Canon 1D X Mark II review part 1 - why superior colour means it's game over for my Sony A7S II

[Matthew19]

20 hours ago, VanWeddings said:

Since there's an example of the 1DX II skin tone in a wedding video, here's one with no Canon cameras. Just Sony and Panasonic.

 

 

really well done and probably as good of skin tones as I've seen on sony.

 

It's just a very different look, not even something that I can put my finger on. When I watch a wedding shot on Canon I feel like I'm watching wedding, on Sony, a wedding video. 

[Dave Maze]

I'm still hoping on seeing a proper 1DC mkii. Are there any rumors of this happening? Have we categorically heard from Canon that the 1DX II is the upgrade to the 1DC? Canon has new Cinema upgrades that would be nice to add to a 1DC II like Canon Log 3 gamma and Wide DR picture profile. I use old manual lenses on my 1DC so autofocus isn't a huge deal to me but is a nice thought for VLogs and steadicam/ gimbal use. 

[Ty Harper]

1 hour ago, DaveAltizer said:

I'm still hoping on seeing a proper 1DC mkii. Are there any rumors of this happening? Have we categorically heard from Canon that the 1DX II is the upgrade to the 1DC? Canon has new Cinema upgrades that would be nice to add to a 1DC II like Canon Log 3 gamma and Wide DR picture profile. I use old manual lenses on my 1DC so autofocus isn't a huge deal to me but is a nice thought for VLogs and steadicam/ gimbal use. 

What 1DC/manual lense combos have you found work best for you?

[Dave Maze]

48 minutes ago, Ty Harper said:

What 1DC/manual lense combos have you found work best for you?

We shot this whole thing with the 1dc and Leica R glass. Really loved that. I personally own a set of CONTAX Zeiss lenses and love the look they create. 

 

 

[hijodeibn]

On 11/20/2016 at 3:11 AM, VanWeddings said:

Since there's an example of the 1DX II skin tone in a wedding video, here's one with no Canon cameras. Just Sony and Panasonic.

 

Your work is good, but I really don`t like at all the orange skintones, it is just a personal taste, probably people not involved in cinematography can not see it at all, and that`s OK, at the end I guess is a personal preferences after all.

[Dave Maze]

2 hours ago, hijodeibn said:

Your work is good, but I really don`t like at all the orange skintones, it is just a personal taste, probably people not involved in cinematography can not see it at all, and that`s OK, at the end I guess is a personal preferences after all.

Same here dude. Believe me I tried but the musician wanted the grade to look like that. 

[Matthew19]

6 hours ago, DaveAltizer said:

I'm still hoping on seeing a proper 1DC mkii. Are there any rumors of this happening? Have we categorically heard from Canon that the 1DX II is the upgrade to the 1DC? Canon has new Cinema upgrades that would be nice to add to a 1DC II like Canon Log 3 gamma and Wide DR picture profile. I use old manual lenses on my 1DC so autofocus isn't a huge deal to me but is a nice thought for VLogs and steadicam/ gimbal use. 

 

Nice work Dave. Whats interesting is Canon already has designed the perfect 1DC mkii sensor, the 12mp full frame from the orginal 5D.  I'd love that in a 1DCII, full frame 4k with everything else you mentioned. 

[JurijTurnsek]

12 hours ago, Matthew19 said:

Nice work Dave. Whats interesting is Canon already has designed the perfect 1DC mkii sensor, the 12mp full frame from the orginal 5D.  I'd love that in a 1DCII, full frame 4k with everything else you mentioned. 

There is more to sensor design than just mpx count. Readout speed and noise get improved by hardware changes and not exclusively by better processing.

[Matthew19]

3 hours ago, JurijTurnsek said:

There is more to sensor design than just mpx count. Readout speed and noise get improved by hardware changes and not exclusively by better processing.

Right, I'm sure it's far more complicated than just mpx, but all else being equal to the 1dc mkI, that sensor would be the perfect size

[Christina Ava]

Sony A7S II = and nothing of value was lost , im the minority here that really dislikes the video coming from sony..of course the 1dx m2 is awesome..

