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EOSHD Pro Color 3.0 for

Sony Cameras
Instruction guide by Andrew Reid

Version 3.0 / 2017a

© EOSHD / Andrew Reid 2017

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Introduction
What is EOSHD Pro Color?
EOSHD Pro Color is an improvement to the default Sony color science resulting in much better color and
image quality straight out of the camera.

It is designed to deliver a final look, which can go straight into the edit and straight out with the finished
video. There’s no professional color grading required with Pro Color, so it’s faster to deliver the final result.

This guide is all you need to apply Pro Color; there is no need to load a settings file onto the camera (Sony
stills cameras do not have this feature). The settings are entered manually once and then saved.

Tip: You can also use EOSHD Pro LOG or S-LOG for when you want to use a LUT or grade the image
yourself (more information on EOSHD Pro LOG can be found here: http://www.eoshd.com/pro-log)

Sony’s default color

The default color profiles on Sony cameras are based on quite outdated standards, old TV formats and
standard definition video displays. In addition, Sony’s tuning of these Rec.709 standards doesn't quite
seem to have an artist’s vision applied at any stage of the development process.

Meanwhile Canon’s color has set somewhat of a benchmark. It has a green and blue channel optimised for
landscapes and places, with a red channel that flatters skin tones and brings out a healthy look to people.
Whereas with Sony’s default color, skin tones often have a dead-feel or a yellow look, or too much green,
or too much magenta! Finding the balance is the key and adding a more aesthetic approach to the
underlying color “science”. That’s where an experienced filmmaker comes in handy, and I have been fine
tuning color on my Sony cameras for several years.

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With EOSHD Pro Color I set out to fix various bugs and problems with Sony’s default styles, such as
green-clipping to bright blue highlights, reds turning orange, and various other faults.

After applying Pro Color your camera will deliver realistic color (not over-stylised but more cinematic than
before), instantly satisfying results which more closely resemble an EOS picture profile than Sony one.

Above: Susanna, shot on the Sony a7S II with EOSHD Pro Color 3.0

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Some of the theory behind EOSHD Pro Color
The Sony cameras allow you to change the luminosity of colors one by one (red, blue, green, magenta,
yellow and cyan) as well as other extensive, but confusing, controls in the advanced picture profiles. Even
if you understand the purpose of each individual setting, they interact with one another and there are
1000’s of different combinations. We can select from many different gamma curves, but which is the most
pleasing? And with what combination of color mode, knee and black level? What gives consistently good
results across all shooting scenarios?

I spent years testing and shooting to find out.

I find there is more separation in the greens and blues on a Canon cameras out-of-the-box, leading to
more realistic green foliage, skies and landscapes. For instance, if the luminosity of the blue channel is too
high, a blue sky can turn a neon cyan which happens far too often with the default Sony profiles the way
they are set up out of the box. The Leica M9 with Kodak CCD sensor for instance also does a deeper blue
along with other satisfying traits that can be mimicked on a Sony sensor with the right knowhow.

With skin and faces you get to see every imperfection with a Sony camera, from dark reds to grey-yellows
under the eyes but the Canon trick appears to be a more forgiving and flattering approach to faces and
skin, in particular with the red channel.

What this tells us is that Sony’s adherence to absolute numbers and figures in a technical calibration does
not always give us the most pleasing image to look at.

Sometimes a dominant light source will simply take over the image on Sony’s default settings, turning the
cast of blue light on the street at dusk for example muddy brown or even green. EOSHD Pro Color
changes the approach and if the automatic white balance causes issues on a shoot for you, I describe 3
recommended custom temperatures to switch between (depending on whether you’re shooting indoors or
outdoors, day or night), to maintain the real ambience of the scene lighting.

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Advantages of EOSHD Pro Color 3.0
• Skintones, faces and people given a more flattering treatment
• Truer, deeper reds
• Greater separation of green hues for more natural looking foliage and landscapes
• Greater separation of blue hues for better skies and better cool tones under warm lights
• Smoother and more film-like roll off to highlights and shadows
• Reduced color clipping (prevents a blue object turning turquoise or green in bright light)
• 3 profiles to choose from in-camera, depending on creative choices

Official sample video

https://vimeo.com/233905206


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Camera compatibility
Pro LOG is designed to work with the following models:

• Sony A7S II
• Sony A7R II
• Sony A99 II
• Sony A7S & A7 II
• Sony A6300 / A6500
• Sony FS5
• Sony RX100 IV / V
• Sony RX10 II / III / IV

Sony cameras which lack advanced picture profile capabilities are not compatible, such as the RX100
I,II,III, A9, old A7R, old A7S, A6000 and RX10 M1.


