C300: Anything new about C cams at NAB?

Run&Gun said:
I don't know if I'd call having possibly the biggest display area at NAB "shunning mega trade shows". It was insane how much stuff they had and how much real estate they took up. There were multiples of almost everything they make, or have announced including the 17-120, there. I even played with an 800mm on a 1DX.
Click to expand...

I meant announcement wise.
 
jindrich said:
Listen to yourselves. You're all satisfied with your current Canons and don't want another camera.
And for those looking for a new one, Canon's competitors have a cheaper and/or better specced model on all possible application fields, from social to broadcast, from the 5D3 to the C500.

That's Canon issue IMO, they won't sell anything again until they release new models.

That's what happens for playing too conservatively (planned obsolescence) when releasing cameras. Even Sony has left that old philosophy behind and is firing with all cylinders, 10-12 bit, 60-240p, 2-4k, mpeg-raw, 12-14 stops, etc etc.


Giving what's currently on offer, price for price, who's going to buy Canon 8 bit cams now? For the last 2 years people all talked and bought Canon. Now it's all about a7s, GH4, FS700+7Q, F5/55, Cion, Amira, etc etc.

BTW, it all looks like old the XL-line story again; seems Canon doesn't learn from its own mistakes.
Click to expand...

A7s: unavailable now, price unclear, external recorder (Atomos Shogun) pricy and with unclear availablity. requires rigging.
GH4: unavailable now, requires separate docking unit. requires rigging.
FS700+7Q: unaffordable for a large percentage of users. relatively bulky.
F5/55: unaffordable for most users, very bulky
Cion: most of the stuff about this camera are unclear...
Amira: rental item, inaccessible to average user.

obviously camera makers are forcing us to live in the future :smile:
 
jindrich said:
Listen to yourselves. You're all satisfied with your current Canons and don't want another camera.
And for those looking for a new one, Canon's competitors have a cheaper and/or better specced model on all possible application fields, from social to broadcast, from the 5D3 to the C500.

That's Canon issue IMO, they won't sell anything again until they release new models.

That's what happens for playing too conservatively (planned obsolescence) when releasing cameras. Even Sony has left that old philosophy behind and is firing with all cylinders, 10-12 bit, 60-240p, 2-4k, mpeg-raw, 12-14 stops, etc etc.


Giving what's currently on offer, price for price, who's going to buy Canon 8 bit cams now? For the last 2 years people all talked and bought Canon. Now it's all about a7s, GH4, FS700+7Q, F5/55, Cion, Amira, etc etc.

BTW, it all looks like old the XL-line story again; seems Canon doesn't learn from its own mistakes.
Click to expand...

For people who need or want to upgrade their equipment every year I could see this being a bit irritating. I like to actually use my camera for several years before upgrading and find that reassuring that my current camera is not made "irrelevant" 12 months after it is purchased. I have been dealing with canon for almost 20 years now and I know what to expect and it does seem as though they are less aggressive with pumping out new model after new model. You can usually count on 3 year product cycles....if not longer. The only time I can really remember them breaking that with video cameras was with the XL-H1, which was forced upon them as the move to HD or HDV was happening so fast. Will the push for affordable 4k push them into it early? I dunno. It doesn't seem that it is. My guess is 4k is far less of a "dealbreaker" compared to 1080P now than 1080P compared to SD was back in 2006.

But I guess if I needed a new camera right this minute I might feel different with the Canon offerings being far less aggressive compared to the newer Panasonic and Sony announcements.
 
if they made a 1500-2000 upgrade to a 2.5K format with 60p @1080 i would gladly pay it.

Curnsie said:
Canon appear to be doing what Apple do by shunning mega trade shows and announcing updates at their own events. Didn't they do that with the existing Cinema line? Whatever they're playing at, they've certainly got us owners dreaming big!!

I liked what Sony announced at NAB for the F5 - they've made it possible to buy a hardware and firmware upgrade so that F5 owners can have the same imager and specs as the F55. I must admit I've been daydreaming of having the C500 innards in my C100! :)
Click to expand...
 