 

[Matthew19]

8 hours ago, Christina Ava said:

Sony A7S II = and nothing of value was lost , im the minority here that really dislikes the video coming from sony..of course the 1dx m2 is awesome..

 

 

I think most here don't like the a7s for anything other than it's sharpness. Every other group that I know of loves it. 

[Dave Maze]

The a7 and modern Sony cameras sensors in general are simply incorrect. They don't look right. 

[independent]

Preference for either the Sony or Canon's color science is subjective. The A7SII's advantages in low light and the 1DX II's autofocus are not. Each has its pros and cons, leaving it up to the project to determine either's suitability. Both are great cameras. I'd be leery of putting too much of an emphasis on the out-of-box image for either camera. Too many factors play a role in the final image. Neither camera is going to make your movie for you.

[gelaxstudio]

Yeah,since canon has the best colour in the world,why some guys even bother worry there is not log ,not ibis,not FF view 4k, not bsi sensor, even the codec from 90s work out just fine！

Good work canon,sony sucks;)

[Dave Maze]

And yet in spite of all the negatives against canon that would clearly be a deal breaker on other camera manufacturers to not include, Canon cameras continue to prove they are workhorses that produce very pleasing results. Kinda like the new MacBook Pros :P

[dbp]

The only ones in the low end that seem to rival Canon with color is Blackmagic.

Although I recently edited stuff from the Nikon D750 and I was definitely pleased with that stuff, color wise.

[Ehetyz]

12 minutes ago, dbp said:

The only ones in the low end that seem to rival Canon with color is Blackmagic.

Although I recently edited stuff from the Nikon D750 and I was definitely pleased with that stuff, color wise.

Yeah Blackmagic gets closest at the price range, but Canon still edges out. Especially when you have codec parity - with ML RAW 5D2/3 color beats the daylights out of the BMCC. Way better tonality and color separation - which you can pull out of the BMCC footage as well, but with Canon you have them out of the box.

[dbp]

4 minutes ago, Ehetyz said:

Yeah Blackmagic gets closest at the price range, but Canon still edges out. Especially when you have codec parity - with ML RAW 5D2/3 color beats the daylights out of the BMCC. Way better tonality and color separation - which you can pull out of the BMCC footage as well, but with Canon you have them out of the box.

No doubt, 5D raw is still some of the nicest looking stuff I've seen from any camera. Never ceases to blow me away. 

[Tiago Rosa-Rosso]

 

1 hour ago, dbp said:

No doubt, 5D raw is still some of the nicest looking stuff I've seen from any camera. Never ceases to blow me away. 

And wait till the guys from ML bring RAW 10 and 12 bit to the 80d and 5d mk4. 

[Papiskokuji]

2 hours ago, Ehetyz said:

Yeah Blackmagic gets closest at the price range, but Canon still edges out. Especially when you have codec parity - with ML RAW 5D2/3 color beats the daylights out of the BMCC. Way better tonality and color separation - which you can pull out of the BMCC footage as well, but with Canon you have them out of the box.

I'll have to disagree with you on this one. Your statement seems a bit extreme to me. I actually find BMCC footage more cinematic, more organic. Motion rendition and highlight rolloff/dynamic range are better handled by blackmagic cameras. I also find the 5D mkIII RAW (not the C100/C300...) having a hard time with wide/large depth of field shots. Even with the detail slider all the way to the minimum, I have a feeling there's some aliasing/micro contrast going on. If you have a locked down landscape shot, the image coming from blackmagic cameras is a lot more pleasing to me (especially with the mosaic filter). The ML raw crop is actually better in that regard, but it's a crop... (wide static landscape shots are a great stress test for cameras, they are the less forgiving shots)

I'm not saying that 5D raw is bad in any way, it just feels too clean, too digital to me.

And like everybody, I'm in love with Canon colors of course, but once again, I think I like Blackmagic's more. It feels so close to Alexa's. To me, there are three key areas to look at in terms of color science : skintones, the blue of the sky and the green of foliage. Alexa and blackmagic are so close to film, it's amazing what Blackmagic has achieved in such a short amount of time.