Gunther also shares fascinating insights gained from conducting various lab tests in 2024. Also revealing some techniques manufacturers use to enhance dynamic range in their cameras. Plus, he offers an exciting glimpse into the potential advancements in camera sensor technology we might see by 2025.

All the results of the CineD Lab Tests of course end up in the CineD Camera Database, so you can compare all the cameras.

So, grab some popcorn and stay tuned until the end for an extensive, insightful and entertaining discussion!

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Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by FUJIFILM. Check it out at 38:58

Chapters & articles mentioned in this episode:

00:00 – Introduction and the Vision behind the CineD Camera Lab Tests

40:10 -Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Lab Test: Rolling Shutter, Dynamic Range, and Latitude

https://www.cined.com/blackmagic-cinema-camera-6k-lab-test-rolling-shutter-dynamic-range-and-latitude/

43:11 – FUJIFILM GFX100 II Lab Test – Rolling Shutter, Dynamic Range, and Latitude

https://www.cined.com/fujifilm-gfx100-ii-lab-test-rolling-shutter-dynamic-range-and-latitude/

53:00 – Sony Alpha 9 III Lab Test – Dynamic Range and Latitude

https://www.cined.com/sony-alpha-9-iii-lab-test-dynamic-range-and-latitude/

59:40 – RED V-RAPTOR [X] 8K VV Lab Test – Dynamic Range and Exposure Latitude

https://www.cined.com/red-v-raptor-x-8k-vv-lab-test-dynamic-range-and-exposure-latitude/

01:02:18 – Sony BURANO 8K Lab Test: Rolling Shutter, Dynamic Range, and Exposure Latitude

https://www.cined.com/sony-burano-8k-lab-test-rolling-shutter-dynamic-range-and-exposure-latitude/

01:08:20 – Panasonic LUMIX GH7 Lab Test – Rolling Shutter, Dynamic Range and Latitude

https://www.cined.com/panasonic-lumix-gh7-lab-test-rolling-shutter-dynamic-range-and-latitude/

01:13:53 -Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF Lab Test: Rolling Shutter, Dynamic Range, and Exposure Latitude

https://www.cined.com/blackmagic-ursa-cine-12k-lf-lab-test-rolling-shutter-dynamic-range-and-exposure-latitude/

01:21:50 – Outlook of 2025 in terms of Sensor technology

What do you think about the CineD Camera Lab Tests? Let us know!

We hope you enjoyed this episode!
You have feedback, comments, or suggestions? Write us at podcast@cined.com.

For me personally, it is always exciting to see new technology being implemented in cameras, as Blackmagic Design is doing with their RGBW full-frame sensor in the new URSA Cine 12K LF. To be honest, I have lost a bit of interest in testing new consumer cameras as they all seem to be limited by their conventional 12-bit sensor readout modes. Hence, they all fall between 11 – 12 stops of usable dynamic range and 8 – 9 stops of exposure latitude.

Therefore, testing cameras that try something different, like the Canon C70 (lab test here), which uses a dual gain output, or the new LUMIX GH7 (lab test here), which utilizes a dynamic range boost mode, or the FUJIFILM X-H2S, which has introduced a 14-bit sensor readout mode of up to 30 frames per second (lab test here) brings the fun of testing back! And that holds true, of course, as well for cameras like the ARRI ALEXA 35 with its 13-bit ARRIRAW files (lab test here).

Now, coming back to the new URSA Cine 12K LF, a quick look at the specs is absolutely stunning, to say the least. 12K resolution in 3:2 open gate mode, full-frame 8K or 4K at 180 frames per second, is pushing against the boundaries of what is available on the market so far. And then, another look at the price, and I simply can’t believe what Blackmagic is pulling off again here!

Please head over here and here for all the CineD coverage on this new camera.

Again, I want to give a big shout-out to my colleague Florian Milz, who was a big help in shooting and analyzing the tests.

Rolling Shutter of the URSA Cine 12K LF camera

Rolling shutter was tested using our 300Hz flashlight. Let’s start with 12K open gate 3:2 mode:

We get 12ms of rolling shutter (less is better). That is a very, very good result for an open gate full-frame sensor! The interesting part about this new sensor design (RGBW) from Blackmagic is the fact that if it is switched to lower resolutions like 8K and 4K, the readout speed improves.

We reached out to our contacts at Blackmagic Design, and they explained the following to us:

“The in-camera scaling in the 8K and 4K formats on the URSA Cine 12K LF (and the URSA Mini Pro 12K as well) use two different mechanisms; one is a scaling step on the sensor itself which increases the readout speed and reduces rolling shutter skew, the other works in the frequency domain of the Blackmagic RAW codec. They generally help in reducing the amount of data to be recorded in the lower resolution formats while retaining the full field of view, but they are also preferable in case of fast movement as rolling shutter skew becomes minimal. However, these mechanisms don’t increase the dynamic range any further. Recording in 12K and scaling in the spatial domain in Resolve would be recommended for achieving best dynamic range.”

We will look at dynamic range in the next section below, but for now, let’s have a look at the 8K full-frame:

We are getting 5.5ms of rolling shutter. Wow – this is the second-best result (for rolling shutter sensors) behind the Sony Venice 2. The same value is obtained for a 4K full-sensor width readout. In cropped 9K mode (~1.3crop), we obtain 7.4ms.

Dynamic Range of the URSA Cine 12K LF at ISO 800

If you don’t know how we test dynamic range, please head over here.

All dynamic range results were shot at the highest available bitrate in Blackmagic RAW 3:1 at ISO800. Files were developed in the camera RAW tab of DaVinci Resolve 19 (using Wide Gamut Gen 4 / 5 and Film Gen 5). So, let’s have a look at the waveform plot of 12K 3:2 open gate mode:

We can identify 13 stops, if not 14, above the noise floor, and a 15th and 16th stop buried inside the noise floor. IMATEST exhibits these results:

We get 13 stops at a signal-to-noise ratio of 2 (SNR) and 14.5 stops at SNR = 1. Wow – these are the best results we ever got from a Blackmagic camera. For comparison, our benchmark so far, the ARRI Alexa mini LF, scored 13.4 / 14.5 stops at SNR = 2 / 1 in ARRIRAW (lab test here). A quick look at the lower right-hand graph “noise spectrum” reveals that high-frequency detail is, however, not preserved so well as amplitudes drop to 0.2. But we are talking about preserving 12K resolution ;-)…

Now, do we have a camera in our hands that is finally getting close to the ARRI Alexa Mini LF?

Well, you could argue that the Alexa MINI LF only shoots 4K resolution, so let’s have a quick look at what happens if we downscale the 12K files to 4K in DaVinci Resolve 19:

And here we go – we finally have a camera that shows better results (using RAW) than the ARRI Alexa Mini LF. Also, if we look at the lower right-hand side graph (noise spectrum), we can see that amplitudes don’t decrease until very high resolutions. Hence, this is a super detailed 4K image!

Now, let’s quickly test the official statement of Blackmagic above to see what happens if we use the full sensor with in camera 4K mode (on sensor scaling). The dynamic range should be similar to the 12K mode.

Confirmed – we get similar if not slightly better, results to the 12K mode. Please head over to the CineD Database for more results at different resolutions and framerates. Spoiler alert – no matter what the framerate is in any given resolution, the dynamic range stays absolutely consistent. Fantastic!

Now, moving on to the latitude test below, we will see if the URSA Cine 12K LF can keep up with the Alexa Mini LF in our real-world studio scene! Typically, high-resolution sensors from Blackmagic were hampered by fixed pattern noise and horizontal and vertical stripes in the image, so they didn’t fare as well in the latitude section.

Exposure Latitude of the URSA Cine 12K LF at ISO800

Latitude is the capability of a camera to retain details and colors when over- or underexposed and pushed back to base exposure. Some time ago, we chose an arbitrary value of 60% luma value (in the waveform) for our subjects’ faces in our standard studio scene. This CineD base exposure should help our readers get a reference point for all the cameras tested, regardless of how they distribute the code values and which LOG mode is used.

Our latitude test starts by adjusting the studio lights such that at T1.5 and 1/25s shutter, we are at the cusp of clipping the red channel on the forehead of our subject’s head, in this case, my dear colleague Johnnie. This happens three stops above the base exposure level, and then in post, we push it down again to base and obtain the following image:

We always use the exposure slider in the camera RAW tab as far as possible. The rest is done with the lift, gamma, and gain sliders until the waveforms match the base exposure image.

Now, we close down the iris of the lens in 1-stop increments until we reach the base exposure level:

This goes on until T8, from there onwards we underexpose further by halving the shutter value to 1/50th, 1/100th and so on.

Let’s move ahead to 5 stops underexposure, pushed back to base. This is the first time when some color shifts start to appear, and noise kicks in significantly:

The noise easily cleans up in post using these settings in DVR 19:

Here is the 5 stops under, noise-reduced image:

As can be seen, the image is perfectly fine, and we are at 8 stops of exposure latitude! This looks way better than the image of the other full-frame Blackmagic camera, the Cinema Camera 6K, which we tested here and which reached its limits at 8 stops of exposure latitude.

Now, there are not a lot of full-frame cameras that can top the 8 stops. There is the RED Raptor [X] (lab test here) and V-Raptor, which reached 9 stops of latitude (with some room towards 10), and the Sony Burano (lab test here), which is close to 10 stops. But, in the end, they were all outperformed by the ARRI Alexa Mini LF, which showed a solid 10 stops of latitude.

So, let’s push the URSA Cine 12K LF further to 9 stops (i.e., 6 stops under and pushed back to base):

Noise is starting to corrupt the image, and some faint vertical lines are starting to appear. Also, the colors start to fade, and a heavy cast towards green appears in the shadows.

Using noise reduction, we get the following image:

This is definitely borderline, but I would still consider it usable. In the moving image the noise is not very distracting. Also, my criterion is always the shadow side of our talent if the skin colors can still be recovered.

Now, let’s move to 10 stops of exposure latitude:

Noise is now corrupting the image to the extent that it cannot be recovered using noise reduction:

This is now definitely game over! Fixed pattern noise can be seen, there is a heavy color cast, colors as well as image details are fading away even though I didn’t use Luma noise reduction (spatial NR).

