1DC: 1DC or BMPC

L

lealain

Active member
I am in turmoil. Should I get the new BMPC or the Canon 1DC?
I allreay have the C300 and I am very very happy with it. I want to work with a 4K as well, so the obvious camera to get would be the 1DC or the BMPC.
I have had the BMCC in the near past. I was happy with it, except that I couldn't use it mixed with the C300, cause the minute the light drops, the BMCC is lacking lowlight abilities. So the 1DC comes in there.

Thing is, 1DC is a bit more expensive, although I can trade my 1DX and pay a few extra bucks.

What are your thoughts?

thanks.
 
I have a 1d c, just bought a c500, and am taking delivery monday on the BM4k.

I love the 1d c, partly because its 4k is a 1.3 crop. It will add dimension to your 1.5 crop c300. The BM4k is a 1.7. At this stage of the game it is harder to get wide angle lenses for 4k. The 1d c is an all-weather self contained everything- stills, 4k, s35, full frame HD shooter. Its battery lasts forever. You can always have it with you. I think I will be using it for years to come no matter what is the latest and greatest. As you know from the 1dx it is built to last. I am extremely happy with it and the c500 as a one-two punch.

I had preordered the BM4k and was surprised to receive a shipping notice, but I think I will be able to put it in rotation, because of the ef mount and global shutter, and the full copy of resolve, though I wouldn't trust it outside of a controlled situation and, you will have to triple the price to make it work if you don't already have support gear.

The 1d c let me get my feet wet in 4k and has proven to be a keeper. My advice? Get it you won't regret it. Who knows what the xxxx BM is going to do?

Update, even if Canon has new stuff soon and you want to shoot now, it is a great choice.
 
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lealain said:
I am in turmoil. Should I get the new BMPC or the Canon 1DC?
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I'm hard pressed to find any similarities between the cameras, other than the BMPC almost shoots 4k, at UHD.

No offense at all, but to me it sounds just like your about to jump on a band wagon called "4k—for what it's worth".

Think about what you actually need a bit more. Blackmagic got the name right: ... Production Camera. Not just "camera", since that would probably imply too much in all its looseness. For specific people doing specific stuff, the BMPC will be a life saver. It offers sooo much for that price.

But today I spent all day with my family out and about with my 1Dc holstered in my Spider Pro with only the 24-105 f4 and a LCDVF. World class photos (at least from a technical viewpoint...) and 4k sequences to pull additional frames from. I rest my case.
 
well, about the 4K you're right.
Thing is I have a rig ready for the BMPC, I just sold the BMCC.


1dc is only 8bit and 4:2:0
 
lealain said:
con is that DR of the 1DC is less than the C300 or the BMPC.
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Canon states 12 stops for Canon Log for all the EOS cameras. I always welcome links to carefully executed tests where I can read what you already know.

The BMCC had some nice latitude in raw. I think 13 stops was thrown around? The BMPC doesn't have the same latitude. I'm not sure, but I think BM states 11.5?

What I do know is that the BMPC in ProRes mode has less DR than the 1Dc as seen in recent tests on Cinema5D. We'll see what raw brings. Both in terms of image fidelity and data rates/needs.
 
AndreeOnline said:
But today I spent all day with my family out and about with my 1Dc holstered in my Spider Pro with only the 24-105 f4 and a LCDVF. World class photos (at least from a technical viewpoint...) and 4k sequences to pull additional frames from. I rest my case.
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This always gets me too.
 
lealain said:
in all honesty: I find it hard to see big differences in that 5d test. they look quite similar in DR
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That's fine. Download the 4k file from Vimeo. Look at the 800% zoomed in clips.

The difference in rendition of highlights and rolloff is very clear looking at the house and the areas around the windows. Color is also a bit off in the BMPC.

For reference I should say that I'm viewing it on a MacBook Pro Retina screen.
 
lealain said:
I'm also curious how 1DC colorgrades. BMCC holds up very well, their prores
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The BMPCC grades better, but doesn't have the latitude or the in-camera colors.

In camera colors are less important if you are shooting with a warm muted style, or something retro, or action bleach bypass style. And while the Canon color science is arguably better, the bmpcc is good too. Depends on your taste.

