C100: C100ii 40,000 ISO TEST Crazy Noise

John Foundas

John Foundas

Well-known member
Hey There,

Would love to get some feedback...

Just bought the c100mii. Did a quick out the door low light test. Some really hideous, blocky, blue cast noise in the image. I've seen tests online with way higher ISO's a looked WAY better (w/o neat v).
Shot Wide DR, with a Canon L 24-105 at 40,000 ISO.
I know f4 is slow but my gut thinks something is up. Not a pixel peeper by any stretch but something doesn't jive. Did I get a lemon?

Clip is PRHQ

https://vimeo.com/123154986

TY
 
Last edited:
There are two levels of nice ISOs - to 4000ISO (nice noise) and about 8000ISO (more noise), all above are bad (a big amount of noise).

It is nice feature, with speed lens you will get really good pictures. With an external recorder (I-Frame only, 185Mbps) you can go a little above with some work at post.
 
John Foundas said:
Hey There,

Would love to get some feedback...

Just bought the c100mii. Did a quick out the door low light test. Some really hideous noise in the image. I've seen tests online with way higher ISO's a looked WAY better (w/o neat v).
Shot Wide DR, with a Canon L 24-105 at 40,000 ISO.
I know f4 is slow but my gut thinks something is up. Not a pixel peeper by any stretch but something doesn't jive. Did I get a lemon?

Clip is PRHQ

https://vimeo.com/fdmvideo/review/123154191/32d83908a4

TY
Click to expand...

The link does not work. But without seeing it...it is F4 at 40K ISO....I'm sure it looks pretty rough. Get some faster glass on there and check again. Throw a 1.4 then a 2.8 on there and see if you have much better results.
 
yes that makes sense. My only frame of reference is that I saw a extreme low light test with a 1.4 lens at f4 and it looked amazing!
 
ReelWorksMedia said:
Did you black balance? Might want to if you did not.
Click to expand...

Did a fresh ABB yes...I put a slightly faster lens (3.5) and it still looks dreadful.

Whats odd is that I rolled off a few seconds of lens cap footage and there is the same blue cast blocky noise going on. Here's a link to the video footage and the raw on Dropbox.
I'd appreciate someone with more knowledge than me to take a look.'

I just bought this from BH and of course " No Returns accepted". Starting to get a little bent out of shape.
I know I'll never shoot at 40,000 ISO but it should be cleaner than this!

https://vimeo.com/123157711

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ruunijnetgx3w37/40000 ISO TEST.mov?dl=0
 
Seems a bit unusual. I know your shooting 60P...but the new data rate should help that. First thing I would do - try and recreate this in a different environment...and test other ISOs...with a different lens. See if you get similar results. Also...did you black balance in 24P then switch to 60? Just curious.
 
I'm shooting 29.97p at 24Mbps

I ABB under the same conditions in those clips I just shared.

The blue haze noise only occurs in the blacks. I'll try a few shots. Also I just noticed that the face detect is not being recognized with the SMT 18-135 lens I have on it. It's supposed to be supported.
I just bought the cam a few days ago so the fastest lens I have is the 3.5-6.3 :(
 
I own a C100 and am fluent with that...so I don't have a mark II in front of me to test this. What would be really helpful is if another C100 Mark II owner could try and recreate this. Double check the face detection thing. Make sure you are absolutely positive you are setting everything up right. If so...I would definitely consider returning it as defective. They don't take returns...but it may be a different story if it is defective.
 
I'm seeing somewhat similar stuff here -> Here is a sample -> Note I'm on a C100 Mk1, maybe 1.5 years old ish.

I used the slowest lens I have, an old kit lens off a T3i (18-55).

First shot @ 8000 ISO F8
Then I ramp up to 40,000 ISO F8
and then max out at 80,000 ISO F8 -> Then ND6 to see the noise better

https://vimeo.com/123162952
 
Thanks for this. I def don't need to roil in ND6 to see that blue cast.
i guess I'll try to find some fast glass and check that too.

i just moved over from the fs700. If this is the status quo, I think I made a mistake.
8000 ISO should be clean (accordingly to everything I've seen and read about this cam.
just seems hard to make level in normal situations. Almost like the camera needs to be pushed more.
very strange
 
Looks about right to me for the c100 mkI. I've never considered 8000 ISO to be clean. Very useable as far as I'm concerned, but not clean.
 
C300 user here - I never go above 3200iso if I can avoid it. I have been forced to record at 12800iso and made it work in post, but very far from clean and color suffered alot as well. If you expected anything other then a visibly noisy, borderline compromised picture that needs heavy massaging in post when above 8000ISO, you've been misled. No existing camera - with the notable exception of the Sony A7s, which is A)full frame with optimally sized pixels and B) has advanced software noise reduction - is going to give you a truly nice image at 8000ISO, especially with an unlit, dark scene and an F4 stop (and a 180° shutter at 30fps also). When you see demonstrations of the impressive low light performance from the Canon C cameras, it's usually helped along with a fast lens, maybe a slow shutter (or at least a cinematic one - 1/48), noise reduction in post and grading.

That said, your noise seems to reside excessively in the blue channel, and not to be uniform. If you've made sure it's not a black ballance thing (checking white ballance variations might also be good), maybe it is a malfunction.
 
Actually, I watched one of the videos again and it appears that the noise may be only in the upper half of the image. If so, something is wrong. Unless it is a black balance issue. But, I would certainly expect a heavy blue noise level when using WDR at night and white balanced to what appears to be sodium vapor lights. That's normal. Using a faster lens isn't going to make a difference since the noise is created by the ISO level and not the lens. As DavidAC said, though, no C100 is going to give you the results you are hoping to get at high ISOs even if your particular sensor does have issues.
 
Yep my C100mk2 does the same heavy blue pixelling at the top half of the sensor at high ISO's after ABB and with a cap on and WDR. Not as much on C-Log though..
 
I tested both m1 and m2 and with speed lens T1.5, 1/25 and iso 4000 I saw nice clean picture on both. With NR and iso 8000 I saw sometime good and sometime bad result, it depends on small light/really dark condition. With F4 and 1/50 you will get bad result at both cases.
 
Thank you all for the input...

I did more tests this morning and still getting the same results. Even at reduced iso's the image still looks muddy. There also seems to be quite a bit of racket coming from the fan area (low setting). Specifically on the right side. Not simply fan operation but some kind of very loud audible processing noise. Don't know if that's normal or not. The AF is off.

Again, I understand I would never shoot in these situations normally but it seems as if the camera will not make level easily in what I consider average, normal interior lighting conditions.

I switched over from ISO to the Gain function with similar results. Needed to stretch it to 15db sometimes 18db just to make exposure in a well lit kitchen area at f4.

Only frane of reference at this point is that coming from the FS 700 I would routinely shoot at 15 DB at 1/30th shutter with a very slow 18 to 200 lens and the images were flawless.

Im just not seeing that here. With all the talk of the new processor, low light capability and high ISO, I'm scratching my head :/
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top