Also, if you compare this to the ARRI Alexa Mini LF at 10 stops of latitude (here), you can see how much better in terms of the details, color, and overall appearance the Alexa Mini LF looks.

Nevertheless, these results put the URSA Cine 12K LF on par with the RED Raptor [X] or V-Raptor 8K. And, it is capable of higher frame rates compared to the RED cameras as well. Wow!

Summary

In essence, the new Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF sets a new benchmark in terms of features and price. It comes in second best behind the Sony Venice 2 in the rolling shutter department (of course, we have to mention that there are global shutter cameras like the RED Raptor [X] or Sony A9 III that completely eliminate rolling shutter once and for all).

It scores superb values in the dynamic range department. When downscaled from 12K to 4K in postproduction, it is actually slightly better on paper (IMATEST) than our current benchmark, the ARRI Alexa Mini LF!

The real-world latitude test, however, puts the dynamic range results a bit into perspective – here, the result of 9 stops of exposure latitude is definitely 1 stop worse than our benchmark for full-frame cameras, the ARRI Alexa Mini LF (having 10 stops with some room towards 11). Our current leader in the dynamic range and latitude department is the ARRI Alexa 35, which exhibited 12 stops of exposure latitude.

This is by far the best Blackmagic Design camera in their lineup so far!

Are you eager to shoot with the new URSA Cine 12K LF camera? Are you planning to add this baby to your kit? Let us know in the comments below!

The LUMIX GH line has always been close to my heart, as my journey with mirrorless cameras started in 2009 with the LUMIX GH1 camera. Now, I’m holding the GH7 in my hands and I wonder if Panasonic managed again to create a new milestone in the camera landscape. Not only is this model capable of recording internal 12-bit ProResRAW HQ video with its 25.2MP BSI CMOS Micro Four Thirds image sensor, but also 32-bit float audio (with the new optional DMW-XLR2 unit). By the way, if you are curious about how the predecessor GH6 and the first GH1 model perform in the lab please head over here.

Also, in case you first want to read the full GH7 specs, you can head over here, and if you missed it, don’t forget to tune in to our weekly podcast episode of Focus Check when Johnnie and Nino discuss the LUMIX GH7. (And no worries, Johnnie’s LUMIX GH7 hands-on review is in the making).

Before we get started, again a big “Thank You” to my dear colleague Florian who helped me shoot this test as well as analyze the results!

Rolling Shutter of the LUMIX GH7

Rolling shutter is measured as usual using our 300Hz strobe light, and here is the result for 5.7K as well as 4K DCI (17:9): 13.2ms (less is better). This is very similar to the predecessor, the LUMIX GH6 as well as the LUMIX G9 II.

The full 4:3 sensor scan (open gate) takes 20.8ms (5760×4320 resolution). Please head over to the CineD Camera Database for further data points.

Dynamic Range of the LUMIX GH7 at ISO500

If you do not know how we test dynamic range, please head over here for a comprehensive write-up.

Unfortunately, DaVinci Resolve 19 still does not support ProResRAW (I wonder if it ever will?), so we had to resort to the Windows RAW Convertor App to convert the files to 12bit CDNG files and then import them into DaVinci Resolve. In Resolve, we used the following development settings for the Cinema DNG files to bring them into the Panasonic V-Gamut/Log space:

Starting with 5.7K ProResRAW HQ at the new, lower base ISO of 500 (the LUMIX GH6 used ISO2000 for dynamic range boost “on” which is now the default for the GH7), we get the following waveform plot:

We can identify 11 stops above the noise floor, with an additional 12th and a faint 13th inside the noise floor. Now let’s look at IMATEST for the same mode:

We get 9.85 stops at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 2, and 11.6 stops at SNR = 1. What can be seen in the middle graph above the blue “11.6” curve, there are additional stops identified in the noise floor. With 12-bit ProResRAW HQ, it should be possible to “excavate” those additional stops in post using noise reduction.

I would also like to draw your attention to the lower right-hand graph “Noise Spectrum” – it shows the noise spectrum with respect to the frequency or resolution. The LUMIX GH7 holds very high amplitudes up to very high resolutions (towards the right-hand side of the graph). This is: a) a clear sign of very little to no in-camera noise reduction, and b) it means that high-frequency detail is still visible (and not smeared out). This is the power of RAW, very good!

For sake of comparison, here is the waveform and IMATEST result if we switch to 5.7K 10bit ProRes HQ recording (using V-Log):

Now, we get 11.3 stops at SNR = 2 and 12.6 stops at SNR = 2. Hence, there is some in-camera noise reduction happening which can also be seen in the lower right-hand graph “Noise spectrum”: if you look at the amplitudes at higher frequencies, they drop very fast to levels below 0.4 and later to around 0.1 – hence, noise reduction smears out the higher resolution details. With ProRes RAW, this does not happen – the amplitudes never drop below 0.5 even at the highest frequencies. This also means that noise should be very finely distributed – great! Again, we can see the power of RAW here.

The CineD Database will be updated with further results soon.

Exposure Latitude of the LUMIX GH7

As written in earlier lab reports, latitude describes the capability of a camera to retain colors and details when over or underexposed and normalized back to a zero baseline exposure level in post.

In our case, we have a standard studio scene where the base exposure is (arbitrarily) set to 60% luma value on the waveform for the forehead of our talent – my dear colleague Johnnie.

Camera settings were again 5.7K ProRes RAW HQ at ISO500, again we converted the files with RAW Convertor to CDNG 12bit files and then imported them in DaVinci Resolve 19, with the same V-Log development settings as above in the Camera RAW tab. Exposure is adjusted using the exposure slider, but this only works from +4 to -4 stops. Hence, we use in addition a 3-node arrangement: on the first node is a color space transform from Panasonic V-Log to DaVinci Wide Gamut, then we have the middle node where additional adjustments are done, and then a last node again with a color space transform to bring the DaVinci Wide Gamut files back to Rec709. Any noise reduction is always done on the first, input node.

So, here is our base exposure:

Quick note – the moiré on Johnnie’s shirt is an artifact of downscaling the images to web resolution of 1920×1080, this is not present in the original footage.

Now, we expose the forehead of our talent until the red channel is at the cusp of clipping – which is at 3 stops of overexposure, then we bring it back to base. We used the ZEISS 35mm T1.5 Compact Prime for the tests. Which unfortunately is quite soft at T1.5:

Now, we close down the iris of the lens in 1-stop increments, and at T8 also double the shutter value until we reach 4 stops of underexposure, brought back to base:

At 4 stops under we have already reached the maximum exposure latitude of the predecessor model, the LUMIX GH6. Quite astonishing, the LUMIX GH7 still looks good at the same underexposure, the noise is very finely dispersed. Noise reduction would clean it up easily but let’s move on.

This is already a very good result for a Micro Four Thirds image sensor – even some consumer full frame sensors are reaching their limits at this stage (for example the Sony a7S III).

Now let’s go to 5 stops under, brought back to base:

Now the noise is much more pronounced, but still very finely distributed, and a greenish cast appears. Let’s see if we can clean this up with noise reduction in DaVinci Resolve 19:

Wow, we are at 8 stops of underexposure, brought back and the image still looks rather fine. We have to note though, that there remains a stronger color cast towards green, and faint vertical bands appear. My criterion to judge is always the shadow side of our talent’s face, and here the skin looks quite okay still.

Now let’s see if we can go to 6 stops of underexposure, and bring it back to base:

Now heavy noise is corrupting the image, and vertical lines are visible. Noise reduction will not be able to mitigate this, but let’s have a look:

As we can see, it is “game over” – the greenish cast gets stronger, and there are pronounced vertical lines that cannot be removed with noise reduction. Nevertheless, the image still looks surprisingly good considering we are at 9 stops of latitude – also the shadow side of Johnnie’s face is still somewhat intact! Let’s not forget that we are looking at a Micro Four Thirds sensor here! At 8 stops of exposure latitude, most of the recent consumer full-frame cameras are reaching their limits.

Of course, we have the RED RAPTOR [X] which can handle 9 stops of exposure latitude, or the ARRI Mini LF which goes to 10 stops. And let’s not forget the ARRI ALEXA 35 which can handle 12 stops of exposure latitude, to give you our current benchmark.

Summary

Panasonic did it again – the LUMIX GH7 is in a class of its own considering the Micro Four Thirds sensor size! Not only does it show good rolling shutter values, also the dynamic range results don’t disappoint. They are quite similar to the recently tested Sony A9 III or the Canon EOS R5 C for example. As mentioned, it plays in the league of recent consumer full-frame cameras with those results (a bit on the lower end though).

The exposure latitude tests again reveal the power of 12-bit RAW images – we can push this little camera to 8 stops of latitude, with some room towards 9! This is at least one stop better than the predecessor LUMIX GH6 which only offered 10-bit ProRes HQ internally and also one stop better than the full frame Canon R5 C or Sony a7S III for example which exhibited 7 stops of exposure latitude.

Now I can’t help but imagine what would happen if Panasonic managed to bring the “dynamic range boost” technology and ProRes RAW internal recording to their full frame cameras in the form of an S1/S1H Mark II. Okay, I will dream on …

Have you used the Panasonic LUMIX GH7 already? Do you like shooting on Micro Four Thirds sensors? Let us know in the comments below!

As mentioned above we tested the first generation KOMODO 6K camera in our lab here. Meanwhile RED has updated the sensor, image processing, and audio hardware of this camera which led to a big increase in framerates (e.g. 4K120 frames per second are now possible) and according to RED’s website, also to an increase in dynamic range performance.

Time to test these claims, right?

If you are not familiar with how we test dynamic range, I suggest reading this article first. Also, again I want to thank my dear colleague Florian who helped me shoot this test.

This is a global shutter camera, so no rolling shutter test here ;-). Hence we start with the dynamic range.

