C300: Critique my shopping cart

[chris f]

Still debating on replacing my C200s or just getting one C300MKII instead, but in the meantime doing some day dreaming and here's where I've landed for my 'starter kit':



Total cost would be about $15,566.59 after tax. (would finance through Canon's leasing program through Texas Media Systems of course....)

I'm thinking this would get me through a normal full day of shooting while dual slot recording for safety.

I'll have to get a new Zacuto Z-Finder, but I think this base set up with my SmallHD Focus 5" and my Zacuto support gear would fall juuuuuuust under the 15.4lb weight limit of my EasyRig MiniMax. The bigger battery will be pushing the weight limit, but being able to plug my monitor via D-tap might lose some of that weight gain for me.

I like the idea of those mini v-mounts to the back of the cam without blocking the Canon battery plate to keep an A30 in there for hot-swapping, but I'm pretty sure that would surpass my weight limit.

 

[NorBro]

Looks good...and makes me feel better about the much less money I'm spending. LOL

Would hold off on so many CFexpress cards though, if you can. There may be better ones (faster, more stable) coming out in the future (even from SanDisk).

 

[ahalpert]

Do you have a payboo card with B&H? You can avoid sales tax that way and save like $1500. Not sure if that works with leasing and it sounds like you plan to purchase elsewhere anyway.

Why are you replacing your c200? C300III seems like a champ of a marketable camera

 

[Run&Gun]

Do you have a payboo card with B&H? You can avoid sales tax that way and save like $1500. Not sure if that works with leasing and it sounds like you plan to purchase elsewhere anyway.

Why are you replacing your c200? C300III seems like a champ of a marketable camera

Most PayBoo card limits seem to top out around $5K-$6K.

But if you finance with Canon, you have to set-up an autopay/auto-draft, because they literally do not give you enough time to send a check by mail, SO... my recommendation is to set-up an auto draft for the monthly payment on a cash back credit card, so you can get at least a little something back and your payment will be on-time. Also, make sure you show them proof of equipment insurance that will cover the leased/financed gear, up-front so they don't tack their coverage on and take another $20+/month from you.

 

[ahalpert]

It'd be cool if you could use payboo to make your monthly payment...? Or do they tack on the tax up front...

 

[rob norton]

Looks good Chris. I’d figure out the exact weight of your ideal or most common set up. If the next level up easyrig (vario/cinema) is inevitable then you can think about bypassing the core batteries and going straight to mini v-mount, probably at a higher capacity too. Except ideally you’d have the cores for some situations and the larger batteries for others.

 

[KMarandi]

I actually made a spreadsheet of all the CFexpress cards available and their respective specs and price per GB. I ended up going with two 512gb Delkin units because not only were they cheaper, but their max read/write speeds are also faster (but only by a small margin). Their 48 hour replacement guarantee was compelling too. Went with their reader as well.

Still waiting for my C3iii to arrive though!

 

[NorBro]

Delkin now has the 2TB for $999...only $500 more than the 512GB.

The reward is having an extra 1TB for the same price of just 1TB (from the two cards), but the risk would be having only one card.

 

[ahalpert]

Well he's dual slot recording so maybe it works. But if they want you to run a card to the editor mid-shoot you're in trouble

 

[NorBro]

Post above was for the person who purchased the Delkins. But after checking the data rates of the camera, most of the cards available should be fine. Camera's not a R5.

 

[chris f]

Why are you replacing your c200?

Replacing my both my C200s because *cough* some jerk *cough* has them now.

Replacing both would likely make more financial sense for me, but I’m thinking I’ll probably take this opportunity to level up on the camera and in a way also force myself to pivot a little bit. May consider financing a C200B again as well to serve as my B-Cam, but with covid and everything I expect things to remain pretty slow on the shooting side for another 6-9 months or so....

 

[chris f]

Delkin now has the 2TB for $999...only $500 more than the 512GB.

The reward is having an extra 1TB for the same price of just 1TB (from the two cards), but the risk would be having only one card.

I hate the idea of having so much footage on one card.......but if dual slot recording this would make a ton of financial sense - thanks for the heads up!

Of course the drawback is those situations like ahalpert mentioned with antsy producers/DITs that want to constantly dump cards throughout the day...

 

[Run&Gun]

...But if they want you to run a card to the editor mid-shoot you're in trouble

I think this(or a similar situation) is something that people forget about. I have a minimum of five cards per camera. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve only shot a few minutes on one card and had to pop it, because the producer needed to go feed it or log it. Unless you are 100% turn-key, only having one or two cards (in a professional environment) for any given camera is a gamble.

 

[KMarandi]

Delkin now has the 2TB for $999...only $500 more than the 512GB.

The reward is having an extra 1TB for the same price of just 1TB (from the two cards), but the risk would be having only one card.

Yeah the 2TB unit is by far the best in terms of $/GB, but I'd be too nervous about tying that much money (and footage) into one card like you suggested already. Would rather have multiple smaller cards. Reduces any kind of data loss scenario.

 

[ahalpert]

I think this(or a similar situation) is something that people forget about. I have a minimum of five cards per camera. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve only shot a few minutes on one card and had to pop it, because the producer needed to go feed it or log it. Unless you are 100% turn-key, only having one or two cards (in a professional environment) for any given camera is a gamble.

This is a lesson I learned the hard way

 

[ahalpert]

Yeah the 2TB unit is by far the best in terms of $/GB, but I'd be too nervous about tying that much money (and footage) into one card like you suggested already. Would rather have multiple smaller cards. Reduces any kind of data loss scenario.

You could hedge by getting one big one to put in the 2nd slot and small ones to put in the 1st slot. You save a little money and you still have multiple cards for peace of mind and running footage to the editor mid-shoot

 

[chris f]

This is a great idea. I did something similar with my SD cards in my C200s - would put my expensive ones with the super fast transfer speeds and slutty and then put the slow cheap ones in slot B with the plan of never using slot B unless there was a failure somewhere

 

[puredrifting]

This is a great idea. I did something similar with my SD cards in my C200s - would put my expensive ones with the super fast transfer speeds and slutty and then put the slow cheap ones in slot B with the plan of never using slot B unless there was a failure somewhere

We need to have a talk. Which brand cards are slutty? I don't know if I want to use slutty cards in my camera. My camera is more conservative and likes nice, demure, well-behaved media, not slutty cards.

 

[Clermond]

This is a great idea. I did something similar with my SD cards in my C200s - would put my expensive ones with the super fast transfer speeds and slutty and then put the slow cheap ones in slot B with the plan of never using slot B unless there was a failure somewhere

hmm. Your expensive card in slot A is the card you trust most. Right?
If this one fails why would you have confidence to a less reliable for backup?

 

[ahalpert]

hmm. Your expensive card in slot A is the card you trust most. Right?
If this one fails why would you have confidence to a less reliable for backup?

what are the odds of simultaneous failure. sometimes its the expensive thing that fails you anyway. thats been my experience