Is the dynamic range in video the same as when shooting photos?

[mirekti]

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Will I get the same dynamic range if I shoot a video at ISO 200 as with stills at ISO200?

Edited November 7, 2017 by mirekti

[Luke_Miller]

I have not shot video with my Leicas, but do a bit of video work with other cameras.  My experience is no.  Video files typically have fewer bits of color data than a jpeg image.  In my experience this greatly reduces the ability to pull out shadow detail or recover highlights.  While I can be pretty cavalier about nailing exposure with my stills, my video footage better be pretty close to the correct exposure.

[scott kirkpatrick]

That's right.  The codecs used for recording in camera encode the color in what is described as 8 bits per pixel.  Those cameras (Leica SL, for example) save 10 bits per pixel.  Because this range is limited, there are special codecs available (Leica calls its L-Log) which compress the image dynamical range and color saturation, so that more of the actual scene's range can be reconstructed in post-processing.

[scott kirkpatrick]

Too late for an edit:  The Leica SL has two recording modes -- 8 bits per pixel to the chip inside; 10 bits per pixel when you are using the HDMI cable output to an external recorder.  The M10 doesn't do video.  The M240 does, but I don't see any way to get an external signal out of it without an extension on the bottom, and I have never tried those.  So the M240 is probably saving in 8 bits per pixel.

[mirekti]

I wish they offered Log LUF mode as well. It would give a bit more dynamic range and flexibility in the post. 
I've been having this camera for four and the half years, and no got interested in video  

[Nick Bedford]

In my small experience capturing footage on the M 240, the image suffers a lot more from not only the 24-bit colour, it also loses colour resolution from being compressed and recorded at 4:2:0, which essentially means it throws away a lot of colour resolution that is deemed unnecessary for high compression rates.

 

For example, 1080p on my M 240 looks a lot softer than even my Sony RX100 V footage captured at the same resolution. If you had a direct downsample with minimal compression and full 4:4:4 colour resolution in the Leica video encoder, you would have a very sharp image, but sadly they don't record video at that level of quality

Edited November 11, 2017 by nickjbedford