their popular PXW-FS5 camera that will provide Hybrid Log-Gamma and REC2020 color space recording via an additional picture profile, PP10. Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) is a clever implementation of High Dynamic Range (HDR) recording and playback that is backwards compatible with standard dynamic range displays.

Sony recently released firmware v1.4 for the PMW-F3. If you have not updated your camera yet, you can download the firmware from Sony's XDCAM site. Noteworthy in this firmware is the inclusion of S-Log in Picture Profiles.

In this last part of my Sony F3 and S-log series, I go over how to generate 3D LUTs that can be used with external LUT boxes and in post. In order to do this I use an HD Link Pro from BlackMagic Design and, to control it, a program called LinkColor.

In the fourth part of my Sony F3 S-log series, I explain how to create Look Up Tables (LUTs) to be used in the camera. When shooting in S-Log, the F3 allows you to apply a LUT to an output of the camera, letting the operator visualize how the image will look after post-production correction.

In the third part of my S-Log series, I took the Sony F3 outside on a nice bright day to show what S-Log can do.

Some months ago, I posted Part 1 of my PMW-F3 S-Log video series, and now, after waiting for the new 1.2 firmware to be released, Part 2 is here.

Sony's RGB and S-Log upgrade option for the F3 is now shipping. At AbelCine, we've had the upgrade for some time; you may remember the video that we helped produce at NAB that showed off the camera's S-Log capabilities. I get many questions about this new option and what exactly it changes in the camera, so I am putting together a three-part video series on the topic.

Our NAB booth included the PMW-F3 with the new S-Log firmware from Sony installed. I was very impressed with what the new mode added to the camera and was delighted to show it off to guests in our booth. Some of our friends at Next Level Pictures stopped by, and I gave them a short demo. They were so impressed with the effect that they asked to take the camera out for a quick test, which I agreed to. Twenty-four hours later they came back with a plan to take Vegas by storm, and the result was an amazing test of the F3 and S-Log.

In the second part of our three-part series on the Sony PMW-F3, I look into the camera's dynamic range and the various gamma modes that it offers. The test results were quite impressive, and I learned more about the different Cine Gamma modes built into the camera.