Dynamic Range of the RED KOMODO-X at ISO800

As we have seen earlier on the RED RAPTOR VV and RAPTOR-X cameras, RED does not provide a “native” ISO of the sensor, and in REDCODE RAW ISO can be changed in post. So we used ISO800 as the middle ground to shoot our Xyla21 chart (camera firmware version is 1.1.1). Here is a waveform plot at 6K DCI R3D HQ for 25 frames per second. I have expanded the RGB curves towards 5600K using the white balance slider to demonstrate a RED-specific phenomenon, which is called “highlight recovery”, built as default into the IPP2 color science (REDWideGamutRGB, Log3G10):

About 13 stops can be identified above the noise floor. Just a quick reminder, dynamic range is a ratio, not an absolute number. Hence, if we go from the very left first patch (which is completely clipped), there is a second (white) patch – which has been reconstructed by the built-in “highlight recovery”, but this stop does not contain any chroma information, only luma (no individual RGB values can be seen). Therefore, the first patch containing chroma information is the 3rd patch from the left – this is the first patch where nothing clips. Now from this patch to the next (the 4th, hence the ratio of the 3rd to the 4th) is our first stop, then comes the next stop, and so on. Until we have reached the last stop that still somewhat sticks out of the noise floor – 13 stops. Even a 14th stop can be seen inside the noise floor.

This looks like about 1 stop more than we tested for the first-generation KOMODO 6K.

For all the cameras we have tested so far we have always started to count from the first stop that has all three RGB channels intact. You will see later in the latitude section that the reconstructed patch has limited color information, so we don’t count it as a “real” stop.

Don’t get me wrong, highlight recovery is a useful tool but my personal preference would be to have it as an option in post, and not baked in the footage (like it is the case for the Blackmagic cameras using BRAW for example).

Also, I will repeat a piece of information that we got from RED regarding the white balance using REDCODE RAW: results for dynamic range when shooting the Xyla chart are independent of whether the white balance used in camera was correct or adjusted in post. We asked our contacts at RED, and the answer was: “The camera systems do not use discreet analog sensor gains for different white balances in order to preserve flexibility from the raw sensor data. To further clarify, what this means functionally is that capturing a clip at 2800K, and bringing it to 5600K in post will render the exact same image compared to if you had the camera set to 5600K at the time of capture.”

Some of you have asked if, for example, ARRI is also using highlight recovery to achieve their high, benchmark dynamic range values. The answer is “no”, below is a chart on how the RGB waveform looks for the ARRI ALEXA 35 using ARRIRAW at ISO800 (full Lab Test here) – no highlight reconstruction at work:

So far, so good. Now let’s have a look at IMATEST:

IMATEST calculates 12.9 stops at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 2 and 14.5 stops at SNR = 1. IMATEST will of course count the reconstructed patch, so for usable stops at SNR = 2 I would say it’s about 12 stops.

This is 0.4 stops better than the first-generation KOMODO 6K – very good!

Latitude result for the RED KOMODO-X in R3D ISO800

Latitude is the capability of a camera to retain details and colors when over- or underexposed and pushed back to base exposure. Some time ago, we chose an arbitrary value of 60% luma value (in the waveform) for our subjects’ faces (actually their forehead) in our standard studio scene. This CineD base exposure should help our readers get a reference point for all the cameras tested, regardless of how they distribute the code values and which LOG mode is used.

Again we used 6K DCI 25fps R3D HQ at ISO800, our trusted Zeiss Compact Prime, and for your reference here are the development settings in DaVinci Resolve 18.6.5:

As I previously already did with the RAPTOR [X], I tried two ways to bring the R3D files to the REC709 space:
a) by using a Color Space Transform (CST) from R3D to DaVinci intermediate/wide gamut, adjusting exposure, and then using another CST node to REC709 at the end and b) just adding a node with a LUT (RWG_Log3G10_to_Rec709_BT1886_with_LOW_CONTRAST_and_r_3_Soft_size_33).

As I found with the RAPTOR [X], using the CST at massive underexposure channels started to clip to black. Not so with the LUT approach. So b) was used, and all exposure adjustments were done using the exposure slider in the Camera Raw tab as well as the lift, gamma and gain controls in DVR (on the first node, LUT on the last node).

Here is the base exposure, having my dear colleague Johnnie as a model:

From here, 2 stops of overexposure are possible before Johnnie’s forehead starts to clip, using the RAW-based traffic light exposure system of the KOMODO-X (removing the white sheet of paper quickly):

At 3 stops over, Johnnie’s forehead is in the area of the highlight recovery – and comparing that to the situation where all color channels are intact, I hope you now understand why we do not count the recovered stop:

Now, from the 2 stops over image, we start to underexpose by closing the iris of our CP2 lens first and then doubling the shutter value.

Noise starts to kick – in at 5 stops underexposure, brought back to base:

Nothing serious – if needed, noise reduction can easily clean this up.

Let’s move to 6 stops underexposure. We are now at 8 stops of exposure latitude:

We are already at 8 stops of underexposure. One stop more than the previous generation KOMODO 6K was capable of. Of course, noise is all around the place and a strong color cast can be seen (pink in the lighter areas, green in the darker areas). Noise reduction can still clean this up somewhat, however, slight artifacts like vertical lines are starting to raise their ugly head – definitely borderline.

Now let’s see if we can push this to 9 stops of exposure latitude by moving to 7 stops of underexposure, pushed back to base:

Now, larger patches of chroma noise are appearing which I am afraid noise reduction will not clean up properly. Here is a noise-reduced image:

As can be seen in the RGB waveform, there is a strong color cast (also the dark side of Johnnie’s face turns pinkish), vertical stripes, and larger patches of pink chroma noise are there which cannot be removed. Here are the corresponding noise reduction settings:

Game over at 9 stops of exposure latitude, leading us to usable 8 stops of latitude. That’s one stop better than the KOMODO 6K.

For the sake of reference, the best consumer APS-C camera so far is the FUJIFILM X-H2S (Lab Test here) which exhibits similar results to the KOMODO X in the dynamic range and latitude department, but with a rolling shutter sensor.

The benchmark is still the APS-C sensor-sized ARRI ALEXA 35 which exhibited about 15 stops of dynamic range at SNR = 2 and 12 stops of exposure latitude. That’s an effective 3 to 4 stops more.

Summary

The evolution of the baby dragon with a new sensor and image processing into the KOMODO-X is creating a completely new camera. Considering that we are talking about a global shutter 6K APS-C sensor we get quite impressive results on the dynamic range and latitude front. Pair that with a small physical footprint, REDCODE RAW, and attractive pricing, I am tempted to go and get one for myself ;-)

In summary, the KOMODO-X falls about one stop short of the full-frame RAPTOR [X] camera but is about one stop better than the first gen KOMODO 6K.

Have you shot with the new RED KOMODO-X camera? What are your experiences so far? Let us know in the comments below.

A lot has been written on CineD about the new BURANO by my colleague Nino here or here, but let me quote my colleague Omri in his article here: “With a price tag of $25,000, it probably won’t find its way to each and every content creator, but will appeal to some owner-operators, studios, and rental houses. The Sony BURANO fills a unique niche. The camera incorporates a class-leading spec list with a single-operator-aimed design.”

Now, we wanted to run it through its paces in our standard CineD lab test, but we had to wait for a unit with final production firmware version 1.0, but now all has been sorted and we can finally test it! A big “thank you” again to my dear colleague Florian Milz who helped with every aspect of this lab test!

So let’s start with rolling shutter.

Rolling Shutter of the Sony BURANO 8K

Let’s start first with full-frame 8.6K X-OCN LT mode in 25 frames-per-second:

We get a rolling shutter of 18.9ms (less is better) – ouch! That is on the high side. The Sony VENICE 2 (lab test here) has less than 3ms rolling shutter. Compared to other offerings in the full-frame arena, even Sony’s very own Alpha cameras like the A1 (lab test here) with 16.6ms, or the leader in the consumer full-frame space, the Sony a7S III, with 8.7ms (lab test here) fare much better. Not to mention recent cameras like the Sony A9 III (lab test here) or the RED V-Raptor X (lab test here), both of which feature a global shutter sensor, thus completely eliminating any image skew issues …

In 6K 25fps full-frame FFc (~1.07 crop) mode, rolling shutter improves slightly to 16.9ms. At 6K 59.94p FFc read-out mode changes again, and the rolling shutter reduces further to 14.8ms – otherwise we couldn’t get 60fps (with 16.9ms):

Please refer to the lab database for additional results in all the other modes.

Dynamic Range of the Sony BURANO 8K

Please head over here if you don’t know how we test dynamic range. We developed the X-OCN files in DaVinci Resolve 18.6.6 using the following settings in the camera raw tab (ISO3200 test shown here):

Let’s start with Sony RAW, X-OCN LT 8.6K at ISO800. The waveform shooting the Xyla21 chart shows about 12 stops, if not 13.

Just to make you aware, and because there were many questions on the RED Raptor X lab test, here is the RGB waveform for 8.6K at ISO800, X-OCN LT. As you can see, there is no highlight recovery in action (as is the case for RED cameras with the IPP2 image pipeline), the second patch from the left already has all RGB color channels, whereas the first patch is clipped:

The patches toward the shadows look quite noisy. Let’s have a look at IMATEST to reveal noise levels:

We get 12.2 stops at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) = 1, and 10.8 stops at SNR = 2. At first glance, these are rather mediocre results. BUT: looking at the “Noise spectrum” graph on the lower right side, you can see signal amplitudes are retained even towards very fine detail, hinting at very little, if any, internal noise reduction at play. Also, the middle graph shows about 3 more stops toward the shadows (above the blue “12.2” line).

This is very promising. If the image pipeline sensor – codec can retain this fine detail and noise, then we will have a good chance to recover dark stops in our latitude test later.

Traditionally, Sony has always applied a varying degree of internal noise reduction to the compressed XAVC codecs. That holds true as well for the BURANO, looking at the full-frame 8K DCI XAVC H-I HQ mode (SG3.cine / SLog3) at ISO800 (now 8192×4320 resolution):

Now, we are getting 13 stops at SNR = 1 and 11.9 stops at SNR = 2. Better, right? Just a little side note, DaVinci Resolve did not recognize the data levels for 8K XAVC in “auto” mode. We had to set them to “full” manually.

