C300: C300 Mk III Coming Soon

indiawilds said:
... One guy owns both the FS7 and C300 II and likes the C300 II image better. Why to tell him that he is mistaken? Another guy rents based on his requirements and the project says 4K 60p. So he can't rent the C300 II. So horses for courses and one uses what is required by the project. I am fine till this point...
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Right. I think most of us will agree that "image quality" is a subjective criterion, especially if the paper specs are very similar. But, when it comes to the frame rate, it's a lot clearer (OK, some companies will fudge the actual quality of their HFR ... is it 1080 or more like 720?). And, of course, one can shoot 1080 and use Twixter and so on but it's just not the same.

BTW, I remember seeing the first slow motion replays from the 1970 World Cup. For a kid, that was such an amazing trick. The res sucked and the image stuttered but it was incredible compared to what preceded it. The 1966 WC was still shown in B&W. Then, for the 1984 Olympics, ABC introduced "super slo-mo" and that was a pretty big step forward as well.
 
Canon for March 29th, "Join ​the ​professionals ​of ​the ​Canon ​Hollywood ​Professional ​Technology ​and ​Support ​Center ​for ​an ​exciting ​look ​at ​the ​new ​tools ​joining ​the ​Cinema ​EOS ​Product ​Line!".
 
The more I think about it the more I really struggle with why the Mark II can't at least output 4k60P. I mean it has Dual digic processors and two 3G SDI 4K RAW output terminals that can be used at the same time. It has more processing power than the C500. Canon?
 
Meh, I guess so. Looks like the "new tools" include products that already came out a year or more ago.
 
Fixed the thread title.

The thing with most cameras these days is most of them can do the required job. That doesn't necessarily mean a $8K camera is as good as a $25K camera. What it means is the gap has closed. Most manufacturers have their numbers; resolution, colour space, fps, codecs etc etc What it does mean is that none or most of them aren't bad choices. High quality results can be achieved.


puredrifting said:
Of course, I have not shot with the new Varicam LT but I have shot with the existing Varicam and IMHO, this new camera is in a league of it's own if it truly uses the same sensor and processing tech as it's more expensive older brother. The problem Panasonic had with the new Varicam is that it is unfortunately priced old school. Hardly anyone will buy one, it is a Clairmont/Oppenheimer type of camera that productions will rent ($100k + outfitted how most feature or high end TV shows would use it, plus glass rental) whereas this new version will be snapped up by owner operators. I still prefer the Arri skin tones straight from the cameras but this new Varicam LT is going to give the Amira a run for it's money. As far as Canon, who knows what the new C500 will bring but this camera is in a whole other class from the C300 MKII, nothing against the C300 MKII. We went through the original new Varicam with the product development team at Panasonic last year and it is a great camera, that I suspect has not been selling up to Panasonic's expectations because it is priced too high. Not saying it isn't worth it, but it's not 2003 and most people balk at buying truly expensive cameras anymore. This new version is a smart move by Panasonic, it will put them back into the game although I suspect is will kill off sales of the bigger brother.
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Had an opportunity to listen to Don McAlpine ASC ACS ( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005791/ ) talk about the Varicam recently. His impression was the VariCam35 side by side on Alexa was that there were some scenarios where Alexa looked better and others where VariCam won out, however this was also base ISO shooting. On a test where cameras were pushed to 5000, nothing (think any camera available today) could touch the VariCam. Most cameras have their own tricks these days to help them stand out. IMO the 5000ISO is a big one.

I spent two weeks with the C300MKII, and whilst I thought it was a great camera, similar to 1st gen form factor in many ways, and switching to that would have been a no brainer for me I held off. The main reason is that Im mostly doing rentals. My C300 which I am now selling, has been mostly gathering dust for 6 months. Apart from the few corporates I worked on. It's not that the original C300 is not still a good camera, because it is.

