Along with the new VENICE Extension System Mini, Sony has also announced the VENICE 2 v.4.0 Firmware Update. This new update which will be available in August (the same time the VENICE Extension System Mini is set to start shipping) adds features such as EL Zone and the ability to add up to three different colored frame lines at the same time.
EL Zone on the VENICE 2 will be able to be applied in the viewfinder and on the monitor outputs. According to its creator Ed Lachman ASC, the implementation into the VENICE 2 is the best use of the technology he has seen so far.
What is the EL Zone exposure system?
The EL Zone exposure system which was designed by cinematographer Ed Lachman, ASC, is an innovative tool for displaying exposure values using stops. EL Zone is similar to false color, however, it allows for higher precision, greater consistency, and more intuitive on-set communication.
EL Zone can be found in SmallHD monitors that are running the latest PageOS 6 operating system. EL Zone is only possible to use if you are feeding your SmallHD monitor a Log signal. It doesn’t work if you are inputting a signal with a LUT or Look enabled.
How is it different from False Color?
False color and waveform assist tools are based on IRE values, which track percentages in voltage. False color works by comparing the relative luminance values by sampling data on a colored scale. This colored scale represents IRE values from 0 to 100%. The IRE scale (false color) was developed way back in the 1950s by The Institute of Radio Engineers.
The problem with false color on most monitors is that it isn’t mapped to any particular camera and nothing is standardized. Different monitors and cameras show false color in different ways.
EL Zone is a system based on 18% gray, which is a universal standard for photography. This way your camera can be your lightmeter or you could also use an external lightmeter as they will be consistent with each other. One of the nice aspects of EL Zone is that you can take a frame grab of a scene to precisely match exposure and lighting later on if you need to do repeat lighting set-ups, maintain consistency, or even do re-shoots.
What cameras & equipment utilize EL Zone?
Maybe a lot of our readers won’t know this, but EL Zone was incorporated into the Panasonic VariCam LT and 35 via a firmware update that was released back in April 2021. To my knowledge, these were the only cameras that previously utilized EL Zone, apart from the Sigma fp and fp L which received the feature just recently in a firmware update. SmallHD PageOS 6, as I already mentioned, and Colourlab Ai also utilize EL Zone. I think that adoption is going to continue and I think we may well find more cameras and software starting to use it in the future.
So how do you use EL Zone?
EL Zone has 15 delineated zones in 1 stop increments plus + – ½ increments above and below 18% gray for setting precise skin tones and other exposure values. Seeing values in stops makes a lot more sense than seeing IRE values.
It is easy to use because 18% gray is gray, over-exposure is white, and under exposure is black. I like how this has been implemented because the values make sense. White for overexposure, black for under-exposure, and grey for 18% grey.
Each stop or zone is displayed as a solid color which makes it very easy to identify the exact stop value. This makes it more precise than false color because you are seeing accurate representations of stops above and below middle gray. While false color is a good tool for setting middle grey, skin tones, and displaying if anything is being clipped, it doesn’t offer as much information as EL Zone does.
Because EL Zone shows exposure values for an entire scene, it makes light level adjustments a lot easier. If you are communicating with a gaffer, this gives you precise readings that you can see directly from a monitor. While you could certainly still walk around with a light meter to get readings, with EL Zone a lot of the information for your scene is displayed straight in front of you on one screen.