What camera was released that replaces the C100/300?

Everything that has been announced isn't in the same ballpark. Unless I missed something, was there a cam that has built-in ND, XLR, peaking, zebras (etc etc), good ergonomics, records to cheap media, and produces a great image?

If I wanted to use external video AND audio recorders, external monitors, matteboxes for filters, etc etc, then I would have kept shooting on a DSLR.
Sure you can get 422, and more DR, (and 4k, etc) out of some of the newer cameras that were released, but I can get even more than that for $300 by renting a Scarlett if I wanted to, and I can do that today. I CANT get any of the cameras announced for... how long? No one knows.
Nothing that was announced at NAB will be a) available, or b) convince me to sell my current camera for one of them.
Between tomorrow and next Thursday I'm shooting 6 times -> Figure Skating 2 days, A short corporate profile 2 days, a live speaker at a hall and a controlled interview

Even if everything at NAB was already available, which camera would you choose to do them all in that time frame?
I would pick my C100, makes my production (and post production) life MASSIVELY easier.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to shoot 4K, 422, or RAW, 10 bit, 12 bit, etc etc. Some of the cameras look amazing! They just aren't the new 'workhorse' that will replace the C100/C300.
 
I just wish that Canon were a little more aggressive with their firmware. For example, announcing months in advance an update that would allow users to finally move the focus box and taking about a year to implement it after the release of the camera. And the 1DC really needs a few more features. I would have sworn Canon would announce a firmware update for the 1DC even if just to bring the camera up inline with the 1DX.
 
Just put an order for C100 + 24-105mm bundle. I bought my last camera(FS100) right before C100 was announced. It was love/hate relationships - while I loved the image(except highlight rolloff and lack of "log-ish" pp) and slomo, I absolutely HATE the ergonomics of the camera. It was big, bulky(especially with metabones adapter) and very awkward to use handheld(which is about 70% of my work). After some debates, I decided to let it go and get the camera I really wanted - C100. For a single shooter it's the best camera out there and it looks like there's no competition. While other companies trying to push 4K & RAW, none of them can release a camera that is small, has good ergonomics, built-in NDs and WAVEFORM(this is essential for me, because I do a lot of color grading) and will work with my decent collection of Canon lenses. The only thing I miss is proper 60p.
 
cpreston said:
I just wish that Canon were a little more aggressive with their firmware.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I wish that they did more and did it faster too, but it's just not in their DNA. Canon will make sure that everything works before release even if it takes them months to do so. You're just not going to see the Blackmagic type of camera that has all sorts of issues once released. Canon would rather take a feature out than release it with 95% functionality. The upside of this is that I can trust my C100 to fully work properly every time I turn it on.
 
Andrius Simutis said:
The upside of this is that I can trust my C100 to fully work properly every time I turn it on.
Click to expand...

This. So many people underestimate the importance of this. I need my camera to work every single time I turn it on, no matter how demanding or difficult the environment. The C series are such massively solid workhorses that I'm hesitant to go out in any relatively extreme environment with anything else (or an Alexa or Amira). I've been on shoots in weather just slightly below freezing where Red Epics completely bug out. I've had Sony bodies crack and break under cold, and sensor color channels bug out. I turn on a C300, and it just works, every time - no matter what. Right now I'm shooting in the Canadian sub-Arctic on 4 C300's, 1 C500, and 2 XF105's. We've been shooting outside for full 12 hour days in temps ranging from -10 to -40, and haven't had the first issue with any camera in 30 days. I've had my camera caked in snow, frost, and ice, and it kept plugging along as happily as ever. Last week, I took a C500, 5DIII, & a XF105 out on a caribou hunt in the far North, with no access to any power or amenities of any kind, sleeping on the ground on spruce boughs under a canvas tent. I brought 3 AB Dionics, 3 BP955's, and a pouch of CF cards and shot without a hitch for 3 days in some of the most remote frigid wilderness on earth.