Okay, so let’s take a look at the 6K FFc full-frame crop mode, which looks a bit like the sweet spot of this camera to me. In 6K FFc X-OCN LT mode, which has a resolution of 6052×3192 the dynamic range reads 13.5 / 12.4 stops for SNR 1 / 2 (for both 25 and 59.94 fps) in X-OCN LT mode:

For XAVC 6K FFc the camera downsamples to 4K DCI in 10bit XAVC H-I HQ mode. This mode is very interesting for a lot of documentary shooters, who deliver compressed XAVC files in 4K straight out of camera, hence I included both the waveform and the IMATEST results for this mode below. We get 14.1 / 13.1 stops at SNR = 1 / 2. Obviously, the combination of downsampling and some internal noise reduction leads to these very good results:

The Sony BURANO features a dual native ISO sensor, with the second native ISO at ISO3200.

Here are the dynamic range results for Sony RAW, X-OCN LT 8.6K at ISO3200, starting with the waveform plot:

IMATEST reads the following:

Dynamic range drops significantly to 11.7 stops at SNR = 1 and 9.35 stops at SNR = 2 (vs. 12.2 / 10.8 at ISO800) – usually dual native ISO sensors show a more consistent performance across the two ISOs. I think it is again related to the fact that there is minimal to no internal noise processing. The Sony VENICE 2 behaved differently here. The SNR = 1 result was the same for both ISOs and the SNR = 2 result was only 0.5 stops worse for X-OCN XT.

In 8K XAVC H-I HQ, the difference between ISO800 and 3200 is less:

Now we get 13 stops at SNR = 1 and 11.2 at SNR = 2 (vs. 13 / 11.9 at ISO800).

Please head over to the database for all the other results in all the different modes.

Exposure Latitude of the Sony BURANO

As stated in earlier articles, latitude is the capability of a camera to retain details and colors when over- or underexposed and pushed back to a base exposure. This test is very revealing, as it pushes the complete image pipeline of any camera to its absolute limits – not just in the highlights but mostly in the shadows.

Our studio base exposure is (arbitrarily) chosen as having an (ungraded) luma value of around 60% on the forehead of our subject on the waveform monitor – in this case, my colleague Johnnie:

Again, we developed the full-frame 8.6K X-OCN LT (Sony RAW) files to S-Gamut3.Cine / S-Log3 at ISO800 in DaVinci Resolve. The images were brought into the Rec709 space using an input color space transform (CST) to DaVinci wide gamut/intermediate, then adjusted to base exposure and finally bringing it to Rec709 by another color space transform node at the end. The image is a bit on the pinkish side.

Any post-noise reduction was always made on the first node. Side note: I also tried the ACES workflow which has the advantage that exposure can be adjusted by entering the stop value in the HDR tab. There was a slight contrast difference to the CST workflow, but the results were the same. Also, here there is a slight pink touch to the image.

At 4 stops above base exposure, we are at the cusp of starting to clip the red channel on Johnnie’s forehead, but the image brought back to base looks totally fine:

Now, we start to close down the iris of our trusted CP.2 85mm T1.5 lens by one-stop increments, and from T8 onwards we halved the shutter angle.

Doing this until we reach 4 stops of underexposure, we get the following image, brought back to base exposure:

We are at 8 stops of exposure latitude. This is usually the limit for most of the full-frame consumer cameras that we have tested so far. No noise reduction has been applied, and the image looks totally fine although some noise is showing up already. But the noise is very finely dispersed, which looks very nice and organic to me.

The recently tested Sony A9 III was the first Sony camera to reach a solid 9 stops of exposure latitude (VENICE 2 reached between 8 and 9 stops). Also, the recently tested RED V-RAPTOR X reached a solid 9 stops.

So, let’s move to 9 stops on the Sony BURANO:

Well, this image definitely shows noise, but it is again very finely dispersed. It can be easily cleaned up by using noise reduction in DVR:

This looks totally fine. For the Sony VENICE 2, it was already game over at 5 stops under in X-OCN XT!

Now let’s move to 6 stops of underexposure:

Heavy noise starts to kick in. Let’s see if we can clean this up:

We are at 10 stops of exposure latitude! The only full-frame camera so far that was capable of pulling this off was the ARRI ALEXA Mini LF that we tested here. Noise cannot be completely eliminated as now there are also larger blotches of chroma noise that appear (look at Jonnie’s shirt). Johnnies shadow side of the face becomes greenish. But there are no horizontal or vertical lines (like we have seen on the VENICE 2 test), and only minor color shifts toward green, so I would call this result borderline, but sort of OK. If you compare it to the ARRI Mini LF result, the BURANO definitely looks a tad worse.

At 7 stops of underexposure, pulled back it is definitely “game over”. Just for your reference, here is the image:

All in all, this leads me to conclude that the Sony BURANO comes in at a very close second place behind the ARRI ALEXA Mini LF. Just for reference, our current benchmark for dynamic range and latitude is the ALEXA 35 (test here) with 12 stops of exposure latitude.

Side note: I also tested the full-frame 8K 10bit 4:2: XAVC H-I HQ codec for latitude. And clearly, it is worse than X-OCN LT. So no need to mention it any further here.

Summary

The Sony BURANO has one Achilles heel, which is the rather high rolling shutter of 18.9ms in 8.6K full-frame mode. But, for most use cases (especially as a solo operator or documentary shooter), the internal sensor stabilization will come in very handy to mitigate this issue.

Other than that, the BURANO exhibits the best results we have ever had in the lab for a Sony camera. It shows close to 10 stops of exposure latitude – the real-world test in our CineD studio! And yes, it is definitely better than the Sony VENICE 2, which fared worse in the latitude section.

If you are looking for the best dynamic range results out of the box and not so heavy files (e.g. for documentary work) the 6K FFc XAVC mode (which has a crop of around 1.07) which downsamples to 4K DCI 10bit XAVC 4:2:2 exhibits superb results at 14.1 / 13.1 stops at SNR = 1 / 2, coming in at 6th place in our dynamic range ranking, right behind the VENICE 2 (with its downsampled 4K mode).

To conclude – yes, the Sony empire definitely struck back!

What are your experiences with the new Sony BURANO? Have you shot with it already? Let us know in the comments below!

Not so long ago, we tested the rolling shutter sensor-based RED V-RAPTOR 8K VV – in case you missed it, you can head to our Lab Test here. It performed very well in our lab and rightfully sits in the top 5 of all cameras we tested so far in terms of dynamic range. Now this model received a sensor update to a new 8K global shutter full-frame sensor. You can read about all the specs and new features here.

Just recently I wrote the following about the new Sony a9 III which also received a new 6K global shutter sensor: “Global shutter sensors have been around for a while, but so far they have been hampered by the fact that dynamic range was significantly lower than what their rolling shutter counterparts showed. RED was the first company that seemed to have cracked this paradigm with their RED KOMODO 6K global shutter camera (see our Lab Test here) which performed very well in our dynamic range testing.”

The Sony a9 III already showed the potential of global shutter sensors by exhibiting the best results any Sony Alpha cam has delivered so far. Will this also be the case for the new RAPTOR [X] 8K VV?

If you are not familiar with how we test dynamic range, I suggest reading this article first. Also, I want to thank my dear colleague Florian who helped me shoot this test.

For obvious reasons, the rolling shutter measurement is missing. Out of curiosity, we checked the sensor using our 300Hz strobe light and as expected, nothing showed, just an evenly lit plane. As it should be!

Dynamic Range of the RED V-RAPTOR [X] 8K VV

To be completely transparent from the beginning: we did not test the new “Extended Highlight” function that is supposed to add 3 additional stops of dynamic range, as it is still in beta mode. It seems to be based on two successive frames (like Z-CAMs for example are offering as well) with a normal and an 8x higher shutter speed image merged into one frame. For moving scenes, this has the potential to show artifacts like ghosting as early footage revealed.

RED does not provide a “native” ISO of the sensor, and in REDCODE RAW ISO can be changed in post. So we used ISO800 as the middle ground to shoot our Xyla21 chart (Firmware version is 1.7). Here is a waveform plot at 8K DCI R3D HQ for 25 frames per second. I have expanded the RGB curves towards 5600K using the white balance slider to demonstrate a RED-specific phenomenon, which is called “highlight recovery”, built as default into the IPP2 color science (REDWideGamutRGB, Log3G10):

About 13 stops can be identified above the noise floor. Just a quick reminder, dynamic range is a ratio, not an absolute number. Hence, if we go from the very left first patch (which is completely clipped), there is a second (white) patch – which has been reconstructed by the built-in “highlight recovery”, but this stop does not contain any chroma information, only luma (no individual RGB values can be seen). Therefore, the first patch containing chroma information is the 3rd patch from the left – this is the first patch where nothing clips. Now from this patch to the next (the 4th, hence the ratio of the 3rd to the 4th) is our first stop, then comes the next stop, and so on. Until we have reached the last stop that still somewhat sticks out of the noise floor – 13 stops. Even a 14th and a hint of a 15th stop can be seen inside the noise floor.

So far, so good. Now let’s have a look at IMATEST:

IMATEST calculates 12.8 stops at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 2, and 14.5 stops at SNR = 1. This is a really good result but as mentioned, it includes the recovered stop as well.

White balance: just a quick comment, because many readers asked this when we did the last V-RAPTOR 8K VV test – shooting the Xyla chart is independent of the white balance used in camera. We asked our contacts at RED, and the answer was “The camera systems do not use discreet analog sensor gains for different white balances in order to preserve flexibility from the raw sensor data. To further clarify, what this means functionally is that capturing a clip at 2800K, and bringing it to 5600K in post will render the exact same image compared to if you had the camera set to 5600K at the time of capture.”

Also, when we tested the ARRI ALEXA 35, we checked EI400, 1600, and 3200 and IMATEST always showed exactly the same results, as different EI values or ISO’s for that case just move around the code values to higher or lower luma levels. Independent of the EI value, the sensor will clip at a given combination of F-stop of the lens and shutter value.

The RAPTOR [X] shows a similar behavior but is not as consistent across the range of ISO values, as a quick check of ISO6400 revealed: dynamic range drops to 12.2 and 13.7 stops at (SNR = 2 / 1).

Again: so far, so good. Now, let’s have a look at the exposure latitude.