I've also shot with the VariCam35, and more recently spent a bit of time with the VariCam LT. Everything looks exactly the same to me. The variance is that theres a reduced number of processors so its restricted internally to V-Log 422 instead of full 444 that the 35 offers. And that's for the most part it. They've also added V-Look which is an in camera graded look that offers 14+ stops and is BT2020 compliant. Didn't try that as I find the V-Log pretty straight forward to work with. You can shoot 4K 422 to 60FPS. You can shoot 2K 444 upto 120fps or what they're calling AVCUltra LT up to 240FPS. The frame rate, like the Varicam of years ago can be ramped while shooting. Also RAW recording with the Odyssey 7Q is available as of now and something coming from Atomos.

For me the LT sits somewhere in between big and small. If you shoot from the shoulder its perfectly balanced. (I rarely do). It works with what I have - tripod, DJI Ronin, Dana Dolly etc. Not the same weight as Amira, heavier than the C300MKII. Lots can be removed to reduce cut that number to negligible. The bonus of the changeable mounts is just that, a bonus. I was able to change mounts in just a few minutes.

Ok forget all that. For me the skin tones, range and colour reproduction is where its at. If I can create them easily, life is easier. VariCam sensor does it with ease. It's no secret I loved the original Varicam. Now this LT, gives me pretty much everything I want in look and feature set. Ive pre ordered the LT knowing it gives me those things and poking around tells me apart from Epic Dragon Jobs I do, this will take the rest.

None of what I've said means any other camera is not worthy or isn't the way to go for others. Im just offering my voice to the discussion.
 
Varicam 35 is still $55,000 at Panasonic and authorized retailers, so the $16,000 LT is a bold move for the company that puts it right in the tick of things. Sony hasn't updated its Cine Alta line yet and everyone is awaiting if C500 MKII will be revealed soon. In any case, the bang-for-the-buck just got a lot louder.
 
Pascal_Parvex said:
To fix an error. The original poster was meant a new C100, not C300. Now just the prefix needs a fix...
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No, the OP meant the C300. I am the OP......socialism alive and well here then, or is it champagne socialism, judging by the amount of 'successful' people here who like to gloat with photos of the gleaming now C300 M2 and $200k of toys....
 
Although your original post about a c300 mkIII release was preposterous, it's disconcerting and slightly hilarious that your own thread's title was hijacked.

lovecameras said:
No, the OP meant the C300. I am the OP......socialism alive and well here then, or is it champagne socialism, judging by the amount of 'successful' people here who like to gloat with photos of the gleaming now C300 M2 and $200k of toys....
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Chiskon said:
Although your original post about a c300 mkIII release was preposterous, it's disconcerting and slightly hilarious that your own thread's title was hijacked.
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Beyond hilarious. I spat my coffee over my laptop screen when I saw the thread title had been changed and the somewhat confusing rational behind the change. At least with the thread title change we got to learn how amazingly awesome the Panasonic VariCam is. Maybe the Forum title 'Cinema EOS Cameras' should be changed as well?
 
lovecameras said:
No, the OP meant the C300. I am the OP......
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The thread being about the C100 Mark III coming soon would make way more sense. The latter should be due in the next few months, but the C300 Mark III not for years as the Mark II version is only some months old and most probably Canon will announce a major firmware update for it in less than two weeks at the NAB show (Opening April 16 2016).
 
Original title made perfect sense and should be changed back.

If one wants to open another one with this changed title, they are free to do it.
 
lovecameras said:
No, the OP meant the C300. I am the OP......socialism alive and well here then, or is it champagne socialism, judging by the amount of 'successful' people here who like to gloat with photos of the gleaming now C300 M2 and $200k of toys....
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Little too conspiracy here guys. I assumed it was an error because the thread title makes no sense. As its not, I've fixed it.

That said then I dont understand what the point of the thread is or was and can understand why the original post was downvoted. FWIW, thats by fellow users not moderators or admin.
 
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