C300 Behind the Scenes: Afghanistan Documentary, James Longley

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New Canon C300 footage by James Longley on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/52577793

"A short behind-the-scenes look at James Longley’s latest documentary project currently in production in Afghanistan. James is shooting with the EOS C300 in rugged conditions and remote areas."

Here's a link to a trailer for Longley's Academy nominated doc "Iraq in Fragments": http://vimeo.com/1613871
 
Much respect to James. For those that dont know - Iraq in Fragments was shot on a DVX100.

Did everyone see how much dust his camera has on it?
 
This is the market where Canon is and will remain king. And that is bringing the world to us the viewer. Yes Noel, I did notice the dust on that camera. Part of which separates Canon from other said companies.
 
I was just having a discussion on another thread with someone deriding the skin tones in James' piece as "crayon" colors.
It's one thing to prefer one camera over another for personal reasons, it's another thing to claim that the colors the C300 provides are lacking or phony.
As I commented, there aren't much more challenging circumstances than shooting under natural lights in mud huts in a war zone.
Wonderful cinematography under any circumstances though.
 
Great little piece...and definitely helps show off the C300's strengths. IMO the documentary arguments for the C300 swing into independent film territory, since a lot of us are forced to shoot very quickly in unpredictable circumstances at times, without full control of all our light, etc. We need the long battery life, the workflow ease, the ability to shoot without needing a bunch of guys just to use the thing properly, etc.

In terms of image I would probably take the BMC over the C300 based on all the RAW DNG's and even the Prores I've seen from it, but the C300 gives a comparable image (less DR) with arguably more sharpness, and in a package that's far more attractive to me then the BMC. Only fully rigged out does the BMC seem like it would fit my needs. The C300 is ready to go all day out of the box with the CF cards I already own and an extra battery or two.

Last feature I did and sold shot on the XHA1 with Letus Extreme and that sucker was almost 3ft long and like 25lbs. It's amazing how far things have come...
 
Truly inspiring work. James is an extremely skilled & talented filmmaker, no matter the camera - but his work does speak well for the tool.
 
I really enjoyed that... I love the C300, but I am patiently awaiting the arrival of the C100. If the image quality renders anything like the C300 I will be a very happy guy!
 
cowpunk52 said:
Truly inspiring work. James is an extremely skilled & talented filmmaker, no matter the camera - but his work does speak well for the tool.
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Agreed. It also shows that you don't need fancy rigs or super expensive lenses to capture compelling footage. I bet he's got a good chiropractor though...
 
Fantastic film with some lovely images. I really think people get too caught up with the specs of their cameras and don't just spend enough time shooting with them and being creative. The C300 really shone in this feature and just looked fantastic - the light in that part of the world just lends itself to these great images. Great work. Sparky x
 
iamWZA said:
I'm glad this has popped up. I've read about this project on a different forum, the frame grabs looked incredible.
Here's the link - http://www.cinemaeosuser.net/index.php?/topic/58-c300-for-documentary-work/page__st__20

Can't wait to see the whole thing.
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Good grief that's some amazing footage. The sharpness is just insane. I do see some nasty moire in one of the wide shots on Page 2...but I've seen some of that before on C300 footage. Is that pretty hard to avoid overall? Obviously you avoid it by not shooting stuff prone to the issue, but sometimes you can't avoid it and when the C300 shows it...it shows pretty hard. Aliasing is one thing, but that super yellow looking moire is tough to look away from.
 
I've been impatiently waiting for the BMCC but honestly, there's something that really speaks to me about the C300. I'm a photographer who uses a 5D Mark III (and all Canon DSLRs before that). The image is STUNNING in that thread. Crystal clear.

I'm wrangling in my head to cancel the BMCC and just get this.
 
From what I have seen, the BMCC is a one note Samba: you have 12 bits and more DR, but that does not replace ALL or even some the other things the C 300 brings with it: lenses, replaceable batteries, a viewfinder that can be oriented towards the shooter, ND filters, better ergonomics to name a few.
 
Mark Smith said:
From what I have seen, the BMCC is a one note Samba: you have 12 bits and more DR, but that does not replace ALL or even some the other things the C 300 brings with it: lenses, replaceable batteries, a viewfinder that can be oriented towards the shooter, ND filters, better ergonomics to name a few.
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+1. And you can buy one.
 
nickjbedford said:
I've been impatiently waiting for the BMCC but honestly, there's something that really speaks to me about the C300. I'm a photographer who uses a 5D Mark III (and all Canon DSLRs before that). The image is STUNNING in that thread. Crystal clear.

I'm wrangling in my head to cancel the BMCC and just get this.
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Interesting that you say this Nick...from your posts on bmcuser I'm sure you don't say it lightly. I personally find the way he captures people with wide angle lenses very engaging. And his courage and commitment are undoubtably inspiring for doc minded shooters.

I'm curious...why wouldn't you consider a c100 + ninja 2 over a c300?
 
Take a C300 for a spin and you will get hooked.

nickjbedford said:
I've been impatiently waiting for the BMCC but honestly, there's something that really speaks to me about the C300. I'm a photographer who uses a 5D Mark III (and all Canon DSLRs before that). The image is STUNNING in that thread. Crystal clear.

I'm wrangling in my head to cancel the BMCC and just get this.
Click to expand...
 
StMad said:
Interesting that you say this Nick...from your posts on bmcuser I'm sure you don't say it lightly. I personally find the way he captures people with wide angle lenses very engaging. And his courage and commitment are undoubtably inspiring for doc minded shooters.

I'm curious...why wouldn't you consider a c100 + ninja 2 over a c300?
Click to expand...

From what I've seen of the C100, the vf is ergonomically useless and the flip out LCD also has limitations on the angle you can put it in.
 
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