BMCC, C100, or FS100 - Camera Advice

[rygenova]

I've had the Black Magic Cinema Camera (EF version) since April, coming from a hacked GH2. I kind of jumped on the BMCC fanboy bandwagon and jumped into the camera without really studying other options at the time. It's capable of some pretty great images, but overall, I just don't like the camera. It stinks for any type of handheld shooting, the crop factor is a pain to deal with, pretty much every hard drive I own is full of RAW footage even though I try to delete what I'm not using, and it takes a ton of time just to grade a shot to get it to look "normal" and sync audio from my external recorder. No built in ND's (coupled with a native ISO of 800), lack of changeable battery, and poor audio with no audio meters is annoying as well. Like I said, the image quality can be great, but it is just no fun to shoot with and there is so much not to like about the camera. Sometimes I like to just pick up my camera and shoot something, but with the BMCC, this is really impractical.

I'm not a professional, just an amateur/enthusiast obsessed with great video quality. I'm primarily looking for something that has a large sensor and can produce sharp, detailed images with minimal noise. I'd like something good for narrative with the bonus of having something I can run and gun with if I want to. I can hold my own with basic color grading, but I'm by no means highly skilled at it, so I feel I wouldn't lose too much if I no longer had RAW.

I've narrowed my options to either selling the BMCC and buying a C100 or FS100, or sucking it up and keeping the BMCC. As for price I feel they are all somewhat similar. If I keep the BMCC I need to still buy ND's, a battery solution, a better rig for handheld, a wider lens, and probably some type of storage array for all this footage I'm amassing. For the FS100 I'd need to add the Speed Booster and ND's to get it up to the C100 configuration.

For the C100, I'd probably pick up an Atomos recorder at some point in the future. For the FS100 I'd be shooting only with the Speed Booster as I have only EF glass.

From what I've read it seems like the C100 should be an easy choice over the FS100, but I feel like the FS100 looks much more cinematic (maybe it's just that I've stumbled upon videos made by FS100 users with better skills than the C100 users? Or maybe it's just because the FS100 has been out longer?). Honestly all of these very cinematic pieces shot with the FS100 are pretty much the only reason it's on my radar as otherwise I believe the C100 to be superior.

Any advice from people who have shot with either camera would be much appreciated. Is the C100 just as good or better than the FS100 when it comes to image quality?

C100 Concerns: -Possibly not as cinematic as the FS100

FS100 Concerns: -Would only be shooting with the Speed Booster (bugs/issues/etc. with this?) -It's a couple year old camera, so I'd probably be disappointed if Sony released a replacement shortly after I bought one -No ND's -Form factor not as much to my liking as the C100

[tosvus]

Well, if you are planning on selling the BMCC,your timing isn't great, since as I'm sure you know, they can be bought new for $2K now. I'm not so sure your options in the end are that evenly priced, especially since you are talking about buying recorders (which in turns probably means you have to buy a harddrive array anyway), or speedboosters (that alone for the FS100 is, what, $600?)

 

Ok, so I am very biased, but have you considered the Panasonic GH3? Last I heard, there will be a m43 to Canon speedbooster coming this fall as well. If you use the 50mbit codecs that come with it, the quality is really good, and still far less space-consuming than raw. Pretty good audio capabilities with mic+headphone jack. I prefer to run a xlr into a recorder and then to the camera, and the quality has been good enough so far that I have not felt the need to sync with the recorder-audio in post.

 

Also, I actually just bought a fujinon a14x8.5  8.5-119mm mm (with 2x extender built in), with a b4 mount to m43 adapter. Feels like it will be really nice for run-and-gun stuff.

[HurtinMinorKey]

Ah yes, if you love to shoot handheld, the BMCC isn't really the go to option. What's your widest lens? How come you haven't considered the 5D3? That way you get the raw option, and h.264 to fall back on. 

[rygenova]

Right now my widest lens is the Canon 24 1.4.  On the BMCC it's like 55mm, so I definitely need to get something wider if I stick with the BMCC.

[GravitateMediaGroup]

Right now my widest lens is the Canon 24 1.4.  On the BMCC it's like 55mm, so I definitely need to get something wider if I stick with the BMCC.

 

i've stuck with rokinon because of their affordability and for the most part always have positive reviews, I've not regretted any and I have a mft 8mm fish, 14 t3.1, t35, t85, the 85mm looks REALLY nice IMO. 

 

If you want a good deal on my 14mm I'm looking to sell it to get a sigma or slr magic

 

also, if what you have tried shooting handheld with a 24mm (on bmcc) isn't going to look very pleasant.

as I said on the other message board, I've achieved very usable handheld with post stabilization...but that footage with with a 14mm lens and me walking like a ninja while having a nice firm grip to prevent bobble.

[HurtinMinorKey]

I'm for sure getting the new Rokinon 16mm as soon as it's available. 

[Ben Prater]

If you like RAW and solid images, and the C100 happens to be in the budget, you should probably be looking at a hacked 5Dm3. You get the best of all worlds -- a big image sensor, standard Canon mount lenses, RAW, and a fairly small package.

 

Otherwise, the GH3 is very capable and puts out better stock video than the unhacked 5Dm3. You get headphone jack and 60p. Right now, you can snag one at Amazon for $1000 new. 

