C500: C500 mkii 12g SDI workaround? Any suggestions?

derbrocks09

Well-known member
The SDI out of the C500 2 isn't compatible with my older monitors or Paralinx units. Has anyone found a work around for this? Perhaps an SDI EVF that can spit out the proper resolution?

Thanks everyone.
 
There is a very small amount of 12G-SDI equipment out there, but you can do what you propose if you find hardware that is capable, such as external recorders from Atomos or Blackmagic.

Is the 12G-SDI output backwards-compatible with 6G or 3G? Did you check the menu? Is your equipment HD-SDI only?
 
The problem is it only spits out the full resolution of the sensor via SDI. None of my current equipment can handle the signal.

Hopefully Wooden Camera or someone will come out with a splitter / converter box soon.

But until then, I'm not sure what to do.
 
If you don't want to use an external recorder for the conversion, maybe in the meantime you could use cheap HDMI monitors (and another wireless solution, or wired when possible).

The locked output is a major problem though, I know.
 
Any reason you're not using the Mon. port? You can get a clean feed from it. That's what I've been doing. Oddly enough (if I remember correctly) my Odyssey 7Q+ seems to work with the regular SDI.
 
Any reason you're not using the Mon. port? You can get a clean feed from it. That's what I've been doing. Oddly enough (if I remember correctly) my Odyssey 7Q+ seems to work with the regular SDI.

It's not odd. Canon typically reduces the SDI to only the necessary standard. So if you shoot 4K 30fps or less it will transmit 6G SDI. And your Odyssey7Q+ can read that and down covert it to 1080P or even PsF. Same goes for the older C300mk2's 3G SDI connectors: If frame rate is low enough to pass through on 1.5G SDI, the camera will spit out 1.5G SDI. When you bump up to 60P or 444 the SDI jumps to 3G.
 
Not sure if this may help... I have a client with some 300/II's and sometimes I'll rig the one I'm shooting with, with my Zacuto Graticle for my comfort. And depending on the frame rate/rez, my Graticle won't see the signal, UNLESS I change the SDI type form either A to B or B to A(don't remember), somewhere in the menu. I think at one of the setting's it will only see 24(23.98) and not 60 and up, but the other setting allows it see the signal all of the time.
 
So what I think I'm after here is a monitor/recorder that will take the 12g SDI 4k signal and spit out a 1080 SDI signal for my older village monito and my older Paralinx Tomahawk. Or even better an EVF that can do this.

Is there anything out there that will fit the bill?
 
So what I think I'm after here is a monitor/recorder that will take the 12g SDI 4k signal and spit out a 1080 SDI signal for my older village monito and my older Paralinx Tomahawk. Or even better an EVF that can do this.

Is there anything out there that will fit the bill?

That's what I recommended in the second post of this thread...Atomos or Blackmagic have options.
 
Hopefully Canon will fix this in a firmware update (or enable HDMI and Monitor at the same time like they just did for the C200). I would love to have a feed with all of my displays on for myself, but send a completely clean feed to director/client.

I did a shoot this week and the director (who is also a DP) told me to turn autofocus off several times during the shoot. I’m pretty certain he would have never known when I was using it and when I wasn’t if he couldn’t have seen all my on-screen displays on his monitor....
 
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