miseducation

There's actually a video about Her's use of the C300, Canon interviewed Hoyte van Hoytema about it: He says they used it primarily in scenes where the actors had to hold the camera take shots of themselves and he was happy that he was able to do that with a camera that still has a decent amount of latitude. He says they shot on 800 ISO and up and realistically the c-series cameras were the only ones was out at the time that could go to toe-to-toe with the Alexa on low-light ability. Form factor is definitely Canon's strong suit in this generation of cameras so it's nice to see a cinematographer think backwards from the shot he wants to take. As for the C500 on the Wolf of Wall Street, NoFilmSchool had an article about how Scorsese used it primarily for the aerial scenes, thanks to its low-light advantages over film: http://nofilmschool.com/2012/12/martin-scorsese-loves-canon-right-camera-job/ Lastly, my comment on RED - I think Arri's dominance this year is more of a reflection of the MX sensor's relative obsolescence in terms of low-light ability when these films were shot (late 2012 to early 2013.) I'm no Red fanboy, but I would expect Dragon to help Red make its way back onto Hollywood productions.

This changes the game in so many ways, most practically in the versatility it allows on set.   And think about how interesting certain lenses become: my 50 1.2 is a 80 1.2 AND a 50 0.90. That's goddamn incredible.

Impressive test and write up Andrew, always interesting to hear how your relationship with each camera has evolved. In retrospect, a lot of what freaked us out about 5D3 initially was more endemic of the Japanese imaging industry. It's going to take someone like blackmagic to disrupt the expectations of consumers and I think most of us can gladly say its about damn time.

Potentially very stupid question for RED One: If I get a Nikon mount, can’t I just mount a Canon lens with a Nikon to Canon adapter?

A hack wouldn't cannibalize 1D-C sales from the high end shops that would be purchasing them anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if porting the firmware ends up being a relatively easy hack. Then again, its Canon.

I personally wasn't aware but the pre-order price at BH is $1299 - read some speculation earlier that it would be more and I'm pretty damn happy it isn't. [quote name='KarimNassar' timestamp='1347951588' post='18421'] Looks no better than the gh2 to me but I know I must not make a judgement on a single video, so I am not, and waiting for more footage. [/quote] Definitely looks better than GH2 to me and I think KahL is right in saying the footage looks more Canon-like. Its not a C300 or F3 but those ugly shadows seem fixed.

What do we know about the dynamic range? The French footage is the only non-graded stuff we've seen so far. It looks more like FS100 footage than GH2 but I can't really deduce anything specific from it. Also that really sucks about no peaking. Have we gotten a final confirmation on that?

No headphone jack on a 2k camera is despicable.

Do we know if it'll support autofocus on non STM lenses? A C100 with a 17-55 2.8 is a run and gun/corporate film dream. This announcement has thrown me for a loop, honestly.

At least one thing is for certain, my 5D isn't going to last the year as a part of my kit.

ND + Log + 4:2:2 (if that pans out) = really appealing little camera from Canon. If I had bought a C300 this year as an owner/operator I'd be furious. No 720p60 is a curious choice considering the FS700 as the main competitor but I guess that's Canon inability to give a fuck about its its competitors for you. Even if on paper there's no reason to like it over FS700 (hard to compare BMC for now, totally different beasts) I can't be the only person excited about being able to own a C300 I can afford.

While I appreciate the content Andrew, this comparison doesn't address a lot of the questions I have about the BMC. For all of its faults, my Mark III is predictable, easy to work with (especially compared to my hacked GH2 with some of the more space and SD card intense Driftwood patches) and I know how to make it sing. My clients still 'ooh' and 'ahh' as much as they ever did when they see my footage. Here's what I still want to know: What does a raw workflow really entail on a project by project basis? I can guess that I'm definitely going to need to increase the amount of media storage space. Does raw necessitate that I edit from an SSD to get any kind of usable speed? What about Resolve and rendering speeds associated with that? Am I going to have to upgrade my systems to handle it? I'll bear the burden for my shorts and music videos but is it worth working a corporate video in raw? I know the answer to those questions should be the ability to shoot in Pro Res and DNxHD but how does that performance compare to a MK3 or FS100? What about audio? Are the preamps quiet enough to work on their own or do they need a juicedlink beachtek type solution like MK3? Lastly - as amazing and exciting as a solution like the BMC is, I can't help but feel like this is only the beginning of the affordable raw revolution. I'm excited for the technology and what its going to do to our footage but does it make sense from a business standpoint to wait and see how the early adopters fare? And as fast as things are changing, will we see a sub-$5000 camera feature not only raw but maybe built-in ND and high speed capabilities in the next year?