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The EOSHD Pro Color Settings

Please keep the following information confidential.

With version 3.0, there are now three EOSHD Pro Color profiles to choose from. You can dial all of these
into your camera and switch between them. I recommend testing each one and seeing which you prefer for
a given shoot.

PP1 - EOSHD Pro Color (Original)

The original EOSHD Pro Color profile. Medium contrast with improved dynamic range in low light
conditions and a gentle highlight roll-off.


PP2 - EOSHD Pro Color XR (Extended Range)

Vivid color and contrast for all-round shooting, with bright whites using full RGB range. Some
scenes may benefit from setting white point to 235 with the supplied LUT to reveal more highlight
detail.

PP3 - EOSHD Pro Color DW (Deep Warmth)

Gives deeper orange tones and golden yellows, eliminating the greenish yellow cast to skin tones
under warm incandescent light indoors. Other benefits are improved gold tones, golden-orange
fiery tones instead of a weak yellow flame under candle light and improved sunset tones. Some red
objects may feature a slight magenta cast.

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PP1 - Settings for EOSHD Pro Color (Original)
Black Level = -15
Gamma = Cine2
Black Gamma = Middle (0)
Knee = Manual (Point 100% / Slope 0)
Color Mode = S-Gamut3.Cine (if not available select S-Gamut)
Saturation = +32
Color Phase = +2
Color Depth = R:+4 / G:+4 / B:+4 / C:0 / M:-4 / Y:0
Detail = -7

PP2 - Settings for EOSHD Pro Color XR

Black Level = +5
Gamma = Still
Black Gamma = Wide (+7)*
Knee = Manual (Point 100% / Slope 0)
Color Mode = S-Gamut3.Cine (if not available select S-Gamut)
Saturation = +28
Color Phase = +2
Color Depth = R:+4 / G:+4 / B:+4 / C:0 / M:-4 / Y:+2
Detail = -7

* Select Middle +7 on FS5


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PP3 - Settings for EOSHD Pro Color Deep Warmth
Black Level = +5
Gamma = Still
Black Gamma = Middle (0)
Knee = Manual (Point 100% / Slope 0)
Color Mode = Cinema
Saturation = +10
Color Phase = +4
Color Depth = R:+4 / G:+4 / B:+4 / C:0 / M:-4 / Y:+4
Detail = -7

Complete list of profiles currently available from EOSHD:

This is how I have my cameras setup at EOSHD:

PP1 - EOSHD Pro Color (Original)

PP2 - EOSHD Pro Color XR (Extended Range)
PP3 - EOSHD Pro Color Deep Warmth (Optimised for warm lighting tones)
PP4 - EOSHD Pro LOG Cinema (designed to match Canon LOG)
PP5 - EOSHD Pro LOG S (S-LOG 2 based)

PP6 - Reserved / experimental
PP7 - Reserved / experimental

Further profiles are available with EOSHD Pro LOG, available now…

http://www.eoshd.com/pro-log

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Picture Profiles Settings Advice
The settings are detailed in the guide as Sony does not allow color settings to be loaded from a file.

To apply the settings, dial exactly as stated above into the Picture Profiles menu under the PP1 and PP2
presets. You may use a different slot (PP2, PP3, etc.) if PP1 is already occupied (with EOSHD Pro Color
for example).

On the Sony Alpha and RX stills cameras the Picture Profiles are located in the Main Menu. On the Sony
FS5, Picture Profiles are located in the CAMERA/PAINT menu.

For automatic white balance, the AWB “Ambient” mode is recommended on newer Sony cameras (A99 II,
A6500, etc.) with EOSHD Pro Color.

The EOSHD Highlight and Shadow Recovery LUT

Two LUTs are included with this download. If you notice missing details in the highlights or crushed blacks,
it may be beneficial to try the following LUTs with EOSHD Pro Color 3.0 footage. These are strictly
optional.

Sony-0-235-Highlight-Fix.cube
Attempts to recover missing highlight data if your NLE interprets the 0-255 Sony XAVC-S footage
incorrectly.

Sony-16-235-HL-Shadow-Fix.cube
Attempts to recover both shadow and highlight data, which may be missing if your NLE interprets the
footage incorrectly.