 

Also, you have the 7D as a potential RAW option, too. How are you feeling about the BMPCC? $1k and RAW soon. Very portable shooter.

[Oliver Daniel]

If you like RAW and solid images, and the C100 happens to be in the budget, you should probably be looking at a hacked 5Dm3. You get the best of all worlds -- a big image sensor, standard Canon mount lenses, RAW, and a fairly small package.

 

Otherwise, the GH3 is very capable and puts out better stock video than the unhacked 5Dm3. You get headphone jack and 60p. Right now, you can snag one at Amazon for $1000 new. 

 

Also, you have the 7D as a potential RAW option, too. How are you feeling about the BMPCC? $1k and RAW soon. Very portable shooter.

 

The GH3 is simply an astonishing camera. The more I use it, the more I'm impressed. It can match a C100 in the right hands ;)

 

Its also a great combo with the Pocket Camera, MFT mounts and all. Can have a bit of a fiddle with RAW.

[jcs]

I have an FS700 and 5D3's. 5D3 RAW is amazing, though a bit of work to process and no pro audio. FS700 looks great with or without SpeedBooster (similar to FS100). That said, from your list, C100 for great images, fast workflow, and pro audio.

[Richard Floyd-Walker]

The C100 and FS100 are both super 35 cameras.
Which means that the only camera out of the 2 that can deliver a full frame look (if that's a priority, or you have a lot of EF glass as opposed to EF-S glass) is, ironically, the Sony. As metabones don't make an EF to EF-S speed booster.

So your 24mm 1.4 will look like 24mm on the FS100 with the adapter. Get a Smart Adapter as well as a Speedbooster and that same lens can double as a, roughly, 35mm as well. Same goes for all the other lenses you have. Provided they are EF mounts. And you get 60p as well.

On the Canon the Super 35 crop is all you've got. And you can only get 60p with the 60i Premiere CC work around.
But the C100 is just so easy to pick up and shoot with. I've only used one twice, but each time it's a pleasure. The ergonomics and metering are spot on in my opinion. As for the FS100, I've only used it once and that was all tripod so I can't comment on what it is like hand held. But handling it at the end of the day it seemed ok but no where near that solid and compact feeling that you get with the Canon. Again just my opinion. The images that both these cameras can produce is great.

Personally I haven't been able to justify owning anything other than my GH3, my SLR Magic 12 and 25 and my Voightlander 17.5. I feel that I have a hell of a lot to learn before I can truthfully say that I've out grown those.

[Bruno]

A Tokina 11-16mm sounds like a must have on the BMCC, even though you might run into the flange distance issue some people had.

[PANDETTA]

keep an eye for the digital bolex?

[jgharding]

The C100 is the easiest to use, the FS100 gives you more options for creative use of rates and lenses.

 

If it's documentary it's C100, if it's promo and so on I'd say FS100.

 

If it's drama, that's a coin toss...

[LibertyBellFilms]

I got tired of waiting for the BMCC and purchased a "like new" Sony FS100 on eBay to shoot my first feature film over the summer.

 

My setup included using a Metabones Speedbooster adapter and Canon EF lenses. I originally planned on recording to the Atomos Ninja 2 but after shooting a multitude of tests and watching the footage, I found there to be little if any difference between the Ninja 2 footage (DNxHD 220) and the FS100 codec footage. Because I had a 3 person crew on most days, I found the speed of shooting without the Ninja 2 the best option for me.

 

I can't tell you how pleased I am with the footage that came out of the setup (FS100 + Speedbooster + Canon EF).

 

I'm not sure if links to work are permitted on this forum since this is my first post but if they are and you are curious as to what it my footage looks like with this setup here is the link to my trailer for "Assumption of Risk":

https://vimeo.com/73690033

[HurtinMinorKey]

I got tired of waiting for the BMCC and purchased a "like new" Sony FS100 on eBay to shoot my first feature film over the summer.

 

My setup included using a Metabones Speedbooster adapter and Canon EF lenses. I originally planned on recording to the Atomos Ninja 2 but after shooting a multitude of tests and watching the footage, I found there to be little if any difference between the Ninja 2 footage (DNxHD 220) and the FS100 codec footage. Because I had a 3 person crew on most days, I found the speed of shooting without the Ninja 2 the best option for me.

 

I can't tell you how pleased I am with the footage that came out of the setup (FS100 + Speedbooster + Canon EF).

 

I'm not sure if links to work are permitted on this forum since this is my first post but if they are and you are curious as to what it my footage looks like with this setup here is the link to my trailer for "Assumption of Risk":

https://vimeo.com/73690033

 

I'm not sure even the admin knows the rules fir this. There used to be a sticky for forum rules.

 

Anyway, nice trailer. What was your indoor lighting setup?

[LibertyBellFilms]

I'm not sure even the admin knows the rules fir this. There used to be a sticky for forum rules.

 

Anyway, nice trailer. What was your indoor lighting setup?

We had at our disposal, a small Kinoflo, Smith Victor fluorescent, 500 W HMI and a bunch of LED light bulbs (3000K & 5000K) for clamp-lamps and practicals. We balanced everything with gels.