Canon 1D C used price slips under £5000 - and why I decided to take the gamble and get one

[Policar]

I'm trying to find a used C500 ! I'm waiting until they are half price . 

 

​I've seen some hovering around 10K, but then you need a recorder. Too rich for my blood, but it seems like a nice camera.

Canon hurt with the 1DC and C500 relative to the huge success of the C300 and baby C100. I'm looking at them to take the C500 into the Alexa realm and the 1DC either much more expensive or much less (4k 5D III). Canon boosts gain at the analogue level and they have the best color science so they're still making some great low light cameras. 

Panasonic has its revolutionary 5000 ISO varicam... but the Need for Speed Trailer is already largely 4000 ISO on an older production camera. And with a great image. Canon has low light down. Sony would surpass them still if they fixed their skew a bit and their color a lot (SLOG 3, not SLOG2, please!). A7S remains awesome. 

Either way, both C500 and 1DC their charms (and beautiful skin tones) and are falling fast in price.

Me... I still need that ISCO. Canon dSRLs (other than 5D raw and 1DC) are too soft to showcase character, but once you step up Character is what counts. And since we're only going forward, character counts forever.

Following this... never tried a 1DC, but love the C300 for the good compromise that it is.

[eleison]

 

Either way, both C500 and 1DC their charms (and beautiful skin tones) and are falling fast in price.

There's a reason why the price of canon cinema cameras are falling fast.  I think everyone BUT canon knows why :-)  In the future, ​I'll consider picking one up if the camera's under $2,000.  But by then, Sony or Panasonic will probably have a camera that does 6k RAW with awesome low light, in body stabilization, etc.... for about the same price....  SoooOOoo... After thinking about it some more... perhaps, I wouldn't be picking one up after all.. :-)

Canon demands that it products be expensive... more expensive than most people are willing to pay, so instead people buy other cameras that maybe slightly inferior but gives better "value".  I'm sure the canon 1dc is a great machine, but for most people the extra features does not warrant the extra $$$ (especially for a used camera).  As new cameras appear from other manufacturers, canon prices do not seem to fall fast enough for other enthusiasts to care..   It's only a matter of time before other manufacturers eclipse canon BOTH on quality and price.  With every iteration of the gh4 and A7s, they are getting better and better.  Can you imagine how awesome a gh5 or a A7s II would be???  These cameras (especially the a7s II) could be a reality within the next 12 months.  Want to guess what the resale value of the 1DC will be then?  Probably not low enough for me to even care.

[wondo]

​I think the 1D C ends up being a lot more bullet proof. The A7S + Shogun feels a bit jellyfied, like it hasn't quite settled into a workflow. I took the A7S out today and the first thing that's wonky is the Metabones adapter. Buggy with the Sigma 35/50 1.4 and Tamron 24-70 2.8 lenses, and still not right with some of my Canon L stuff either. This is latest hardware and firmware so no excuses. The Shogun's screen had appalling visibility in daylight. I felt really let down by this after all the promise of the 4K recording. You'd think for the price they would have got the basics right like this? I am getting just 45 mins off the supplied battery. It is a light piece of kit but doesn't end up light when you need a v-lock battery to power it through a shoot does it!? The A7S is small but the screen is huge. Feels inbalanced. All in all a frustrating day.

​just cleaned the screen and the bloody logos came off! :-)

well... makes it easier to apply a screen protector.

shogun cage almost ready, just need to reduce the weight... a bit like an iphone, first thing you have to do is buy a protective case...

the brittle hdmi connection bothers me most... need to find better cables with better angles and flexibility.

[visionrouge]

Sorry Andrew,

You lost me here. After so many articles bashing Canon, you are now buying one of their "old" product. (?!)
(I can't wait seeing you with a 7D mark II when price drop.)

I love reading blogs all over internet and I thought your needs were close to mine and followed you for long.

Now, I have to admit you are not consistent at all.

1 month ago, you announced also the death of Canon DSLR for video. remember?!

Yes, you will argue, that it was just a mater of price. But the price do not matter that much when this is your job to deliver quality...

If you had bought the 1DC years ago, its image quality will make you have more joy and happy customers to make the price difference goes away very fast.

To me, the 1DC today's price is more expensive as new camera are around the corner, even from Canon. It's a mistake to buy one now, it was right to buy it when it was just out.

But, this is just me..

 

 

 

 

[Christina Ava]

 

To me, the 1DC today's price is more expensive as new camera are around the corner, even from Canon. It's a mistake to buy one now, it was right to buy it when it was just out.

But, this is just me..