[quote author=Andrew Reid link=topic=951.msg6952#msg6952 date=1341782777] [quote author=blindriver link=topic=951.msg6948#msg6948 date=1341781387] It does look pretty professional, but it indeed seems unlikely that a major manufacturer would give a prototype to EOSHD of all places[/quote] Why? [/quote] Take that as a compliment, your reviews can be pretty brutal. It's only hard to believe that a manufacturer would have the chutzpah to send a prototype to someone who wouldn't be afraid to tear it a new one.

Wishful thinking I know, but maybe updated firmware has something to do with it. Canon Rumors guy has said that new features are coming with the next firmware update. After the fiasco with the 650D clean HDMI time limit, its hard to believe the 5DIII's soft image is a technical limitation instead of a forced disadvantage.

AF makes sense considering the Facebook-loving parents that make up the Rebel line's target audience. That said, I think a lack of a headphone jack is a pretty clear signal to video enthusiasts Canon wants them to be purchasing something higher up the product chain. I'm guessing the 70D will have a headphone jack and at least some of the reduced noise/moire of the Mark III. Canon obviously want to start differentiating their product line between enthusiasts and people who will receive these cameras as a christmas gifts. I can't say that I blame them too much either, I made a good chunk of change with my old 550D and an AF-version of that entry-level DSLR look is more than enough for their target audience of Disney World documentarians. Here's hoping we see that C100 sooner rather than later.

[quote author=johnbauerphoto link=topic=613.msg4336#msg4336 date=1334840258] Right now I'm editing all my Mark 2 footage on a late 2009 iMac. native h264 or prores both work pretty flawlessly in Final Cut or Premiere Pro. [/quote] Resolve needs more than 2009 iMac only because of Cuda, which even new macs can't handle right. Processor/ram wise I think you'd be okay. For what its worth, even the hacked GH2 is a major resource hog and I intended to upgrade iMacs (I have the same model year) this year anyway. Thunderbolt and SSDs are going to do a lot of extend the lifetime of our macs this generation for video purposes so its probably a wise investment.

[quote author=Teddy B. link=topic=596.msg4058#msg4058 date=1334614163] Now, out of curiosity, can someone point me in the direction of a 12-bit, 2.5k reference monitor that doesn't cost more than the camera? ;) [/quote] Not that it counts as much of a reference monitor but the Apple Cinema Display 27 inch (and by extension the iMac and I think most of the other 27 inch monitors on the market) have a resolution pretty close to 2.5k.

[quote author=garypayton link=topic=596.msg4049#msg4049 date=1334610050] Repeat, the revolution will come the day they will have this approach : "hey, let's make a 35mm sensor...ok, 4:4:4 color workflow, with various lenses mounts to be used with every dirt cheap lens, different battery options and it must work fine at 3200 iso and finally LET'S TASTE EVERY FRAME on a cinema screen" And I'm pretty sure they can make something cheaper than 3000 [/quote] @garypayton that's exactly the wrong attitude to have about this. I want more and I want it cheaper. If they could've given you more for cheaper, they would have. Blackmagic have (hopefully) democratized latitude-rich, RAW, 12-bit images in one fell swoop. It isn't the answer to all of our low-budget dreams but it should certainly allow the clever and the skilled the opportunity to make images they never before could afford. That is to be applauded in its own right, not shouted back at with a list of demands. There's nothing wrong with being mad at a manufacturer when you feel they've purposely held something back (hence the anti-Canon bent of the past few months). Based on the stat sheet alone, its disingenuous to say that Blackmagic have held back on either features or price point.

Really, really exciting. They got so many awesome things right - elegant simple design, usable codecs, RAW!, 2.5k is far more appealing to me than 4k (room to crop vs. resolution for delivery format I'll never need). That said, I'm sure most of us would need to supplement this first generation version with a DSLR as a b-cam. Heavy crop factor + unlikely low-light prowess + poor battery life = very specific shooting conditions. Still, what a difference a few months make. If the image is as pretty as the spec sheet, I'd rather shoot a narrative with one of these babies and a low-light superhero (Mk III or FS100) than I would with just a Scarlet or C300 (at half the price too!) @halfmac - 5 inch screen with peaking is still a fairly capable monitoring solution. I'd take that over the simplicity of HDMI at any point. You're dead on about the battery though, I'm happy it brings a wall power unit for studio situations but it really does limit things substantially.