Exposure Latitude of the RED V-RAPTOR [X] 8K VV at ISO800

Latitude is the capability of a camera to retain details and colors when over- or underexposed and pushed back to base exposure. Some time ago, we chose an arbitrary value of 60% luma value (in the waveform) for our subjects’ faces (actually their forehead) in our standard studio scene. This CineD base exposure should help our readers get a reference point for all the cameras tested, regardless of how they distribute the code values and which LOG mode is used.

Again we used 8K DCI 25fps R3D HQ at ISO800, our trusted Zeiss Compact Prime 85mm T1.5, and for your reference here are the development settings in DaVinci Resolve 18.6.5:

I tried two ways to bring the R3D files to the REC709 space:
a) by using a Color Space Transform (CST) from R3D to DaVinci intermediate/wide gamut, adjusting exposure, and then using another CST node to REC709 at the end and b) just adding a node with a LUT (RWG_Log3G10_to_Rec709_BT1886_with_LOW_CONTRAST_and_r_3_Soft_size_33).

Strangely, using the CST at massive underexposure channels started to clip to black. Not so with the LUT approach. So b) was used, and all exposure adjustments were done using the exposure slider in the Camera Raw tab as well as the lift, gamma and gain controls in DVR (on the first node, LUT on the last node).

Here is the base exposure, having my dear colleague Johnnie as a model:

From here, 2 stops of overexposure are possible before the forehead of Johnnie’s skin starts to clip, using the RAW-based traffic light exposure system of the RAPTOR [X] (removing the white sheet of paper quickly). Unfortunately, though, they are not completely accurate, as the below image, brought back to base exposure reveals areas on Johnnie’s head that are already slightly clipping. You can see the highlight recovery at work here – color information is lost, but luma details are still there:

The RGB waveform reveals a bit of a flattened red channel on Johnnie’s forehead. My personal preference here would be to have the option of highlight recovery in post, as is the case with the Blackmagic cameras (when using BRAW). I found it difficult to correctly expose the forehead to be just at the cusp of clipping the red channel. The best way is still an RGB waveform to see where the RGB channels start to align leading to pure white revealing the highlight recovery at work.

Now, from here we start to underexpose by closing the iris of our CP2 lens first and then doubling the shutter value.

At 5 stops below base exposure noise starts to kick in, but it is a very fine noise. 6 stops of underexposure look like this, even without noise reduction quite acceptable:

This looks very good, and we are already at 8 stops of exposure latitude!

Now let’s push it further to 9 stops of latitude, 7 stops below base, and brought back:

Now some noise reduction is needed as the image starts to get corrupted in the shadows. Also a greenish tint starts to appear in the shadow areas:

Nevertheless, I would still rate this as acceptable but reaching its limits. My criterion is always the shadow side of the subject’s face if the skin color can be recovered. You can see in the image above that the shadow side still looks okay-ish.

Now let’s move to 10 stops of exposure latitude. This is the level that the ARRI Alexa Mini LF reached. At 8 stops of underexposure, brought back we get this image:

Noise is all over, but it’s still a rather fine noise. There are no horizontal or vertical lines. Quite impressive! However, a greenish tint is all across the image, as well (also seen in the RGB waveform plot below), and the skin tone on the shadow side of Johnnie’s face cannot be recovered even with heavy temporal and spatial noise reduction:

At this point, I would say, it’s game over. This brings me to the following conclusion: the global shutter sensor-based RED V-RAPTOR [X] 8K VV is capable of a solid 9 stops of exposure latitude, with some room towards 10 stops. This is exactly the result we got from the rolling shutter sensor-based RED V-RAPTOR 8K VV!

The only difference between the two is the fact that the RAPTOR [X] turns greenish in underexposed areas, whereas the V-RAPTOR VV turns pinkish in underexposed areas.

Comparing it to the recently tested Sony A9 III which is also capable of 9 stops of exposure latitude with its 6K global shutter sensor, the 8K V-RAPTOR [X] exhibits a similar latitude but shows color drifts to green. However, the richness of colors is better with REDCODE RAW as colors quickly lose saturation in underexposed areas with the Sony A9 III.

The full-frame ARRI ALEXA Mini LF is capable of one more stop of exposure latitude (5 over to 5 under), and the king of the CineD Lab Test is the S35 sensor-based ARRI 35 which exhibited 12 stops of exposure latitude.

Summary

The global shutter sensor V-RAPTOR [X] shows a really solid result in our Lab Test. Compared to the previous rolling shutter sensor-based V-RAPTOR 8K VV it proves the point (again) that recent global shutter sensors are not hampered anymore by any loss of dynamic range, and have the huge advantage of eliminating any image skew due to rolling shutter effects.

More than impressive!

What do you think about this new model and the results from our test? Have you shot already with the RED RAPTOR [X]? Let us know in the comments below.

Global shutter sensors have been around for a while, but so far they have been hampered by the fact that dynamic range was significantly lower than what their CMOS counterparts showed. RED was the first company that seemed to have cracked this paradigm with their RED KOMODO 6K global shutter camera (see our lab test here) which performed very well in our dynamic range testing.

Now, Sony has introduced a full frame 6K global shutter sensor in their recent a9 III. Please head over to our article here covering the specs and what is new in terms of body and ergonomics. In essence, it provides 4K video oversampled from 6K in full frame or Super 35 mode for frame rates of 24 – 120 frames per second without any crop.

So, without further ado let’s jump right into the results. Again, my dear colleague Florian Milz helped to shoot this test and also provided the IMATEST analytics – thank you, Florian!

For obvious reasons there is no rolling shutter section for this global shutter camera, so next up is dynamic range measurement using our Xyla21 chart (see our article here on how we test dynamic range).

Dynamic range of the Sony a9 III at ISO2000

The first thing to notice when firing up the Sony a9 III is that the base or “native” ISO of S-Log3 is now 2000 instead of 800 like on so many other Sony cameras. Fine, so here is the waveform result shooting our Xyla21 chart in S-Gamut3.Cine / S-Log3 using full frame 4K XAVC S-I at ISO2000:

A solid 12 stops can be seen above the noise floor; even a 13th and 14th stop are visible. IMATEST calculates 11.4 stops at a signal-to-noise ratio of 2 (SNR) and 12.7 stops at SNR = 1. At first sight, this looks like more than 1 full stop less than e.g. the Sony a7 IV camera that we tested here.

But, something interesting is visible in the middle graph above the blue “12.7” line: there are another 3 stops exhibited inside the noise floor which could potentially be “excavated” using noise reduction in post. All other Sony Alpha cameras that we tested so far had a lot of internal noise reduction (that cannot be turned off) already baked into the image, hence leading to seemingly better IMATEST results, but also failing to show any potential to reveal additional stops from the noise floor.

The Sony a9 III seems to be different here. It looks noisier, but the noise looks finely dispersed, hence if the image pipeline including codecs is capable of encoding this fine image grain we will be able to pull stops from the shadows using post-noise reduction.

Also, the dynamic range stays the same for 60 frames per second and 120 fps. Quite remarkable.

In 4K Super 35 mode, there is no oversampling from 6K hence the image is a bit noisier, reflected in the waveform and IMATEST results below:

The dynamic range drops to 10.8 stops at SNR = 2 and 12 stops at SNR = 1.

Exposure latitude of the Sony a9 III

As stated in earlier articles, latitude is the capability of a camera to retain details and colors when over- or underexposed and pushed back to a base exposure. This test is very revealing, as it pushes the complete image pipeline of any camera to its absolute limits – not just in the highlights but mostly in the shadows.

Our studio base exposure is (arbitrarily) chosen as having an (ungraded) luma value of around 60% on the forehead of our subject on the waveform monitor – in this case, my colleague Nino:

Again, we shot S-Gamut3.Cine / S-Log3 using full frame 4K XAVC S-I at ISO2000. The LOG images were developed in DaVinci Resolve 18.6.4 using an input color space transform (CST) to DaVinci wide gamut/intermediate, then adjusted to base exposure and finally bringing it to Rec709 by another color space transform node at the end.

4 stops above base exposure we are at the cusp of starting to clip the red channel on Nino’s forehead, but the image brought back to base looks totally fine:

Now it gets interesting as we start to underexpose the image below our base exposure in 1-stop increments and push it back to base in post. At 3 stops under, the image starts to show a finely dispersed grain, which actually looks quite good to my eyes.

At 4 stops under, pushed back to base noise becomes very noticeable in the image:

Noise reduction can still provide a decent and very useable result:

The image looks really good, there are no horizontal lines and also no banding artifacts visible. We are already at 8 stops of exposure latitude, which is actually 1 stop better than the Sony a7S III or Sony a7 IV- wow, this is really good! So far, only the Sony A1 managed to provide 8 stops of exposure latitude.

Now, let’s see if we can push it 1 stop further – to 9 stops of latitude:

Luma and chroma noise is all over the place, but it is still finely dispersed – as opposed to other Sony alpha cameras, which typically start to show larger blotches of chroma noise that cannot be easily removed by noise reduction.

Noise reduction manages to clean up the image quite nicely:

Wow – this is still rather usable. We are at 9 stops of exposure latitude. The only cameras so far that managed to do this were the RED V-Raptor 8K VV (9 stops latitude), ARRI Alexa Mini LF (10 stops latitude), and Alexa 35 (12 stops). My criterion is always the shadow side of the face – have a look at how this area still cleans up OK-ish.

I think we have reached the limit now, as there are faint but visible larger blotches of pink chroma noise. But they are still not very distracting to the eye.

Now let’s try one more stop of underexposure by moving to 10 stops exposure latitude:

Atrocious noise is now all over the place. Let’s see what noise reduction can do:

Now, this is game over. The shadow side of Nino’s face cannot be recovered anymore, and the heavy noise reduction needed to clean this up already leads to ghosting that would not be acceptable in a moving image. It still looks surprisingly good though without banding or horizontal/vertical line artifacts!

In summary, this leads me to the superb result of 9 stops of exposure latitude with some wiggle room towards 10. This is the best result we found so far for a consumer full-frame camera (as mentioned above, the ARRI Alexa Mini LF exhibited 10 stops of exposure latitude, and the Alexa 35 12 stops).

Summary

The Sony Alpha 9 III displays fantastic results in our lab test. Rolling shutter by the very nature of the global shutter design is non-existent (effectively 0ms) – the best we have and will ever see for full-frame sensors. It cannot get better from here.

