C100: A few questions about the C100

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ibhhvc

Active member
I'm looking at the C100 and the FS100 side by side, and I was hoping for a little help from C100 users. I thought I'd put my questions in one thread instead of starting a new one every time I think of something. Any help at all is enormously appreciated:

1. Slow motion: Has anyone worked with shooting in 60i and then splitting the fields in AE to get 24p slow motion? (described here: http://ntown.at/blog/2013/05/10/c100-the-lost-60p/) If so, is this really a viable workflow or is it just a hack that you can use occasionally? In other words, does anyone work with this often or is it too much of a PITA to count on slow motion being a reliable feature of the C100?

2. It sounds like the C100 produces a nice image straight out of the camera. Is anyone finding themselves having to use filmconvert or something similar to get a good look? I love working on footage in post, but many times I'm not getting paid enough to spend any time after the edit is done.

3. Expanded focus: Is still limited to 2x magnification? Is that correct. I've never used a camera that offers 2x magnification, so I'm just wondering if folks shooting with shallow DOF are finding that's enough to hit focus or not.

Many thanks in advance!
 
Wow look around on this section. There are amazing guys using the camera with great results. yes the 60i works for overcrank well. Most of the guys are using widedr or some of Cowpunks profiles. Take an hr or two and just look in here. The answers are here.
 
ibhhvc said:
2. It sounds like the C100 produces a nice image straight out of the camera. Is anyone finding themselves having to use filmconvert or something similar to get a good look? I love working on footage in post, but many times I'm not getting paid enough to spend any time after the edit is done.
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If you will make your own CP profiles then you will get good images direct from the C100 camera. I use small lowering of black level (-2) and some adjusting of color gain (saturation) as a basic input (if I need small color correction), cine1 or wdr gamma curves, the result is nice (with color correction is the result nicer). In 25p recording are images more sharp than in 25i, but on the TV screen from 2,5m distance are both types of recording nice and sharp. Slowdown from 50i to 25p is smooth, WDR gamma with higher ISO needs 25p mode (in 25i has more noise), you can use Noise Reduction in camera (max. NR6). For ISO above 6400 are better cine1 or normal3 gamma (I don't use log gamma, it needs lightning).
 
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slidemaster said:
Wow look around on this section. There are amazing guys using the camera with great results. yes the 60i works for overcrank well. Most of the guys are using widedr or some of Cowpunks profiles. Take an hr or two and just look in here. The answers are here.
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Thank you, yes I have spent quite a bit of time reading posts here. My query is not whether the 60i trick works, but whether the added work in post makes this a useable camera for day-to-day slow motion.

Pave1, thanks for the reply. It sounds like there are options for both straight-out-of-camera looks, and looks that take some work in post. It sounds great to have both.
 
Word of caution with profiles created before the last firmware update. The color science changed taking away the greenish screw in C log so the older profiles dont work as well anymore.
If you really want over cranking you might be disappointed with the C100 on a daily basis since the 60i trick is kind of limiting.
 
Build in ND and ergonomics were big selling factors for me.
Philip Bloom has an extensive review on YouTube/Vimeo worth checking out (of both cams I believe?)
 
Thanks for that Erik, and thanks for your great video review of the C100 (http://eriknaso.com/canon-c100-hands-on-review/). I've watched it a few times now. And yes, I've watched Mr. Bloom's as well.

Built-in ND looks great, but right now I find myself reaching for my vari-ND to shoot wide open on sunny days, so 6 stops is not going to cut it for my uses, unfortunately. Although I would love to leave endless screwing and unscrewing behind me.

As for the 60i trick, I feared as much. Too bad.
 
Erik Naso said:
Word of caution with profiles created before the last firmware update. The color science changed taking away the greenish screw in C log so the older profiles dont work as well anymore.
If you really want over cranking you might be disappointed with the C100 on a daily basis since the 60i trick is kind of limiting.
Click to expand...
I have a C100...do I have to install new profiles? Note: I work with non-modified C-log and WDR profiles.
 
ibhhvc said:
Built-in ND looks great, but right now I find myself reaching for my vari-ND to shoot wide open on sunny days, so 6 stops is not going to cut it for my uses, unfortunately. Although I would love to leave endless screwing and unscrewing behind me.

As for the 60i trick, I feared as much. Too bad.
Click to expand...

The built in ND beats the vari-ND by a mile. Better quality, as a lot of variable NDs have image aberrations from being two polarizers sandwiched together. I went to shoot video on a 5D the other day after getting used to my C100 and the ND thing was driving me nuts!
I haven't played with the slomo 60i technique too much, but I did a test shoot with some snowboarding stuff on it and ran it through Premiere…couldn't be easier. Just flip the footage interpretation and done. Looked great.

All that said, there are some things going for the FS100 right now. It's selling pretty cheap used right now and the speed booster is a good option to shoot wide and shallow. Not sure how it would stack up in the end once you add in the cost of a good ND and the speed booster, but the price is looking attractive. In the end I went for the C100 as I didn't like the look I was able to get out of the FS100 when I shot with it. Granted, I didn't have it for long enough to really dig all the way down into the profile tweaks, but it just wasn't the camera for me.
 
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely HATE using my ND filter (mostly because of trying to screw it on as I run outside with gloves on during a New England winter). It just gives me (up to) 8 stop exposure. I guess I could pay more attention on my next shoot and see what it's like living with only 6. I just don't want to buy a camera with built-in NDs and then still have to screw on a filter when I'm shooting against snow in the middle of the day (which is all the time up here).

This is my pros and cons list right now:

FS100 Pros (vs C100):
Slow motion
Better expanded focus
Speedbooster
Price

C100 Pros (vs FS100):
Larger DR
Dual card slots
NDs
Possibly shorter post workflow
 
If higher frame rates is your priority, spend a little more for FS700, or C300. If it's occasional, C100 will work, excellent color and on-board codec looks good, for what it is.

EF Mount is limiting in comparison too. FS700 will do almost any glass.
 
Yes, would love the FS700. I can't say frame rates is a huge priority, but I'd like to be able to create useable slow motion without a lot of hassle.

Still curious about focus on the C100. Is 2x good enough when shooting wide open?
 
One thing users of the FS100 moan about is the lack of love Sony is showing to its baby. The FS700 has had new firmware updates recently - nothing for the FS100.

I know you asked about 60i, but for me the C100 50i Slo-mo is really simple to use and work with in post (easier than 60i I've read though I have never used 60i). The results are visually a lot better than 720 50p from my old 550D! In fact I have no problem mixing it with 1080 25p footage.
 
I just took a look at your slo-mo video on your site. Definitely seems viable. Thanks for the tip.

As for firmware, maybe that's been what's pushing down the price lately? It's going for barely more than a used 5DIII on ebay.
 
I think the FS700 would be the camera to get if you are going with the Sony option. I know it's more money but it's by far a better camera than the FS100. Egonomics of the C100 are much better as well if you plan on shooting handheld.
 
Yes, the FS700 would be amazing but it's just too far out of my budget (right now). Possibly next upgrade though.

Thanks to everyone for the responses!
 
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