​yes its just you. if you owned it and used it you would understand the beauty of this camera. at almost half price, its a bargain, and they are so good, that you rarely find any good used ones.  This camera is no mistake. Its top quality photo/video magic all in one, the flagship of 80 years of canon camera tech...

yes good things are coming from canon, but this camera is future-proof.

love c.

 

[Andrew Reid]

Two people I know sold theirs for even less than £5000, one around £3500  It's worth more than that but shhhh don't tell anyone. Hope more arrive on eBay soon. One I featured hasn't yet sold for £4800. C'mon people wake up to this... it's an amazing image. Better than C300 by a mile!

[/p/]

Why bother spending even 5k on a 1Dc with all it's regular DSLR flaws and lack of functions when SONY and other manufacturers will undoubtedly come out with other internal 4k cameras this coming year??

And you kept comparing the NX1 to the 1Dc, listing the pros of the NX1 vs the 1Dc and even argued the point over on Cinema5D (even with the price reduction your original points of pro NX1 are still relevant) to only buy one a week or so later??

I think you'll regret the $5,000 purchase before mid next year.

 

 

 

 

[Policar]

There's a reason why the price of canon cinema cameras are falling fast.  I think everyone BUT canon knows why :-)  In the future, ​I'll consider picking one up if the camera's under $2,000.  But by then, Sony or Panasonic will probably have a camera that does 6k RAW with awesome low light, in body stabilization, etc.... for about the same price....  SoooOOoo... After thinking about it some more... perhaps, I wouldn't be picking one up after all.. :-)

Canon demands that it products be expensive... more expensive than most people are willing to pay, so instead people buy other cameras that maybe slightly inferior but gives better "value".  I'm sure the canon 1dc is a great machine, but for most people the extra features does not warrant the extra $$$ (especially for a used camera).  As new cameras appear from other manufacturers, canon prices do not seem to fall fast enough for other enthusiasts to care..   It's only a matter of time before other manufacturers eclipse canon BOTH on quality and price.  With every iteration of the gh4 and A7s, they are getting better and better.  Can you imagine how awesome a gh5 or a A7s II would be???  These cameras (especially the a7s II) could be a reality within the next 12 months.  Want to guess what the resale value of the 1DC will be then?  Probably not low enough for me to even care.

On the contrary, the C500 and 1DC are the best-specced cameras Canon offers, and the least successful.​

For a "professional" workflow, the smallest file sizes win out over 6k and such. Major network shows shot on the Alexa go with prores 422 hq than 444 because the savings in storage trump the extra image quality!

For enthusiasts the Panasonic and Sony cameras are fine, but they do make compromises. The 1DC seems like a good deal now if you're a dSLR-style shooter. Canon dSLRs still have the best color.

[Andrew Reid]

Like I've already said (did you read the blog /P/?) it will be my stills DSLR as well, and a top end one it is. X-T1 can't do AF properly. D750 has a Nikon mount, can't use all my lenses on it. A7S can't do AF properly either! 1D X / C can do everything in terms of stills and allows me to sell the 5D 3 and quite a bit of other kit to fund the purchase. The 4K image from the 1D C is amazing. I love the NX1, amazing for the price but the 1D C holds onto a more filmic fine grain and has Canon LOG so you get more D/R plus it has the all important low light whilst NX1 does not. The A7S with Shogun is also great but sometimes I need to go without the external monitor or into tricky weather situations where the A7S & Shogun would simply die.

Then there is the Canon colour...

Yes I may still regret it but you only live once.

I believe at it's current used price it's a bargain, bonafide Hollywood cam.

[dafreaking]

Yeah it's weird the amount you change your mind at the drop of a hat or suddenly irrelevant things become relevant or vice versa.

But, it's refreshing to see you embrace things with an open mind. Also, the general all-round positivity. Keep up the good work. Wishing you a stellar 2015!

 

[Hearnia]

Have you ever been diagnosed with bipolar disorder Andrew?

[Andrew Reid]

Yeah it's weird the amount you change your mind at the drop of a hat or suddenly irrelevant things become relevant or vice versa.

But, it's refreshing to see you embrace things with an open mind. Also, the general all-round positivity. Keep up the good work. Wishing you a stellar 2015!

 

​The 1D C was £12,000 in the UK inc VAT when it came out. You expect me to have the same opinion now it is £5k and sitting on my desk, isn't that just a BIT silly!?

[Nikkor]

I want to see some night-time shots with the 50 1.2 and the 85 1.2 in the Berliner U-Bahn

[Andrew Reid]

if you owned it and used it you would understand the beauty of this camera.

​That you like it Christina is a good sign

Just unboxed it and already I can tell there's a ton more colour and data in the 4K MJPEG files than in the A7S Shogun files.