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Optional extra settings

Custom White Balance
As well as setting the white balance temperature (or leaving it on auto), the Sony cameras allow you to
adjust the color-tone of white balance, using a shift between blue (B) and amber (A) on a horizontal scale
and green (G) and magenta (M) on a vertical scale. As Sony cameras tend to go for a clinically, technically
correct white when your eyes are telling you that the light in the scene gives an attractive color cast to the
subjects and surfaces it’s illuminating, EOSHD Pro LOG Cinema can sometimes benefit from a warmer
white balance shifted away from the default Sony green/yellow bias.

Also, some of the newer cameras have an Ambient White Balance mode. I recommend to enable this or
dial the setting below into the camera white balance adjustment menu (Sony Alpha and RX only).

For warmer tones, select Custom White Balance Adjustment = A-B: A3 / G-M: M1

You can also make the image cooler by moving the dot towards the blue corner of the adjustment chart.


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A cut out and keep guide to custom white balance in natural light
If using preset manual white balance on your Sony camera, use roughly the correct temperature
compensation for the given shooting circumstances…

2500K-3200K - Indoor light, keep white

Coldest look to warm indoor light, removes orange tone of warm ambient light from all subjects in the room
especially white surfaces

3300k-3600k - Indoor light, keep ambience

Warmer look to warm indoor light as the eye sees it, keeps ambience. White objects will no longer be
white, but take on the warmer cast of the light source nearby.

Approx. 4400k - Coolest look to outdoor sunlight

Usually used outdoors. Indoor incandescent light and most electronic light outdoors at night may look too
warm at 4400k, unless scene is in a heavily shaded or very dark part of a room. Too cold for most outdoor
light so I prefer to use 5600k onwards outdoors.

5600k - Most scenes shot in direct sunlight

Mostly a good match for shooting under natural light during the day.

6000-8000k - Cloud, shade, evening light

If shooting in the shade, or on a cloudy day, 5600k will look too cool and it will be necessary to go higher.
Also in twilight / dusk conditions, 8000k is often necessary.


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Using manual white balance instead of auto
EOSHD Pro LOG works fine with auto-white balance but under certain shooting conditions you can get
even better results and more creative control with a manually set white balance.

(These instructions only apply to the Sony stills camera).

In the white balance menu, three custom presets are available and you can apply different white balances
to these to vary the warmness or coolness of the shot in typical interior lighting conditions. This is useful if
the automatic white balance applies a temperature which looks too orange, or too cold.

Step 1. Scroll down to Custom Setup.

Step 2. Press “Set” whilst the camera is pointed at an interior light (tungsten or LED lightbulb) until you get
3600K (you may need to point the camera at a darker, shaded area of the room) and assign to Custom 1.
A lower temperature than 3600K will render a clinical, cooler look to interior scenes. If this is your creative
intent, try for a white balance of between 3200K and 2800K.

Step 3. As step 2, set Custom 2 but this time try to obtain 4300K from a shaded area of the room, or from
an area of the room lit also by the light from an exterior window. Repeat for Custom 3 (5600K).

Step 4. You may also need to use a custom white balance of approximately 7500k outdoors, on a cloudy
day. Before recording, set a Custom white balance in the same way as the previous steps but outdoors
under shade or cloud. For sunny weather, try 5600K.

Select Custom 1 for indoor situations / tungsten light. Select Custom 2 for a warmer ambience indoors.
Select Custom 3 for daylight exterior scenes. You may also select a Custom Temperature of your choice or
dial the C.Temp./Filter (Kelvin) for a cooler shot indoors or a warmer shot outdoors. Custom 2 (4300K) can
also be used in daylight if you want a cooler daylight tone than given by Custom 3.

I also recommend assigning the white balance menu to a custom function key so you can quickly toggle
between Custom 1 to 3 during a shoot.

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What is white balance?

Different light source give a different temperature of light, from the white glare of the sun to the warm tones
of fire or a incandescent lightbulb.

White objects and surfaces, such as a wall painted white, are given an ambient tone that’s different
depending on the light source, and the same goes for everything else. An actor’s face lit by a bonfire for
example has an orange glow. The camera engineer’s intention of white balance is to get rid of the ambient
light temperature and reproduce the subject as they actually are, for example a white wall should be white.

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Creatively this might not be what we want, so we have various in-camera options to keep the ambient color
cast from the light source on our subject.

The color of light varies so much that we must always apply some form of white balance to the image. If
we just shot at one white balance, then either interior scenes would be completely orange and outdoor
scenes correct, or outdoor scenes would be completely blue and interior scenes ok.

The camera can automatically adjust for this, but also offer manual control of the color temperature
compensation applied to the image by the white balance system. Filmmakers use different kinds of light to
give different moods, styles and feels to a scene. To stop the camera overriding this mood, sometimes it is
necessary to dial in the exact white balance we want.