Dynamic range using our Xyla21 chart and IMATEST analysis is average when compared to other full-frame consumer cameras. But as is so often the case, IMATEST results are only one piece of the puzzle looking at the dynamic range of a camera. It basically gives a feel for how noisy images are at the various Xyla stops (patches). And here it can be clearly seen that the global shutter sensor is definitely noisier than its CMOS full-frame counterparts seen in other consumer full-frame cameras.

But Sony applied some magic to the image pipeline including the codecs, as the fine noise of the sensor is conserved in the final image and shadows can be massively pushed in post without ugly larger blotches of noise. This results in a superb 9 stops of exposure latitude with some room towards 10, making it the best Sony Alpha camera to date in video mode in terms of dynamic range! It is also the best consumer full-frame camera in that regard.

What a surprise – all this from a global shutter sensor! Well, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, times are a’changin …

Have you shot with the Sony a9 III yet? What are your experiences? Please use the comments section below to let us know what you think.

The FUJIFILM GFX100 II is a really unique offering, especially in terms of sensor size and resolution, and this camera very justifiably won CineD’s “Camera of the Year 2023” title, together with the iPhone 15 Pro / Max (read our article here). Also, my dear colleague Johnnie made one of his lovely mini-docs with it, and you can read his review here.

My colleague Florian (again, thank you for your help) and I were curious to put the GFX100 II through the standard CineD Lab torture test.

The GFX100 II offers a huge variety of sensor read-out modes for video. The FUJIFILM site has more information, but for your convenience, here are the GF options in medium format. There are Premista, 35mm (full frame), and anamorphic options as well.

As you can see, the only mode that covers the full sensor width in 16:9 / 17:9 is the 4K mode. The other modes are either horizontally or vertically cropped. We conducted a range of tests to assess rolling shutter and dynamic range across different modes, utilizing our Xyla21 chart. The corresponding graphs can be found in the CineD Camera Database entry for the GFX100 II.

To me, any mode that does not use the full sensor width defeats the purpose of testing a medium-format camera. Hence in this Lab Test, we focused on the GF 4K mode (Cine 5.8k uses the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which does not comply with our 16:9 standard studio scene latitude test requirement).

Plus, there is the “F-Log2 D RANGE PRIORITY” “ON” or “OFF” feature. FUJIFILM has not specified what it does exactly, but I speculate that in D RANGE “ON” the full sensor resolution (11648 x 7768) is downsampled to the respective video resolution, at the cost of a higher rolling shutter. Hence, in principle, the 4K (3840×2160) GF F-Log2 D RANGE PRIORITY ON settings should yield the lowest noise, hence the best dynamic range results, utilizing the full sensor width in a standard 16:9 ratio.

As for the lens, we were not able to use our standard Zeiss Compact Prime 85mm T1.5 lens, so we rented the FUJINON GF 80mm f1.7 R WR instead. A superb lens, sharp even when wide open.

Rolling shutter of the FUJIFILM GFX100 II

Fine – let’s get going! The first test with our 300Hz strobe light is the full sensor width, full downsampled 4K mode at 25p, D Range ON. We get a result of 26.5ms (less is better):

We have no comparison with other medium format sensors, but for video work, this is on the (very) high side of things.

Let’s have a look at the same mode, but D RANGE PRIORITY OFF:

As can be seen above, the full sensor resolution downsampling takes its toll on the rolling shutter. In D RANGE PRIORITY OFF, it seems that some sort of line skipping is happening, allowing a much faster sensor readout – potentially at the expense of dynamic range and exposure latitude. We will dive into that in the next section.

To give you a reference, recent consumer full-frame cameras like the Sony A1, Canon EOS R5 C, or Nikon Z 9 are all around 15ms read-out speed. The Canon EOS R3 clocks 9.5ms, and the king of consumer full-frame cameras, the Sony A7S III, only has 8.7ms. (Excluding the Sony A9 III with its Global Shutter image sensor).

In full sensor width GF 5.8K mode, we get a rolling shutter of 25.9ms. I would have expected a faster readout as the picture height is less (2.35:1). One more result: in cropped GF 8K mode the rolling shutter is 31.7ms.

Dynamic range of the FUJIFILM GFX100 II

As usual, for the dynamic range and latitude tests, we used the camera settings that allows minimum noise reduction as it can not be turned completely off. 

Let’s have a look at the full sensor width 4K D RANGE PRIORITY ON waveform first. If you are not familiar with how we test dynamic range, have a look here.

The 4K F-Log2 D Range ON waveform using 10bit 4:2:2 ProRes HQ at the native ISO800 yields a solid 13 stops above the noise floor. The noise floor looks super clean, probably as a result of the downsampling of the massive native sensor resolution (11648 x 7768) to 4K:

The corresponding IMATEST result yields high values of dynamic range: 12.4 stops at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 2 and 13.7 at SNR = 1:

Now, what happens if we turn D RANGE PRIORITY to OFF? The waveform looks a bit noisier, and IMATEST yields 11.7 stops at SNR = 2 and 13 stops at SNR = 1. That’s 0.7 stops worse:

If we switch to the (cropped) 8k mode, probably the closest to native sensor resolution, IMATEST calculates 11.3 stops at SNR = 2 and 12.8 stops at SNR = 1. This can be regarded as the “native” dynamic range of the sensor, without any effects of downsampling.

Head over to the CineD Camera Database for additional IMATEST results for the 5.4K Premista (12.8 / 13.9 stops at SNR = 2 / 1) and 4.8K 35mm modes (12.4 / 13.9 stops).

Exposure latitude of the FUJIFILM GFX100 II

As stated before, latitude is the capability of a camera to retain details and colors when over- or underexposed and pushed back to a base exposure. This test is very revealing, as it pushes the complete image pipeline of any camera to its absolute limits – not just in the highlights but mostly in the shadows.

Our studio base exposure is (arbitrarily) chosen as having an (ungraded) luma value of 60% on the forehead of our subject on the waveform monitor – in this case, my colleague Johnnie. We developed the ProResHQ files using the official GFX100II_FLog2_FGamut_to_WDR_BT.709_33grid_V.1.00 LUT, which is available on the FUJIFILM homepage:

Again, we used 4K F-Log2 D RANGE PRIORITY ON mode using 10-bit 4:2:2 ProResHQ mode.

Now let’s see where the red channel starts to clip on Johnnie’s forehead. It begins at 3 stops above the base exposure, as can be seen below. Looking at the RGB waveform of the ungraded clip below, the red channel on Johnnie’s forehead appears intact. However, in the developed version and the image pushed back 3 stops, it starts to look a bit overexposed.

This is something to consider when exposing the GFX100 II, as F-Log2 has a rather smooth transition towards highlights, which in turn makes it a bit more difficult to assess the exact clipping point:

Now, let’s see how far we can underexpose and bring back the image. Not much is happening between base exposure and 4 stops under, although at 3 stops under (6 stops of exposure latitude), sensor smear becomes apparent. It can be seen more easily at 4 stops under, so let’s jump there:

Now noise starts to kick in. We are at 7 stops of exposure latitude. In the shadows, the image starts to degrade, but the shadow side of Johnnie’s face (my most important criterion) still looks OK, even without applying further noise reduction.

However, something that to my eyes looks like sensor smear becomes visible. The white piece of paper on the left leads to a distinctive horizontal band across the image all the way to the right where the image turns greenish, everything else pinkish (within the two horizontal boundaries of the white piece of paper, clearly visible by the two horizontal lines). Not good. However, luma noise is very finely distributed.

Let’s move to 5 stops under, pushed back to base:

More noise is appearing, but the shadow side of Johnnie’s face is still mostly intact, even without noise reduction. Overall, this would be a good result at 8 stops latitude. However, sensor smear is even more pronounced, and in the moving image, large blotches of pinkish chroma noise can be seen. Signs of color banding are also appearing. Have a look at the shadow on the left side in the background of the color checkr.

Noise reduction helps here and cleans up the image nicely – however, the sensor smear is even more apparent and is happening across the image (visible as horizontal lines):

Now, 6 stops under:

Noise reduction cannot save this image:

Now, to stay consistent with earlier Lab Test assessments that are already at 4 stops under (7 stops of exposure latitude), the sensor smear is impacting the image in a way that cannot be fully recovered, although noise in the image is still well-controlled. That gives a total of 6 stops of exposure latitude.

Now, sensor smear can happen if the pixel density on a sensor is very high and an electrical charge impacts neighboring pixels (in this case due to the harsh horizontal transition from the grey background to the white piece of paper – thus the horizontal lines).

We have seen a similar phenomenon on the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K camera (Lab Test here – also see the comments from Alister Chapman and John Brawley) – obviously, sensor smear is more difficult to control the higher the pixel density.

Now, to prove the point we also tested the D RANGE PRIORITY “OFF” settings. In D RANGE “OFF”, the sensor seems to skip lines, hence smear should not affect neighboring pixels.

Let’s have a look at 4 stops under, brought back to base with D RANGE “OFF”:

Much noisier, but no visible sign of sensor smear. The image can be mostly repaired by using noise reduction, however, towards the shadows nasty color banding (stepwise lume / chroma transitions) is starting to appear – hence, even in this mode, 7 stops are the limit. Let’s look at 5 under:

Clearly, much noisier than the D RANGE ON image at 5 stops under (have a look above), but no sensor smear. Very visible are the color banding structures on the left side – the shadow of the color checkr and the area behind Johnnie.

Let’s have a look if this can be saved by noise reduction:

Overall as the noise is still very finely distributed, the image cleans up nicely. Unfortunately, in the shadows, the image shows massive color banding and cannot be reconstructed.

In summary, it can be seen how D RANGE ON leads to a much cleaner, much more usable image if you pull shadows (at the cost of a higher rolling shutter). Unfortunately, this mode is hampered by sensor smear, leading to a usable 6 stops of latitude only. To eliminate the sensor smear, the 4K line skipping mode can be enabled giving a better rolling shutter but much more noise and stepwise transitions into shadows (banding).

If the sensor didn’t show smear, 8 stops of exposure latitude would be easily possible, as the noise is distributed very finely and can be cleaned up in post. To put this into perspective, 8-stop latitude is now the almost standard result for full-frame consumer cameras. However, our benchmark cameras ARRI ALEXA Mini LF display what is possible by showing 10 stops, and the ALEXA 35 has 12 stops of exposure latitude.