Not one problem. Amazing images all day long.

I could care less about having a laundry list of features 4 pages long. Just give me something that works and that delivers every time. That's what these cameras do, and that's as good as gold for me.
 
^ Nobody announced a C300 replacement because it's not easy to replace. The people that buy the C300 need exactly what you guys love about the cameras and there isn't any competition there.

There are opportunities, but every company has their eye set on something different, that's actually cool... u_u just two-or-three years ago there weren't many *satisfying* options available. Satisfaction with your tool is a rare thing.
 
cowpunk52 said:
Not one problem. Amazing images all day long.

I could care less about having a laundry list of features 4 pages long. Just give me something that works and that delivers every time. That's what these cameras do, and that's as good as gold for me.
Click to expand...


I echo these sentiments. As I work primarily in Iceland it means a lot of time in snow storms, wind and rain. The C100 has never skipped a beat. The only major bummer is that I need to attach a ninja for a better codec, which I don't trust in the conditions at all. Internal ProRes recording is the only feature really missing, well and descent shoulder mount ergonomics.

I guess I will need to save for an Amira. But for the price the C100 remains unbeatable.
 
It may be time for Canon to implement ProRes in-camera if it's possible. Sony and Panasonic have now joined Alexa and BMD, RED and Canon are the ones left. That would be a pretty sick update for C-series cameras.

Although, it has been told getting certified by Apple is an entirely different mission to Mars. =T
 
sebben said:
I echo these sentiments. As I work primarily in Iceland it means a lot of time in snow storms, wind and rain. The C100 has never skipped a beat.
Click to expand...
How are you dealing with moisture? I know the C300 is fairly well weather sealed, but I worry about my C100. When shooting in snow I've been (temporarily) putting gaffer tape over the air vents if there's any chance of snow flying, but I can't do that in light rain or if it gets warmer out. I still haven't found a good permanent solution for shooting in bad weather, so I do temporary fixes like plastic bagging the camera.
 
I wouldn't get the C100 wet. I was using it in the rain and the lens control malfunctioned. The LCD displayed an error and I could no longer control the aperture. But, the camera kept working and once it dried out, everything was fine. That event actually gave me a lot of confidence in the camera. Rather than the camera just frying circuits or the lens, Canon designed it so that it would display an error until it started working again.

I picked up a Petrol PR400 rain cover. It's a pretty decent design. It attaches to the cold shoe on the end of the handle and allows a shotgun to protrude outside the bag. It uses a couple of zippers to allow access to the buttons.
 
cpreston said:
I was using it in the rain and the lens control malfunctioned. The LCD displayed an error and I could no longer control the aperture...
Click to expand...
That's from moisture at the lens mount causing miscommunication between camera and lens. That's a whole other story compared to getting the camera itself wet or how hard/easy it is to get moisture inside it.
BTW, next time that happens just get to a dry place where you can wipe it down and dry off those contacts. Restart the camera and all will be well again.
 
I use L lenses so I haven't had any issues with moisture, but I don’t shoot it pouring rain, just drizzle or what have you. If I am going to get really wet then it is to wet to film anyway. That rain cover for $99 sounds like a good idea.

Again in the snow I just haven't worried about it. The biggest issue is keeping things off the lens.
 
cowpunk52 said:
This. So many people underestimate the importance of this. I need my camera to work every single time I turn it on, no matter how demanding or difficult the environment.
Click to expand...

I fly my C100 all over the place and sometimes record for hours. It has never skipped a beat...no hiccups at all. Yes, I wish it had a ProRes option and could do 10 bit but I have yet to lose a location green screen key in some ridiculous lighting conditions and it has saved my butt more than once with its incredible low light performance. All in a tight little package that I can carry on the plane in a packed Pelican 1510.

This NAB has pretty much convinced me that I lucked in to the perfect camera for what I do. Blind hog found an acorn for sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top