Canon LOG is phenomenal, the amount of stuff that is in the shadows and highlights when you grade it or pull it around.

It's like having raw again on the 5D! But 4K and bullet proof reliable!

[dafreaking]

​The 1D C was £12,000 in the UK inc VAT when it came out. You expect me to have the same opinion now it is £5k and sitting on my desk, isn't that just a BIT silly!?

​Not at all... I admire the fact that even after dissing it you have plonked up the hard cash for it.

It's your opinion on things like the A7S, shogun, etc...

[Damphousse]

There's a reason why the price of canon cinema cameras are falling fast.  I think everyone BUT canon knows why :-)  In the future, ​I'll consider picking one up if the camera's under $2,000. 

​Are the prices falling fast?  As compared to what?

You are completely delusional if you think you will be able to pick up a Cinema Camera below $2,000 any time in the next couple of years.  Even a Canon 5D mark III isn't below $2,000 on the used market.

 

It's only a matter of time before other manufacturers eclipse canon BOTH on quality and price.  With every iteration of the gh4 and A7s, they are getting better and better.

​There has only been one iteration of each so I don't know how you can say they are getting "better and better."

Honestly Andrew's purchase of a 1DC just confirms what I've been saying all along.  Canon is and will remain number one or at least a close number two... But most likely number one.  After all this time and all the posts denigrating Canon and praising Sony and Panasonic what happened?  Sony and Panasonic ran around like chickens with their heads cut off creating brand new never before seen product categories... Canon did... nothing.  Andrew?  He spent more buying Canon gear than Sony and Panasonic combined!  And there is nothing wrong with that.  I predicted this event.  Between the color science, the support, the system it was inevitable.  Imagine what happens if Canon even puts in a modicum of effort?  Multiple camera divisions will bleed red ink.

 

The 1DC is still to rich for my blood.  And I hope Sony and Panasonic do well.  They need to put heat on Canon.  But I wouldn't buy any Sony or Panasonic stock based on on their camera divisions.  When someone flips a switch at Canon wave bye-bye to Panasonics camera division.

[eleison]

​Not at all... I admire the fact that even after dissing it you have plonked up the hard cash for it.

It's your opinion on things like the A7S, shogun, etc...

​Agreed.  It's a good sign that people are willing to be open.  Within a year and a half, the 1D C was £12,000, now it's current value is around £5,000.  Wow... the depreciation hit is almost equal to the cost of a good used car!!!

However, I'm pretty sure the previously owner who is no doubt, a film professional,  got his £7,000 worth of use from the camera.  If I were to have bought the camera new, my wife would be totally pissed especially if most of the time the camera was in the closet (a high likelihood. hahahaahhaha; let's not kid ourselves..)  Canon wants to play in the "pro market".  Sony, Panasonic, etc play in the "enthusiast/ pro" market -- more customers, more money and more resources to iterate and innovate.

I bet within a year, the 1DC will only be worth £2,000... probably lower.  But by then, I'm sure Andrew will get his £3,000 worth of use from it.  Most enthusiast (like me) will be better served by buying something a lot cheaper.  We will probably NOT be getting £3,000 worth of use from the 1DC within a year.  A gh4 or a7s is a different story.  They are cheap enough that when a year is up, the depreciation cost is in the range where our significant others will not yell at us... at least not too loudly that the neighbors would hear :-) 

Besides, the depreciation hit will be low enough, that we can probably once again convince ourselves and our wives that we NEED the next great thing from sony, panasonic, blackmagic, etc...  the cycle will continue and sooner or later, not only will this great new thing be cheaper than Canon's professional cameras, it will even be better..  a lot better.  Hubris before the fall...

[Kristoferman]

 

 

 But I wouldn't buy any Sony or Panasonic stock based on on their camera divisions.  When someone flips a switch at Canon wave bye-bye to Panasonics camera division.

​If I were buying Sony stock, it would probably have to do in large part because of their camera sensors. It's one of the few divisions at Sony that's still profitable, and I saw an article a few months ago where they were going to really focus on the profitable parts of their company and cut dead weight.  You also have to remember that it isn't just Sony that uses the Sony sensor tech.

[jcs]

The 1DC wins over the A7S and GH4 for skin tones. In 1080p full frame mode, the 1DC looks about the same sharpness as the 5D3 (perhaps a hair sharper). The A7S in full frame mode provides a lot of detail and sharpness. None of these cameras record 4K/UHD internally in full frame mode. At this time I'm not aware of another camera that does at any price (The ARRI 65 records in 65mm). Whole will be first? Canon with the 5D4 or a 1DC2?

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

When you get a chance try the s35 mode. Best HD image you'll ever see. Really quite special in C-log.