Summary

The FUJIFILM GFX100 II exhibits very mixed results in the lab: rolling shutter values are in general very high – as expected for a 102-megapixel medium format sensor. The line-skipping modes (D RANGE OFF) are good in terms of rolling shutter (15ms in 4K) but hampered in the dynamic range and latitude department.

Switching to full resolution downscaling (F-Log 2 D RANGE PRIORITY ON), rolling shutter values are on the high side, but the dynamic range improves. Also, transitions into highlights are very smooth. Nevertheless, in these modes, sensor smear impacts shadow areas. Personally, I would still only use the downscaled modes as the images are simply better.

Hence, don’t expect wonders in the dynamic range department just because of the massive medium format sensor. The GFX100 II is the first solid offering from a manufacturer that enables you to use this camera for serious video work with the “look” of medium format. For comparison, FUJIFILM’s own APS-C X-H2S camera fares much better in the Lab Test and exhibited close to 9 stops of exposure latitude with a rolling shutter of 9.7ms.

Have you shot with the FUJIFILM GFX100 II yet? What are your experiences? Let us know in the comments below.

I have been a Blackmagic Design fan since the introduction of the original pocket cinema camera in 2013, and I still use it from time to time if I am after a certain look. For instance, using it with C-mount lenses can give me a nice vintage, very organic super 16 look. But this is another story.

I then added the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K to my arsenal, which is one of my two go-to cameras. The other one is the Panasonic LUMIX S1.

This brings me directly to the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K (BMCC6K), which now uses the same L-mount as my Panasonic LUMIX S1 and also comes with a full-frame sensor. Please have a look at the article looking into the specs by my colleague Jakub here, and a first look by my colleague Francesco here. So, I was really interested to see what this first full-frame camera from Blackmagic Design brings to the table.

BMCC6K – Rolling shutter

Using our 300Hz strobe light, which generates the sequence of black and white bars, we get 18.7ms (less is better) for 6K DCI (17:9):

This is not the best result for 2023. We have a lot of other full-frame consumer cameras that are better. The Nikon Z 9 (8K – 14.5ms), the Canon EOS R5 C (8K 15.5ms), and the Sony A1 (8K 16.6ms) just to name a few. And, of course, the leader of the pack, the Sony a7S III with 8.7ms in 16:9 4K. Full frame cameras that perform worse in the rolling shutter department are the Panasonic LUMIX S series cameras which are all around 22ms.

In 3:2 open gate mode, we get 25ms, and in 4K DCI crop mode, we get 15ms for the new BMCC6K.

BMCC6K – Dynamic Range

The BMCC6K has again a dual native ISO sensor, with ISO400 and 3200 as the “native” ISO. In Blackmagic RAW though (which is the only codec now available, as ProRes HQ is gone), ISO can be set in post. These two ISOs, however, represent a good balance between highlights and shadows.

Let’s have a look at the waveform of the 6K open gate, BRAW 3:1 at ISO400 (color science gen5):

A solid 12 stops above the noise floor can be identified, with a 13th and even a 14th stop visible.

IMATEST calculates 11.6 stops at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 2, and 12.9 stops at SNR = 1 for ISO400. These are almost exactly the same results that we measured for the BMPCC6K and BMPCC6K Pro (they actually showed 0.2 stops better results at SNR = 2). Also, the noise levels look very similar (see our lab test article here).

Now, let’s have a look at the second native ISO circuit – ISO3200:

Also for ISO3200, about 12 stops are visible above the noise floor. However, the second native ISO is really very noisy. Let’s see what IMATEST calculates:

IMATEST calculates 10.2 stops at SNR = 2 and 11.5 stops at SNR = 1. This is similar to what we measured for the BMPCC6K and 6K Pro (lab test here).

Hence, you lose about 1.5 stops when switching to the higher ISO circuit, which is not exactly what I would expect from a dual native ISO sensor. All the other cameras that we tested so far typically showed less than half a stop difference in dynamic range when switching to the second native ISO value.

In addition, the normalized pixel noise reaches values of around 6 in the red channel (see the lowest of the 3 diagrams above), which is way higher than for the BMPCC6K and 6K Pro at ISO3200. I did some quick tests comparing the two cameras at home and actually found the noise nastier, and much more difficult to remove with the new full-frame BMCC6K. Quite surprising to be honest …

In the crop 4K modes, the same exact dynamic range results for the two ISO’s are obtained, which is to be expected – also for the higher frame rates that are possible in those modes.

BMCC6K – Latitude

Latitude is the capability of a camera to retain details and colors when over- or underexposed and pushed back to base exposure. Some time ago, we chose an arbitrary value of around 60% luma value (in the waveform) for our subjects’ forehead as the base exposure in our standard studio scene. This CineD base exposure should help our readers get a reference point for all the cameras tested, regardless of how they distribute the code values and which LOG mode is used.

Again, BRAW 3:1 open gate mode at ISO400 was used, but we only display 16:9 frames here.

As usual, we overexpose until the red channel is at the cusp of clipping on the forehead of our subject (my dear colleague Johnnie in this case), and then we push it back to base exposure in post. Here, typically some patches of the color checker on the left are clipped. Those can be brought back by using the “highlight recovery” option in the RAW camera tab of DaVinci Resolve 18.6.4 that we used here. However, we only test with “highlight recovery” turned “OFF”, as color accuracy suffers massively with reconstructed color channels (as we wrote in many earlier articles) – but it is a nice option to have to save parts of the image if they are partially clipped.

For Blackmagic color science generation 5 (due to the code value distribution at ISO400) that gives 3 stops of overexposure possibility:

From here forward, we close the iris of our ZEISS Compact Prime 85mm T1.5 (which we always use for full-frame cameras) to T2, T2.8, and so on until T8, and then we also double the shutter speed. These images are also normalized back to base exposure in post.

Now, let’s directly move to 5 stops of underexposure (from base), brought back. Here, quite suddenly, noise starts to kick in, which was almost absent even for the 4 stops under image that was brought back:

We are at 8 stops of exposure latitude (3 over to 5 under). That is almost the standard now for consumer full-frame cameras like the Sony A1, the Panasonic LUMIX SH1, S1, and S5 (not the S5II as this one only had 7 stops of latitude). Noise reduction helps to clean up the image, but a green tint stays in the shadows:

It is already at the cusp of being usable, but I will still count it as a valid result. Quite massive temporal and spatial noise reduction is needed:

Now, let’s move to 6 stops underexposure:

Now, the noise becomes massive, and horizontal stripes also start to appear. Plus, the nasty green tint in the shadows is much more pronounced. The horizontal stripes can be identified more easily when using noise reduction:

Hence, this is a clear “game over”, which leads us to the conclusion that 8 stops of exposure latitude are possible with the new BMCC6K. Compared to recent consumer cameras, this is 1 stop better than the Canon EOS R5 C or Panasonic LUMIX S5II, and it is similar to the Sony A1, Panasonic LUMIX S1H, S1 or S5, and also Nikon Z 9 as well as Canon EOS R3.

This result is a tad disappointing, as I did expect the 12-bit BRAW codec to have more potential to pull up shadow stops compared to the H.264 or H.265 codecs that are typically available for consumer cameras.

The leaders of the pack in the full frame segment are the RED V-Raptor with 9 stops and the ARRI Alexa Mini LF with 10 stops of exposure latitude. Our benchmark is the Super35 ARRI Alexa 35 with 12 stops.

Summary

The new Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K shows a solid performance in the lab test. In the rolling shutter department, it falls behind compared to most recent consumer full-frame cameras, whereas in the dynamic range department, it is on a similar level, at least for the lower native ISO. The higher native ISO is sort of a problem child; I would stay away from it if possible.

Latitude is also in the middle ground, nothing special, but better than some recent cameras like the Panasonic LUMIX S5II or the Canon EOS R5 C.

As a BMPCC6K or 6K Pro user, it is simple – lab test results for the new full-frame BMCC6K are sort of “copy & paste” from the APS-C sized BMPCC6K and 6K Pro. Hence, a bigger sensor, but everything else is similar.

Have you shot with the BMCC6K yet? What is your experience? Let us know in the comments below.

In life there is always a first and that also applies to camera lab testing – so this is the first time we are testing a phone in the lab. So far it wouldn’t have made much sense, as typically a lot of image manipulation is happening in phones in an automated way, such as auto tone mapping which tones down bright parts of the image and increases brightness in the shadows. With the introduction of a log mode, namely Apple LOG for the latest iPhone 15 Pro & Max this situation has changed. With LOG, there is now the required consistency for a rigorous test.

So, let’s jump right into it – or not? Well, it’s not so easy to be honest, because we always try to stick to some very rigid principles in our testing.

So first, at that point again a very big “thank you” for the nice collaboration with my colleague Florian Milz. Especially when testing the front facing camera things got a bit complicated but he will always find a way …

Challenge accepted: adjusting CineD Lab Test standard to iPhone 15 Pro

Coming back to our rigid standards, for one, we always try to use the same Zeiss 50mm CP2 T/2.1 macro lens for APS-C cameras, or the Zeiss 85mm T1.5 lens for full frame cameras. Using these focal lengths ensures a certain distance from the Xyla 21 stepchart (or subject in the latitude test) to avoid internal reflections from the chart which might impact lower stops in the dynamic range evaluation.

Please have a look at our article here explaining how we measure dynamic range.

Secondly we always do a proper research to find out native ISO’s of sensors, and then obviously dial in the white balance, shutter, ISO and focus plane manually to ensure consistency.

Now to item one, on the iPhone 15 Pro there are 13mm, 24mm and 77mm equiv. focal lengths available on the three different back facing cameras. On the iPhone 15 Pro Max there is a 120mm focal length instead of the 77mm. Strangely, for the front facing camera there is no focal length mentioned. So you will get all results from us below, with the exception of the 13mm camera. We found just too much reflection from the XYLA 21 chart using this camera.

Blackmagic Camera App to the rescue

To the second point, the native Apple camera app does not provide any possibility to set manual parameters. So we had to resort to the Blackmagic Camera app which allows exactly that. Settings in the app for all the lab tests were Apple Log and 4K ProRes HQ.