The 4K in the 1D-C is a different feel than the HD profiles. Very similar feel, but the 4K is nicer. Many people talk about using 4K for wide detailed shots, but I find myself shooting people and close-ups in 4K as well, richer images, with slightly better latitude (because less compression?), and a smoother look-while maintaining detail. The compression and 8bit could be better. I wish there was a 10bit high bit-rate HD setting. Or if they had a color profile which match C-logs colors, so that I could allocate those 8bits differently.


These are very different cameras, and very surprised to see these as cameras compared on your list. If the BMPCC does what you need, then you are one lucky shooter. But the 1D-C definitely does somethings most other cameras cannot.
 
Lot's of ideas about what is possible with a camera....

here... a cell phone:

and here is something i shot using the 1D-C in HD modes (ungraded c-log and neutral):

I like the cellphone one better, but I sure couldn't shoot the way I like with a cell-phone.
 
My honest opinion... If you can't work with the 1dc be it 12 stops DR, nothing is going to work for you. If you need serious grading then buy an Alexa or a RED. Now, Canon NEEDS to reduce the prices of the C line across the board.
C100- $3500
C300- 7000
1dC- 8000
C500- 12,500

Then, Start making the C350, the C550, the 1DcMk2....

Great shots there James with the 1Dc. I look for one used everyday.
 
dustylense said:
My honest opinion... If you can't work with the 1dc be it 12 stops DR, nothing is going to work for you. If you need serious grading then buy an Alexa or a RED. Now, Canon NEEDS to reduce the prices of the C line across the board.
C100- $3500
C300- 7000
1dC- 8000
C500- 12,500

Then, Start making the C350, the C550, the 1DcMk2....

Great shots there James with the 1Dc. I look for one used everyday.
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Thank you, sir. And would be nice for Canon to start dropping the prices.
 
Certainly if you are upgrading the 1DX to 1DC then it may be worth it.
Pro
1) 1DX in getting near its product cycle, new one will come next year, sell it while you can get a good price. 1DC can sure replace the 1DX in photography ( except for the new functions in recent firmware upgrade)
2) The low ISO quality on the 1DC cannot be match by BM( the BM staff said it during their road show) or even the more expensive Sony or Red or Arri, just like the 1DX. You know ISO3200 is quit usable on the 1DX. The 1DC is just packaging the jpeg 24fps from a 1DX to a mov file.
3) The big DR on BM4K only usable when the lighting condition is good, ISO400/800.
4) AF is possible though not fast.

Con
1) No global shutter
2) CF much more expensive than SSD ( you need to use all the money from selling the the 1DX)
3) Mjpeg is hell for editing, ProRes is Heaven, especially for FCPX
4) You can at least buy 3 BM4k for the price of one 1DC


I own the 1DC for a year now, did not regret buying it.
I am thinking what to buy this year now BM4K, GH4 or Sony4K cam?
 
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cookinghusband said:
Certainly if you are upgrading the 1DX to 1DC then it may be worth it.
Pro
1) 1DX in getting near its product cycle, new one will come next year, sell it while you can get a good price. 1DC can sure replace the 1DX in photography ( except for the new functions in recent firmware upgrade)
2) The low ISO quality on the 1DC cannot be match by BM( the BM staff said it during their road show) or even the more expensive Sony or Red or Arri, just like the 1DX. You know ISO3200 is quit usable on the 1DX. The 1DC is just packaging the jpeg 24fps from a 1DX to a mov file.
3) The big DR on BM4K only usable when the lighting condition is good, ISO400/800.
4) AF is possible though not fast.

Con
1) No global shutter
2) CF much more expensive than SSD ( you need to use all the money from selling the the 1DX)
3) Mjpeg is hell for editing, ProRes is Heaven, especially for FCPX
4) You can at least buy 3 BM4k for the price of one 1DC


I own the 1DC for a year now, did to regret buying it.
I am thinking what to buy this year now BM4K, GH4 or Sony4K cam?
Click to expand...

Rumour says Canon would announce a major firmware upgrade for 1DC (that also merges all current 1DX fixes & updates) around NAB. Some additional features may be added.
 
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