On some Sony cameras there is a recently added Ambience Priority white balance mode, which Canon
cameras have been using for years. This prevents the camera from rendering a clinical image and keeps
some of the natural color cast from the light on the subject. It typically produces a ‘warmer’ looking image
indoors, to match what the human eye sees.

The human visual system also has it’s own white balance system, which adapts to the temperature of light
in much the same way the camera does. That’s why if you turn Night Shift on on your Mac, your eyes
adapt to it over time and whites look normal again - until you turn it off suddenly and now the screen gives
out a harsh blue/white glare until your brain once again adjusts to the change.

Different lighting falls roughly into three categories. There’s indoor tungsten or LED light at giving a yellow/
orange cast. Approximately 3200K helps balance this and stops things looking too hot. When we set the
camera’s white balance system to 3200K we are making the image cooler to compensate for the warm
cast. Since it is often important to maintain the ambience of this light (depending on what the script calls
for, at least) I prefer to use 3600K, giving a warmer look that is truer to how the human eye sees the scene.

3600K is also the setting I use for shooting night scenes out in the city, under whatever electric light is
available. Cooler than this and you tend to get a more clinical look which is useful depending on the
creative choices you’re making and the mood called for by the script.

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Daylight is balanced at 5200K but varies hugely, depending on shade, the weather and other factors.
4300k is usable outdoors for a cooler tone (like a winter scene), but generally I use 5600k for almost all
outdoor shoots in natural light. In cloudy conditions it’s necessary to increase from 5600k to 7000k or even
8000k if you want a very warm sun-drenched look to sunny weather footage.

The Sony cameras store up to 3 custom white balance temperatures. Rather than dialling in the numbers
you have to point the camera at an actual scene to set the white balance temperature for that particular
light.

Other recommended camera settings

File format XAVC S 4K (24p or 25p 100M for cinematic image quality)
Soft Skin Effect OFF
High ISO NR ON (Low)
Gamma Disp. Assist OFF
Monitor Brightness Manual (0 or higher)

Mode dial advice

In both Movie mode and P/S/A/M stills mode, video is recorded to an identical standard of 4K, however live
view is handled differently. When the dial is set to Movie you get a more responsive record button and no
gamma shift between live view and recording. But if the mode dial is set to a stills mode like “M” or “A” you
get several more advantages including:

• Sharper magnified focus assist

• Faster AF for setting up a shot
• Faster screen and EVF refresh rate
• Ability to reel off photos on the main shutter button

Tip: to ensure the correct aspect ratio is displayed for video in P/S/A/M mode select 16:9 in the main menu
for Aspect Ratio (stills).


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Sony’s settings explained

A7S / A7R II: S-Gamut vs S-Gamut3.Cine
S-Gamut3.Cine produces improvements to the color tone of reds, oranges and yellows. Older cameras
such as the A7S and A7R II only have the original S-Gamut color mode. If you are dissatisfied with the look
of warm hues and reds on these cameras and wish to get rid of a yellow-cast to skin, please try the Deep
Warmth Profile or make the following adjustments to the other profiles:

Color Mode = Cinema

Color Phase = +4
Saturation = +15

What is Color Depth?

This setting controls the luminance (brightness) levels for each color. In Sony’s terminology, the lower
number (-7) is actually increasing the luminance (brightness) of a color (for example red becomes pink or
blue becomes cyan) and higher numbers make colors deeper (for example yellow become gold).

To take the example of blue, using -7 will destroy the deep blue hues of a sky. Therefore I have increased
the setting for blue (B) to +4. For red (R), increasing the setting to +7 results in deeper, darker red tones.

The primaries such as red, blue and yellow benefit from deeper luminance, whereas colors that tend to be
lighter in character such as magenta (pink) and cyan (light blue) benefit from brighter luminance.

Yellow influences several other hues such as lime-green in foliage / grass and golden oranges. Setting
yellow to -7 leads to less dynamic range and clipping. A modest increase of between +2 and +4 is
recommended, although there’s a small trade off - bright yellows and lemon-shades may look a little bit
darker than in real-life.

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Reds benefit from +4 color depth (darker) to reduce the salmon-tone or orange look to deep red objects in
the scene when they are under bright lighting (typical with Sony cameras). Equally, blues benefit from +4
color depth for more dynamic range in bright skies and more accurate blue-grey tones and to reduce the
clipping to neon turquoise tones with bright blue and neon-blue lights. Using S-Gamut or S-Gamut3.Cine
as the color mode also reduces color clipping.

