In PP CS5.5 or RedCineX, is it BETTER to Raise ISO or Exposure ??

[George D.]

When adjusting a R3D RAW shot in PP CS5.5 in Source Settings, or RedCineX, and you want to lighten up the scene, is it better to raise the ISO or the exposure?

If you want a larger DOF when shooting a scene, but to achieve that, while keeping an ISO of 800, you end up underexposing the shot, it seems to me that you could, later in post, bring up the scene to acceptable levels while still maintaining the original DOF. So, in post, is it better to raise the ISO or the exposure?

In the days of film, choices like this were not possible because of the detrimental effects it had on the end results. With R3D files this is not the case. Therefore, I just want to be clear on the proper approaches to achieve this.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback, comments, or suggestions.

Thanks for your time.

.

[Stefan Scherperel]

While you have some leeway to fix exposure in post, it is not recommended. You will still have detrimental effects if you miss the exposure of a shot, meaning you will add noise. Keep in mind that while ISO 800 may be the sweet spot for the sensor, the native ISO is still 320. If you expose correctly at ISO 800 it will give you a lot of head room when developing your shot, however if you underexpose at iso 800, you will be risking adding a lot of noise.
As far as the proper way to lighten footage, I start first with ISO to get my shot into the ballpark of where I want the exposure to be. From there I usually will do some fine tweaking with brightness and then curves. If I am developing to RED log film, I try and get my histogram in the center using ISO, brightnes and then adjust with contrast. I don't think there is any solid "correct" way of brightening the scene, all of the tools available are there for you to use and adjust to taste.
Just keep in mind that just because you are shooting with the RED MX, it does not mean that there is no penalty for upping ISO or underexposing a shot. There most certainly is.

[Steve Marshall]

Main exposure adjustments should come from using FLUT, which is a very fine control of the ISO