Canon Image Quality vs Blackmagic Advice?

[Budgieboots]

Hello,

Is there a Canon camera available now that matches the image quality of any of the Blackmagic cameras?

I've been shooting Canon DSLR video for years, and its always apparent to me when someone shot something on Blackmagic. It just has that extra oomph that seems to be missing from 8 bit video.

That said, the Canon cameras are incredibly versatile, and it's hard to give up such excellent auto-focus.

[NorBro]

Nope.

[Matt Gottshalk]

FPNI.

Not even close.

And there are excellent camera transforms that make them look like an Alexa too.

Screen Shot 2020-12-07 at 5.09.57 PM.jpg

[Budgieboots]

Oh boy. So what is the magic sauce? Is it the raw colour grading? I was even wondering if the new C70 approached the IQ of a blackmagic.

[Guest]

Oh boy. So what is the magic sauce?

No self crippling, and a strong push and drive for legitimacy in a tough market.

[NorBro]

No one knows...

lol, seriously.

ARRI, RED, and Blackmagic cameras look better than everything else when they are at their best.

But with that said, the rest can easily blend in during edits of final products, especially ones with quicker cuts.

[Bassman2003]

The comparison video posted recently of the 12k vs C500 vs the R5 should give some visual evidence for your own conclusions. I would go against trend to say the R5 more than held its own in that video. I really like the look of the BM cameras but they are a little too much in the cine design world for my uses.

[DLD]

When stepping up from Canon DSLR, something like R6 can be more than sufficient. And it's not that mirrorless is better but that a 2020 camera is likely a lot better than a 2015-2016-2017 camera. In most brands.

On top of that, there's a workflow consideration - low light, auto focus, codec, IBIS, etc.

[Guest]

The comparison video posted recently of the 12k vs C500 vs the R5 should give some visual evidence for your own conclusions. I would go against trend to say the R5 more than held its own in that video. I really like the look of the BM cameras but they are a little too much in the cine design world for my uses.

Bassman is correct. (As well as DLD)

My comment was in regards to “black magic’s secret sauce”.

Canon has taken 10years to get here, but they finally produced a few good cameras this past year. Remains to be seen how or if the C70 is crippled. The R5 crippling was manageable, and the C3003 and C5002 are priced accordingly.

[Peter C.]

Don't take this the wrong way but these type of questions have existing in one form or another since "the beginning of time" (the first post on an internet forum). "Is Canon better than Sony?" or some similar variant. What's usually missing in these question what type of work you're doing, what are you trying to achieve, budget, etc. Finally comes down to personal preference.

I was watching an episode of Camera Conspiracies today reviewing ND filters. At the beginning he's walking around outside on a sunny day, with auto shutter. What you get is consistent exposure and he is concentrating on what he is saying and everything is flowing, despite the high shutter. Then he pops on a ND filter, put the camera into manual, fools around with the exposure for a long time. The exposure isn't correct he's moving from shade where it's under exposed, and full sun over exposed, he's distracted by the exposure, and the flow of the conversation is ruined. This is an example doing things "right" (following the 180 rule) but in the big picture misses the point.

This is my long way of saying context is everything. For me the quality of the content and the skill in the use of the equipment is more important.
In the right hands you can get good results with either Canon cinema cameras or BM.

Edit: I get the feeling you really want to know "Should I buy the C70?"

[dc4040]

Bassman is correct. (As well as DLD)

My comment was in regards to “black magic’s secret sauce”.

Canon has taken 10years to get here, but they finally produced a few good cameras this past year. Remains to be seen how or if the C70 is crippled. The R5 crippling was manageable, and the C3003 and C5002 are priced accordingly.

Respectfully,

One would have a hard time faulting the image from the original C500 ... or the Magic Lantern Raw image from the 5D MK III.

I adore BM ... Davinci Resolve has been stellar for me ... on Mac OS ... and the P6K had a wonderful image ... but a tragically
fragile build and accessory framework.

Samsung T5 hung off a small cable ... marginal AF ... and the sense that this was a disposable commodity camera ...

They have however designed an image workflow presently that goes from sensor to rendering software with hardware support in
the 12K ... dropped the Bayer sensor and optimized the color and output.

Canon's strength is color build quality and glass ... but they until recently subscribed to the IBM view of design ... quality, consistency,
and repeatability over innovation.

Many DPs have moved away from BM due to the inconsistent color of their cameras ... within the same model.

If you have one camera ... and do not need to match outputs not a big deal ... but imagine a studio struggling to match identical
cameras with different outputs.

My big concern was the repeated refrain that cameras our of warranty were not supported ... economically cheaper to dump and
buy the new model.

Perhaps a bigger issue is post processing skills ... one might be better served investing time and money in learning how to grade and
process their work ...

Most any 10bit/12bit/RAW captures if exposed and white balanced ... and lit .. correctly should give one a decent if not wonderful image.

Camera selection today is more a choice of picking the ergonomics and features that allow you to capture the image that you preconceived and
tell your story transparently.

[John Brawley]

Oh boy. So what is the magic sauce? Is it the raw colour grading? I was even wondering if the new C70 approached the IQ of a blackmagic.

Bit depth is a large part of it.

16 bit lin, stored as 12 bit log and then unpacked as 16 bit lin again makes a huge difference.(IN BRAW / DNG)

JB

[Guest]

Respectfully,

One would have a hard time faulting the image from the original C500 ... or the Magic Lantern Raw image from the 5D MK III.

I adore BM ... Davinci Resolve has been stellar for me ... on Mac OS ... and the P6K had a wonderful image ... but a tragically
fragile build and accessory framework.

Samsung T5 hung off a small cable ... marginal AF ... and the sense that this was a disposable commodity camera ...

They have however designed an image workflow presently that goes from sensor to rendering software with hardware support in
the 12K ... dropped the Bayer sensor and optimized the color and output.

Canon's strength is color build quality and glass ... but they until recently subscribed to the IBM view of design ... quality, consistency,
and repeatability over innovation.

Many DPs have moved away from BM due to the inconsistent color of their cameras ... within the same model.

If you have one camera ... and do not need to match outputs not a big deal ... but imagine a studio struggling to match identical
cameras with different outputs.

My big concern was the repeated refrain that cameras our of warranty were not supported ... economically cheaper to dump and
buy the new model.

Perhaps a bigger issue is post processing skills ... one might be better served investing time and money in learning how to grade and
process their work ...

Most any 10bit/12bit/RAW captures if exposed and white balanced ... and lit .. correctly should give one a decent if not wonderful image.

Camera selection today is more a choice of picking the ergonomics and features that allow you to capture the image that you preconceived and
tell your story transparently.

Agreed.

[Tom Roper]

It’s the support because nothing beats a great pair of L’eggs.

[Guest]

It’s the support because nothing beats a great pair of L’eggs.

So many levels of right in this thread!