C500: C500: worthy option?

G

George Loch

Well-known member
I am looking at some C500 cameras under $10k and I am wondering if there is some kind of gotcha I am not looking at. I know you need an external recorder for 4K and raw, but what other issues would there be?

-gl
 
No side grip, so not the same all-in-one-out-of-the-box as the smaller Cs.
End of its life-cicle - once the C300II hits the streets, C500 used prices will probably dwindle.
How Canon will update the flagship C500 later on is still to be seen...
 
Still a nice cam though and less money than the brand new C300 MK II.

Also, AJA Ki Pro Quad was just lowered to $3,000 and that gives you 4K Raw via SDI.
 
seems like c500 + odysey its a CHEAPER option then c300II. externally as i understand c 500 even better. yes new c300 has better sensor, but i cant say c300/500 has bad sensor, its still great, and works now
 
I'd swing for the C300mkII. It's worth the wait and a slight premium over the C500+Recorder combo.


-New generation sensor, half the rolling shutter, increased 3 stops of DR, smooth highlight rolloff, better noise performance.
-Much much better ergonomics. No cables to bulky recorder on a rig, all-in-one internal 4K 10bit 422 recording using just the body
-Internal 120p slowmotion
-Improved audio quality,
-improved build quality, power consumption vs c500+recorder combo.
-Smaller more efficient codec, yet raw is also available via SDI
-A grip to actually hold the camera,
-improved EVF and LCD monitor
-Huge improved handle quality and cables quality
-Internal wifi without needing that dongle
-Ground breaking DPAF covering 80% of the frame
-Interchangeable PL & EF mounts
-Higher market value (will get more work as the new kid) = higher resale value

There's even more but overally the C300 is a couple of times better than going the troublesome C500 + bulky raw recorder + V-lock bettery + rig with a handle route. I'd pay double for the C300 mkII convenience but remember it's not double, in fact, they cost about the same when you add it up on the C500 vs C300II body and a card. It's newer, better, will make more money, costs about the same, so unless you absolutely need it NOW, pre-order a mk II.
 
DLD said:
Still a nice cam though and less money than the brand new C300 MK II.

Also, AJA Ki Pro Quad was just lowered to $3,000 and that gives you 4K Raw via SDI.
Click to expand...
Ki Pro Quad records in ProRes only, not RAW. Odyssey7Q & Odyssey7Q+ will give you both. Media costs are also substantially lower on Odyssey.
 
Ebrahim Saadawi said:
I'd swing for the C300mkII. It's worth the wait and a slight premium over the C500+Recorder combo.

-New generation sensor, half the rolling shutter, increased 3 stops of DR, smooth highlight rolloff, better noise performance.
-Much much better ergonomics. No cables to bulky recorder on a rig, all-in-one internal 4K 10bit 422 recording using just the body
-Internal 120p slowmotion
-Improved audio quality,
-improved build quality, power consumption vs c500+recorder combo.
-Smaller more efficient codec, yet raw is also available via SDI
-A grip to actually hold the camera,
-improved EVF and LCD monitor
-Huge improved handle quality and cables quality
-Internal wifi without needing that dongle
-Ground breaking DPAF covering 80% of the frame
-Interchangeable PL & EF mounts
-Higher market value (will get more work as the new kid) = higher resale value

There's even more but overally the C300 is a couple of times better than going the troublesome C500 + bulky raw recorder + V-lock bettery + rig with a handle route. I'd pay double for the C300 mkII convenience but remember it's not double, in fact, they cost about the same when you add it up on the C500 vs C300II body and a card. It's newer, better, will make more money, costs about the same, so unless you absolutely need it NOW, pre-order a mk II.
Click to expand...


-New generation sensor, half the rolling shutter, increased 3 stops of DR, smooth highlight rolloff, better noise performance.
Well rolling shutter is still a rolling shutter..... but new sonsor, 15 stops yes its an improvement , i would not argue with it

-Much much better ergonomics. No cables to bulky recorder on a rig, all-in-one internal 4K 10bit 422 recording using just the body
I would not call something like odyssey - bulky, in any case its a benefit to have a good monitor. on a rig its even much better, 1 battery to power and cam and monitor, great for balance!

-Internal 120p slowmotion
Yes for 1080/2k only, not really impressive, but C500 can do now 4k 60/50p external and can do external 4K Half RAW 120p slow, but as i understand odyssey does not do 120p currently!

-Improved audio quality,
well i cant call it as something noticeable! when i need good audio, i always ask a sound guy to record it

-improved build quality, power consumption vs c500+recorder combo.
But also heavier, also not sure what was wrong with build quality of c300/500, it never failed me. Power consumption? C300II eats more as i understand.

-Smaller more efficient codec, yet raw is also available via SDI
Would not say that, its a new codec and u need a new/latest versions of Soft to take it, u loose that 50mb/s that current models have and that what docu/broadcast people like about current models, small files and cheap cards, i did tv pilots with these small 8bit files.... it was great combination: Very good quality with such a small files, and easy to work with.

-A grip to actually hold the camera,
- is it something that worth mentioning?

-improved EVF and LCD monitor
- Yes its nice, but if u ask me what i would prefer if i could choose, i would take external monitor, anytime, anywhere...

-Huge improved handle quality and cables quality
was mentioned already, i dont find it interesting, its not a cam update,-

-Internal wifi without needing that dongle
Never used it previously and i dont believe i would ever do

-Ground breaking DPAF covering 80% of the frame
Ground breaking for whom? nice option to have there, but would not do any buying decisions based on that, in fact i went to all manual lenses long time ago.

-Interchangeable PL & EF mounts
Not really, need to be sent to service center and here it would take a week for turn around, maybe its faster in usa, but still, not something that handy man could do.

-Higher market value (will get more work as the new kid) = higher resale value
well it have not been prooved as it yet. Next month BM will be out with their new cheap cam, will see how it ll work out for them.
 
Of course all of the C300II Improvements/benefits may not mean anything to you, so it will depend on the buyer.

For me, just image quality is more than worth the extra.
 
George Loch said:
As in the c300 MKII becomes top of the product line?

-gl
Click to expand...
C500 will remain a nominal top of the line until there's C500 MK II, which could appear in time for the NAB'2016 but likely in a different form than the outgoing model and likely with 6K or so. Mind you, C500 was never a huge seller anyway.
 
What Canon has had going for themselves with the Cinema EOS line is image and a complete camera. While I have never shot with a C500, the output from it has been lovely. I am not sure why it wasn't more popular.

-gl
 
Now that CD has got the c500 updates working I am loving my c500/q7 combo. Because I settled on the q7 as my main monitor for all my cameras and own multiple copies, all with the generous raw package, I am waiting for Canon to offsell the C500 like they did the c300. I hear that they have a load of them in a warehouse. I would love to have 3 or 4 C500/q7 raw packages for multicam 4k shooting with same long lasting batteries for cam and q7.
 
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