PREAMBLE: The Camera
Hi guys, I've found 3 DSLR under 4000$ to make low-light indoor wide angle shots for color-grading porpuse:
1. Canon 5D Mark III
-PROS: I can use 24mm f/1,4 low-light lenses without crop-factor
-CONS: 8bit 4:2:0 H.264 compressed files (is it so bad?)
2. Nikon D800 + Hyperdeck Shuttle2 or Atomos Ninja2
-PROS: Shuttle2 records 10bit 4:2:2 Uncompressed Quicktime files (from the 8bit HDMI Nikon out); or Ninja2 records 8bit 4:2:2 handy ProRes
-CONS: perhaps moiré effects with D800
3. Blackmagic Cinema Camera
-PROS: fine 12bit 4:2:2 CinemaDNG 2,5K files
-CONS: the narrow sensor seems not good for low-light, and the 2,4x crop-factor would require an ultra-wide 10mm f/2,8 lens that is not so fast
Perhaps... 5D Mark III is the best VDSLR with the worst codec; Blackmagic is the worst VDSLR with the best codec; D800+Shuttle/Ninja is in the middle.
But my target is to make good color-correction (DaVinci or Smoke?). Then I suppose also the codec is very important to me.
(Now I must admit that I'm a newbie in color-correction HD/2K workflow, so be patient!)
FIRST SCENARIO: starting with 8bit 4:2:0 H.264
1st_question: is it true that 8bit 4:2:0 H.264 is inapporpriate for NLE and color-grading (soppose that I use Smoke, so no-steps)?
2nd_question: if so, is it true that converting this native 8bit 4:2:0 compressed file into a bigger 10bit 4:4:4 ProRes/Uncompressed/TIFF improves the color-correction quality/management? (Even when the native is only 8bit 4:2:2?)
SECOND SCENARIO: Shuttle's 10bit 4:2:2 Uncompressed or with Ninja's 8bit 4:2:2 ProRes?
3rd_question: being Nikon's HDMI-out only 8bit 4:2:2, which one is more appropriate between Shuttle's 10bit 4:2:2 Uncompressed and Ninja's 8bit 4:2:2 ProRes?
4th_question: in spite of the dimention of the files, is editing directly with 10bit 4:2:2 Uncompressed Quicktime unhandy? (It requires a lot more GPU power than ProRes?)
THIRD SCENARIO: codec quality vs sensor quality
5th_question: do you think that the fine native 12bit 4:2:2 CinemaDNG 2,5K file is a good enough reason to prefer Blackmagic Cinema Camera over the others for color-grading purpose (in spite of its so-narrow crop sensor and the limit of f/2,8 of the 10mm super wide lenses)?
ULTIMATE QUESTION: HD to 2K-DPX workflow hypothesis
6th_question: which workflow do you prefer for "non-Red-HD-footage to 2K-DPX-film" through Editing + Color-grading softwares (for example Finalcut + DaVinci)?
For example, this is a solution by Saressh:
-Edit Native (NLE edits are non-destructive) with Proxy-and-Relink technique
-Output the edit to TIFF for grading
But when you have finished with DaVinci, it directly export the final DXP, or you have to do this final step into NLE again?
Why don't immediately export DXP from NLE instead of TIFF?
And is it horrible to directly export ProRes 4:4:4 from NLE for grading?
Do you prefer the suite solution (Premiere+Speedgrade) or the all-in-one solution (Autodesk Smoke)? (And which is the differences beetwen AAF vs OMF vs XML vs EDL?)
(As I said, guys, I'm a newbie, so please be patient and detailed
and help me! Thanks a lot, I'll appreciate all your replies!)