C500: C500 Rig buildups and reviews

K

klk

Well-known member
I for one made the jump to the C500/7Q combo. My reasons are on my blog, http://karlkimdp.tumblr.com/
It is of course a gamble, only time will tell. But the cameras started working within a day of assembling the necessary bits, so that at least is a good sign.Rigs01 small.jpg
 
Congrats to your purchase and looking forward to seeing the images you`ll be shooting with it!
Just to understand your decision correctly from reading your blog:
Having two cameras was more important in the end, than having the ultimate image quality?
(For me personally this would be a: YES)

Don´t get me wrong, I like Canons rendering of images and I´m sure the C500 used to its full potential will add sth over eg just using a C300.
But the Alexa just seems to have nailed the look most DPs seem to expect from a digital cinema camera.
RED, never cared much for, but probably have seen more of it than I know;)

The Need For Speed trailer looks promising, but bringing in the Alexa for some of the scenes, kind of sends a message.
But if this message is aesthetical, technical or political we probably won't find out ;)

So, nuff said, let the pictures speak for themselves.
 
Awesome. You have taken a great decision. Too often producers ask for a second camera. So you are covered by having two C500s.
 
Since 2011, I'd guess 95% of the shoots I work on have been multi-camera. Often a variety of cameras.

Getting two C500's was a business decision- especially since I hadn't worked with the cameras before. Unless you're an owner op, did anyone work with a C500? It was definitely a mystery camera to me. also not planned- I decided on Jan 3 to get the order in before the rebates expired.

"Blue is the Warmest Color", the 2013 Palme d'Or winner, was filmed with pair of C300's, as reported. It's not really about the camera bodies is it? (though it certainly helps!) Some of the images from Prieto's "Human Voice" were absolutely gorgeous. One thing Canon does lead the arena in is color science.

Little tidbits to help sell the camera. Outside of an Alexa I do think one has to "sell" a camera to a producer, and an Alexa XT was simply out of my financial comfort zone.
 
I honestly don't know why anyone would go for a RED when there is the C500 with internal ND filters.. seriously, that takes the cake in my opinion… of course with all its other bells and whistles.
 
sebben said:
Why didn't you wait for the arri amira?
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I can't speak for Kik, but as someone who made a similar jump to the C500 during the double-dip rebate, here's why I chose it over the upcoming Amira:

1. Initial investment cost: C500 was $15,999 with a 7Q purchase; Amira will cost fairly significantly more (pricing announced today by CVP is approx $35,000 for the lowest level feature set)
2. 4K option: Amira is 2K or HD only
3. Raw option: Amira does not offer a raw stream for recording
4. Lower operating cost: the C500 is very power efficient, meaning fewer batteries needed compared to the Amira's 50W power draw, and recording to external SSD's will likely be far cheaper on a per gigabyte basis than C.Fast 2.0, which as of yet have no official pricing or availability
5. Availability: no official word on when the Amira will ship, but the C500 can start working immediately
 
corycross said:
I honestly don't know why anyone would go for a RED when there is the C500 with internal ND filters.. seriously, that takes the cake in my opinion… of course with all its other bells and whistles.
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RED has internal electronic NDs with the motion mount.

C500 does look great though.
 
I just came from B&H in NYC where Convergent reps were showing the Odyssey 7q. All you guys who bought into the C500/Od7q are going to be very happy in Feb, very happy. I am very, very happy. Don't ask, my lips are sealed.
 
Just got up and running with my C500 and 7Q…the images are quite awesome. Very pleased with it so far. Great thing, you can go low with it too--today I was doing some run-n-gun interviews and shooting to the internal cards and it looks great. (the MXF files are a PITA to deal with, but…)

Got a C100 at the same time and it's a pretty cool little machine too. I even had it recording to the 7Q (for giggles).

So far, like them both, for different reasons.

To the original poster: is that a Tilta rig? It looks nice--I have to put my 18-100 on mine too…such a beast of a lens with the power of MOJO!
 
Yes, for two days really the C500 was $15,999 when ordered with the 7Q. (Many cine/broadcast vendors are closed sat) Lightstrum- I just came back from the B&H demo too!
Yes, the next firmware update for the 7q slated to be release in Feb is going to be ideal for C500 users. We're not under a written NDA but might was well wait for Mitch Gross to pipe in. Actually it'll be almost perfect for the C500.

I went with Tilta rigs- will go into detail about them soon- have some shoots to work first. I would seriously consider the Arri kit if funds were available, and I'd take a much closer look at the redrock cage first. With lesser know product lines like Tilta always good to do an in person inspection if at all possible. B&H doesn't list the C300/C500 rig online.

I also bought a Fotga 500-2s ubber cheapo follow focus- will pit that against my Arri FF4 in a mini review too.
 
cowpunk52 said:
For 4 days, it was - plus 0% financing for 24 months. Hell of a deal.
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Wish that deal came to Australia as well...

Tim Nitsch said:
Yes your right, but that's a $4k option. $4k that can be invested else where if you go with the C500.
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TO be fair, the motion mount does more than just add ND filters. Lets you finely adjust your ND in small measured increments like a fader. Also adds global shutter and soft filter (may not be the correct term without checking), but reduces pan judder.
 
Mitch were you guys working with Canon in relation to the deal Brian mentioned above? If so what are the chances of hitting up Canon Aus?
 
LeavingTheCandy said:
Just got up and running with my C500 and 7Q…the images are quite awesome.

Got a C100 at the same time and it's a pretty cool little machine too. I even had it recording to the 7Q (for giggles).

So far, like them both, for different reasons.
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Could you post a video from both of these cameras? Is there a difference in quality between them, or is the image basically identical? It would be interesting to see the difference of 8bit vs 12bit.


Regarding the amira.

It is very expensive, it doesn't come with a mount, canon mount is an extra 1180 euro, PL is 1020euro, Cfast card 60 gb costs 545euro, card reader etc etc. Adds up to a lot pretty quickly. But there still is no other option that has as much dynamic range in the highlights.
 
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