The Blackmagic App taps into the hardware image pipeline hence it receives the same information that the native Apple camera app has. Also, we had to find out what the native ISO on each of the four camera’s sensors (including the front facing one) is.

Ahead of our Lab Test, we were able to determine that the lowest ISO (which is different on each of the 4 cameras) is always the cleanest (native) ISO. Higher ISO’s would just push up the code values thus resulting in brighter images, but also noisy shadows. However, higher ISO’s also bring up the difference between lower stops in Apple Log, so there is a potential benefit of shooting at higher ISO’s if separation in darker stops is needed.

Perfect. Time to get going, right?

Rolling Shutter of the iPhone 15 Pro / Max Cameras

Let’s start with the iPhone 15 Pro 24mm camera. Using our 300Hz strobe light we get 5.3ms (less is better) of rolling shutter:

The 13mm camera reads 4.7ms, the 77mm camera 5ms and the 120mm camera (Max) again 5ms. The front facing camera reads 9.3ms to our surprise:

Comparing these full sensor read out values to recent consumer or even professional cinema cameras, the ~5ms is a superb result. There is only one camera in the market that tops it: the Sony Venice 2 with less than 3ms. Alternatively, there are global shutter camera options that have 0ms like the RED KOMODO (and most likely, the newly announced Sony a9 III full frame camera which comes with a global shutter – but we have yet to get our hands on this camera to verify this).

Dynamic Range of the iPhone 15 Pro / Max

Let me quickly repeat again why we have 3 ways to judge the dynamic range of a camera:

• The waveform plot of the Xyla 21 chart at native sensor resolution on a timeline with that resolution: this gives a visual indication of how many stops can be identified above the noise floor (= the usable stops). Also, it shows the code value distribution of the stops. Very often, the lower stops are very close together in terms of code value (the Y – axis), hence if you underexpose and raise the shadows later in post (i.e. expanding the shadow stops), you will not have enough code values between the stops and the result is ugly banding (loss of fine color transitions between the stops).
• IMATEST: IMATEST will calculate the signal to noise ratio for each stop. That is a purely mathematical calculation and comes in handy to identify, how “clean” each of the stops is. Cameras that use a lot of internal noise reduction naturally fare better than others with less noise reduction. There is no way to account for that in a meaningful way, as the noise footprint of every camera / sensor is different. Hence, there is also no “standard” noise reduction that you can apply in post to compare cameras. That’s why we at CineD always turn off the noise reduction – as recommended by IMATEST.
• Latitude: exposure latitude is the capability of a camera to retain colors and detail when over- or underexposed. Our CineD studio scene is the real world test (in a controlled environment) of how far a camera can be pushed. The beauty of this test is that it clearly reveals how many stops are usable in our carefully composed standard scene, as the playfield gets equalized – and, it is revealed if a camera is “cheating” by using excessive internal noise reduction. No matter how much internal / or post noise reduction is used, cameras that show a solid 12 stops at a signal-to-noise ratio of 2 typically have 8 stops of latitude in our scene. Cameras like the ARRI ALEXA that show 2 stops more at SNR = 2 also have two stops more latitude. Cameras that try to achieve something close to 12 stops at SNR = 2 by using heavy internal noise reduction only show 6 – 7 stops of latitude.

So, this trinity of tests is very revealing and helps to identify if the combination of sensor readout, signal processing, and codec allows to push exposure around over a large range.

iPhone 15 Pro 24mm camera at ISO55 – dynamic range

The waveform shows around 11 stops above the noise floor. Speaking of which, there is almost no such thing as a noise floor – everything is super clean, hinting at massive noise reduction happening internally (there is no way to turn this “off”):

Wow, 11 stops are really good. Now let’s run this through IMATEST:

We are getting 12 stops of dynamic range in the iPhone 15 Pro (Max) for a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 1, and the same 12 stops for a signal to noise ratio of 2. Also for the “slope based DR”. This is a clear sign of “too much” noise processing for IMATEST to calculate a meaningful result. It also becomes obvious in the lowest diagram where “Noise (% of max pixel)” is shown. Noise values for the shadow stops are super low.

Now let’s increase ISO to see if we get some differentiated result with IMATEST. Looking at ISO1200, we get the following waveform for the 24mm camera:

Comparing this waveform at ISO1200 to the waveform at ISO55 you can see clearly how the code values (Y-axis) are shifted upwards to increase brightness in the image. Now also the darker stops are more differentiated and you can see a 12th stop emerging. It will be interesting to see if the latitude test will reflect this difference as well.

IMATEST calculates (higher) 13.4 stops at SNR = 2 and 13.4 stops at SNR = 1.

Just looking at these results could lead you to conclude that the iPhone 15 Pro reaches ARRI Alexa levels of dynamic range (have a look at our ARRI ALEXA classic and Mini LF test here and our ALEXA 35 test here). Well…

My conclusion so far is that IMATEST mainly measures the noise reduction, and not so much the “real” dynamic range. We will have clarity once we move to the latitude section. Spoiler alert: at the end of the day it is a cell phone with tiny sensors …

Here is a table of IMATEST results for the other cameras of iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max:

Exposure Latitude results of the iPhone 15 Pro Max

As described earlier, latitude is the capability of a camera to retain colors and details when over / underexposed and pushed back to a base reference level.

For our CineD studio tests, the base exposure level refers to a luma waveform value of around 60% on the forehead of my dear colleague Johnnie. We always establish the clipping level first by overexposing until the red channel is at the cusp of clipping on the forehead of our subject. This means that some colors have already clipped on the colorchecker on the left. From there we then underexpose in 1 stop increments. We did this via the Blackmagic app using the shutter value (1/30s, 1/60s, etc…). As mentioned earlier everything was shot in Apple Log and 4K ProRes HQ on the iPhone Pro Max phone (at the time of exposure testing we only had this one available).

For the iPhone 15 tests we used the 24mm and the front facing camera, and we checked exposure levels in the RGB waveform. The beauty is that an external monitor can be connected as a visual reference:

Now, to develop the shots we used DaVinci Resolve 18.6, via a color space transform (CST, from REC2020 and Apple Log to REC709). Adjustments to exposure or noise reduction were always made on the first node, the second node then did the CST:

24mm at ISO55 – our base exposure looks like that:

Now, at ISO55 can go to 3 stops over and bring back the image to base exposure in post (using the lift / gamma / gain primaries in DaVinci Resolve 18.6) without any issues:

Now, moving to two stops of underexposure and bringing back the image in post, we get already a rather noisy image:

This is already at the cusp of being usable. Let’s push it one stop more:

Uhh … that doesn’t look good. We have reached the latitude limit. Massive banding can be seen, as well as a very blotchy chroma noise distribution. Image sharpness is lost as well. Also, the concentric circles hint at an in – camera vignetting compensation.

If our suspicion, derived from the IMATEST results is right we will not be able to do much with noise reduction, as the image is already heavily noise processed by default.

Hence, let’s apply noise reduction to the 2 stops under and 3 stops under images:

Please have a look further down in the article for a table of the noise reduction settings applied in DaVinci Resolve 18.6 for the various ISO’s and cameras.

Concluding for the 24mm camera at ISO55, we get 5 stops of exposure latitude (3 above to 2 under). This is actually 2 if not 3 stops below the current crop of consumer APS-C or full frame cameras. Comparing it to the aforementioned ARRI Alexa Mini LF, it is 5 stops less exposure latitude. And compared to the Alexa 35, the difference is even seven stops.

Now let’s have a look at higher ISO’s for the 24mm camera – at ISO1200

As mentioned earlier in the dynamic range section, we noticed the phenomenon that at higher ISO’s code values would shift up and the lower (darker) stops would show a bit more differentiation resulting in potentially less banding.

Let’s directly move to the 3 stops under image, for ISO1208 and 24mm camera:

Well, this actually looks a bit better than at ISO55. Still, I would not consider this usable.

Now let’s look at the front facing camera starting with ISO55

We couldn’t use the lowest of ISO 20 as it was not possible to clip the forehead of Johnnie with our standard studio lighting.

Again, 3 stops overexposure from base is easily possible, so lets move directly to 2 stops under:

Interestingly, the front facing camera has a different, more organic image processing, also the noise is a bit finer, not so blotchy (especially the chroma noise) as with the 24mm camera.

This image cleans up nicely again:

Let’s see if we can push this to 3 stops under:

This looks better actually than the 24mm at 3 stops under, even at ISO1200.

Now, let’s do one more test at 3 stops under, using ISO1207 on the front facing camera:

It becomes very obvious that the noise is much finer, especially the chroma noise. However, there is much more luma noise in the image. So let’s apply noise reduction:

Ok, this is still not usable unfortunately. There is less of the blotchy chroma noise and much more luma noise, but overall there is a pinkish tint and the image is still not usable.

As a summary, we can conclude that the iPhone 15 Pro / Max is capable of 5 stops of exposure latitude, with some wiggle room towards 6 at higher ISO’s.

Summary

Quite a funny experience to run a phone through our lab tests! The rolling shutter is exceptionally good on the iPhone 15 Pro / Max, with around 5ms for all cameras, the front facing camera has 9.3ms which is still very good. Perfect for handheld video shooting.

Looking at the waveforms and the iPhone 15 Pro dynamic range in IMATEST, at first glance you could be tricked into believing the very high values that are displayed. In the end it turns out that those high IMATEST values are achieved with a really high internal noise reduction, confirmed by the latitude results of 5 stops (which is on the very low end in our benchmark). Recent Micro four thirds cameras like the GH6 have seven stops of exposure latitude, consumer APS-C cameras like the FUJIFILM X-H2S or the Sony A6700 have 8 stops and the leader of the pack, the ARRI Alexa 35 has 12 stops to give you the benchmark of our testing.

Nevertheless, we have to keep things in perspective – we are talking about a phone with tiny image sensors … So all due respect to Apple in bringing Apple Log with 4k ProRes HQ encoding to their latest phones, which opens up a lot of possibilities for creators. It will only get better from here. Exciting.

Have you shot video on the iPhone 15 Pro / Max? What are your experiences? Please let us know in the comments section below.