Saturation
Sony recommends higher color saturation for low-contrast gamma curves (such as Cine4) and lower
saturation for high-contrast gamma curves (such as Stills). Dark and vivid images are more filmic than
bright and vivid, so the theory goes, with the appearance of more dynamic range. The actual saturation
level on Sony’s cameras also depends however on what Color Mode is selected, with S-Gamut having the
appearance of least saturation because it’s a wide gamut designed for post-production.

Color Phase
Color Phase rotates a digital color wheel function inside the camera to the left or right, with the colors
shifting along a spectrum from red to yellow, green, cyan, blue and back to magenta and red. This can
improve flesh-tones by shifting typical Sony yellow-green cast to a more pinkish hue under artificial light.
The trade off is that some red objects (like a deep red car) will get a slightly more magenta tint. Sony’s
cameras do not have a consistent color phase between models, with the A7S and A7S II for instance being
shifted to the left (yellow / green) and the newer models such as the A6500 and A99 II being shifted to the
right (red / magenta). This control can be used for more consistency between models and to improve skin-
tones in tandem with customised white balance settings.

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Black level / black gamma / knee
Black level is used to raise the black-point of the image, to reduce clipping of shadow detail and
compression macro-blocking in dark areas of the image. However when set too high, it will result in a milky
image with poor contrast and shadow definition - a balance is required.

Black gamma is used to adjust the contrast curve of the image. It works on the lower half of the contrast
curve (gamma curve) by pushing it down (for deeper blacks and more contrast) and pulling it up (for lighter
blacks and more shadow detail). The reference to Wide, Middle and Narrow refers to how much of the
contrast curve is adjusted, with narrow giving a steeper curve and wide giving a more gentle one towards
the mids and highlights. More of the mids will be adjusted by the black gamma level if the wide setting is
used.

Knee is a bit like the black gamma control but for the bright parts of the image. It can be used to avoid
clipping of highlight detail and also how soft or harsh the roll off to the highlights is. Auto mode disabled
Knee unless Movie or ITU709 Gamma mode is selected. In Manual Mode you can use 100% and Slope 0
to prevent highlight clipping with the other profiles (i.e. Cinema, Stills, etc.)

Detail levels, crispening, etc.

With 4K it isn’t necessary to add digital sharpness to an image as there is already enough real-detail
present in the image. Extra digital sharpness will lend a more video-style look and emphasise the digital-
nature of the picture. Therefore it is necessary to turn the detail level to -7 and to leave the rest of the detail
adjustments on Auto mode.

If set to manual you can control the type of digital sharpness applied to the image but since we do not
need to use this feature because of its detrimental impact on the image, we don’t need to know what the
settings do. Nevertheless I will explain each one -

V/H Balance - the digital sharpening algorithm can boost image edges by expanding them vertically up/
down or horizontally left/right.

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B/W Balance - the sharpening can be adjusted separately for black (low-brightness) and white (high-
brightness) areas. The edges of bright highlights for instance can be left along while the edges of details in
the shadows can be boosted.

Limit - This sets a limit for the B/W balance control. Too much black detail for example can emphasise skin
imperfections and too much white detail can introduce aliasing and strange artefacts to the highlights.

Crispening - This setting is used to prevent image noise from being emphasised. It works on parts of the
image that have the characteristic film-grain from the use of high ISOs. It is best to turn off all forms of
noise reduction for the most filmic detail reproduction.

Hi-Light Detail - This control is used to emphasise the edges of a brightly lit subject in front of a bright
background.

Shot with EOSHD Pro Color?

Share your footage with me!
I would love to see your footage on YouTube / Vimeo, shot with EOSHD Pro Color.

You can share it here on the EOSHD Forum:

http://www.eoshd.com/comments/forum/4-eoshd/

Where I check on a daily basis what other filmmakers have been up to.

The best footage will be featured on the blog (with your permission)!


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Want more?

EOSHD Pro LOG

For Sony Cameras
http://www.eoshd.com/pro-log

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EOSHD Pro LOG brings the Pro Color optimisations to a new LOG profile for Sony cameras.

It facilitates the use of film looks in post for an instant professional color grade.

Also included is an optimised S-LOG profile. Along with the two Pro LOG profiles, the download includes
25 EOSHD Film Looks (LUTs) for an instant cinematic look in post.

“Cinema98” LUT example:

Find out more at http://www.eoshd.com/pro-log

© EOSHD / Andrew Reid 2017