For what its worth, Shane Hurlbut is freaking out on twitter about how awesome the picture quality is. "The 4K can of whoop ass is about to hit NAB. One word describes the images from this camera FILM" (he's talking about the 1DC, not the C500)

Despite my not being able to own it at 10k, it is a pretty remarkable thing to be able to shoot 4K on a full frame sensor in a Canon workflow, especially if it writes to CF cards. The Scarlet is an exceptional creature but its 4K raw workflow with proprietary (and very expensive) media excludes it from rental consideration for me. A 4k cinema 1d becomes a very appealing rental option as an A-cam with this feature set, especially the log-profile.

As much as I love GH2's resolution and codec, I think you might be forcing the GH2 into this conversation. Resolution is one of the least important parts of why you'd choose to use a C300 or Alexa. You'd want the dynamic range, you'd want the insane low-light, the great skin tones, the flexibility of C-LOG or RAW. You can certainly get a shot on the GH2 that outdoes or matches the big dogs, but its a totally different look and you'd much more easily run into one of the GH2's limitations.

Just give me a headphone jack and I'll sign on the dotted line immediately. SD Card slot makes me so happy I won't have to buy a new cache of CF cards. @arknox weirdly this stopped happening to me when I got the Zacuto EVF. Before that I would just pre-empt the question by being like "yes, I know what this looks like but you have to see what comes out of this thing."

The GH2 is an amazing tool, I went from T2i to 2nd camera GH2 and I'm very happy with my purchase. That said, there is a lot to consider in your particular situation. A hacked GH2 is (as you mentioned) very, very sharp in comparison to aliased Canon footage. The other side of this coin is that people don't necessarily look as attractive as they would right out of the camera in your t2i. In my experience, hacked GH2 footage requires coloring and a little bit of getting to know the camera before people look as appealing as they do in the Canon right out of the camera. There is a Canon look and the 5D Mark II is still top notch in terms of getting the "nicest" picture with the least amount of work. Other considerations: - the flip up LCD screen vs. your static screen is a big plus. The EVF is also quite useful in this aspect. - the glass you own. If you have a lot of Canon glass without a manual aperture ring, having to shove the lens back in a Canon to open aperture is a real pain. Unless you have an arsenal of manual glass (Samyang 35 is a work horse!), its going to be a hellish workflow in the wedding world. - The wedding videography world is a depth of field frenzy these days. It's easier to get shallow DOF on a crop or FF sensor. Reverse here is that its also much easier to focus on your subject when they don't blur at the drop of a dime. The magnified crop is nowhere near as much of a pain as I thought btw. - GH2 black and white modes are incredible. B&W smooth turns out really stunning footage and you can take it to a really absurd level with the ISO hack. This is only a specific look but it is a nifty trick I would probably use if I filmed weddings. - The price of an increased bit rate. I use Quantum 100 (high but not highest quality) - it gives me about 40 minutes on a 32GB card. To have it span (meaning not stop after file size reached 4.2gb) I had to replace my memory cards with Sandisk Class 10 and above cards. Unless you already have fancy memory cards or you intend to only hack with one of the smaller bit rate hacks, be prepared to spend at least 200 dollars on new cards. I film corporate work, music videos and other applications where I have some time to set up my shots. I wanted something with a notable increase in quality from the Canon and I really got it. Resolution and motion on low-GOP hacks is just outstanding and graded footage can really go toe to toe with much more expensive cameras. In your line of work, I would consider that you can currently get a Mark II for 17 to 1800 on eBay. I can't see the price dropping much further past that. Even with limited budgets, that's a pretty good investment both for your line of work and for future resale value. Good luck!

Hi everyone. Figure we'd have a high concentration of GH2 users here. I'm currently trying to get my Zacuto EVF to properly mirror the image on the LCD and EVF of my GH2. I've struggled with different configurations and found really none that match the image. I'm currently using the Zacuto just to focus and I'll expect the color/exposure from the EVF. Should I even bother trying to match the LCD setting? Anybody using this combo care to share their settings? Or just some general tips on what the standard procedure for balancing color on a monitor is? thanks in advance.