C200: Honest review from Newsshooter - casts a less than perfect light on the EVA-1

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dave12781

Well-known member
http://www.newsshooter.com/2017/11/01/panasonic-au-eva1-hands-on-review/

I was pretty shocked by how bad he claims the AF to be, and that the in camera stabilization isn’t superior to a IS lens. The low light underperformed the C200 despite the dual-native ISO. To top it off, you’re limited to 128gb?

It really seems like he does a completely honest review, and tries his best to make positive points.

Really only seems to excel at having a 10bit codec. I wish Canon would reconsider 8bit MP4, or at least provide a 24 or 30p 10bit raw option instead of locking 24fps at 12bit.
 
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ade4all said:
Canon fanboy is back with another juvenile EVA thread...
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What?

First off, this is the Canon section of the forum. Secondly, this review 100% affirms what I was saying previously about how limited the EVA-1 is. Thirdly, I do recognize that my tone was ill received but there is nothing juvenile about this post.

Do you like work for Panasonic or something?
 
Zak Forsman said:
Ha! When Matt says he’d choose the EVA1 over any other camera in its category, is that him trying his best to make positive points?
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Where did he say that in the article?

He said it wasn't without it's flaws, and "My point is, there is no such thing as the perfect camera, it’s just a case of finding one that works best for you."

I don't recall Matt making a claim like that in this article. I don't think Matt would make that claim about any camera.

dis·mal
ˈdizməl/
adjective
- depressing; dreary; gloomy
 
Under FINAL THOUGHTS Matt makes some broad, and some specific comparisons to cameras in the sub $10K category. There he says... "For documentary, news, event, or indie filmmakers the EVA1 is a very good camera. Having shot with most of the Sony, Canon, and Blackmagic cameras I would have to honestly say that I prefer the EVA1."
 
Anyone who expects EIS to be better than OIS is in for a surprise. Better to compare it to no EIS since it doesn't make sense to forgo IS on an IS lens in favor of crop and EIS, even if EIS was somehow better. That said, I've used the EVA1 EIS and it's actually quite nice if you understand the limitations. Great option when you're using lenses without OIS and don't want to do time consuming, CPU heavy stabilization in post. It will always be limited by your shutter speed and will have difficulty with high frequency vibration. It cannot counteract motion blur.

C200 looked great to me for a minute, but after seeing it has no UHD HFR at all, it seems pretty limited. It will do a 60fps UHD Program rate but at 150Mbps that works out to 60Mbps UHD which is gopro-level compression and you won't be able to see it in slow motion on set and you won't get any intermediate framerates and you better hope your editor recognizes and treats it right... The C200/C300mk2 sensor is very underwhelming, just barely competing with Sony's 5 year old F5/FS700/FS7/FS5 sensor and appears to be a couple stops behind the cheaper ursa mini pro. That said you can make nice images with it and the DPAF is killer, just seems like a bit of a compromise camera with a sensor underwhelming for commercial/narrative and codecs underwhelming for broadcast/documentary, but probably great for web content...
 
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Zak Forsman said:
Under FINAL THOUGHTS he says... "Having shot with most of the Sony, Canon, and Blackmagic cameras I would have to honestly say that I prefer the EVA1."
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That is hardly saying he'd prefer it over every camera in this category. That is one line, buried in the middle of a sentence in a roughly 10,000 word article where he seems to point out more 'Ok' than stellar aspects of the camera. In reading this article, I believe he was referring to the post workflow of having 10bit in an easy codec as a preference. He is a news shooter (like the website suggests) and I don't think he wants much more to do in post than he has to...

Hunting focus, 'ok' low-light performance when it's marketed as a selling point, below average stabilization, 128gb cap (that's like ~45min per card in 4k 10bit 400mbps), screen you can't use outside, internal NDs that don't stop the image down enough... it isn't a blown-away, awesome review. I really enjoyed it because it was honest, fair, and didn't seem like it was driven by marketing...

There are a lot of folks on here who will defend this camera to the death, and I'm honestly not sure why. Is this site sponsored or run by Panasonic? Seriously curious... I mean it is/was originally intended for the DVX100.
 
dave12781 said:
What?

First off, this is the Canon section of the forum. Secondly, this review 100% affirms what I was saying previously about how limited the EVA-1 is. Thirdly, I do recognize that my tone was ill received but there is nothing juvenile about this post.

Do you like work for Panasonic or something?
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If the review affirms what you said on that other thread you started, why have you removed your opening words and title from it?
I have Canon not Panasonic cameras but don’t feel the need to try and justify that by starting silly threads like this one. Again
 
nyvz said:
C200 looked great to me for a minute, but after seeing it has no UHD HFR at all, it seems pretty limited. It will do a 60fps UHD Program rate but at 150Mbps that works out to 60Mbps UHD which is gopro-level compression and you won't be able to see it in slow motion on set and you won't get any intermediate framerates.
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Does the Panasonic have HFR UHD? I haven't used the camera, but final specs say it has the same UHD 60fps 150mbps 4:2:0 as the Canon C200. But the with the Canon, you can shoot 4k 60fps @ 1,000mbps - which works out to like ~400mbps? So there is that.

I've used all blends Sony from the a7s/II all the way to the very top, and I completely disagree that Canon is behind the times on the sensor technology. Colorist work to get FS5/FS7 footage looking like C300mkII footage in post.
 
dave12781 said:
In reading this article, I believe he was referring to the post workflow
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No, he sets it up with "For documentary, news, event, or indie filmmakers the EVA1 is a very good camera. Having shot with most of the Sony, Canon, and Blackmagic cameras I would have to honestly say that I prefer the EVA1."

I don't know how you argue against his actual words. I didn't twist their context. He certainly outlines his misgivings, but he said what he said. He prefers the EVA1.

dave12781 said:
it isn't a blown-away, awesome review. I really enjoyed it because it was honest, fair, and didn't seem like it was driven by marketing...
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I thought it was "dismal"?

dave12781 said:
128gb cap (that's like ~45min per card in 4k 10bit 400mbps)
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good point. and how much 4k 10bit 400mbps footage can you capture on a C200?
 
dave12781 said:
Does the Panasonic have HFR UHD? I haven't used the camera, but final specs say it has the same UHD 60fps 150mbps 4:2:0 as the Canon C200. But the with the Canon, you can shoot 4k 60fps @ 1,000mbps - which works out to like ~400mbps? So there is that.

I've used all blends Sony from the a7s/II all the way to the very top, and I completely disagree that Canon is behind the times on the sensor technology. Colorist work to get FS5/FS7 footage looking like C300mkII footage in post.
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Panasonic EVA1 you do have to drop down to 100Mbps 8bit to get up to 60fps, but it is HFR so it maintains the project framerate and bitrate, so if you dial it up to 60fps it's actually writing at 250Mbps (for a 24fps project). Framerates are also selectable in 1fps increments and selectable with one click without having to go into menus unless you have to change recording format.

I have only used C300mk2 on one project but all the DR tests I've seen place it and C200 as almost identical to an FS7. Color of course could be a different story. The CML test is especially enlightening btw.
 
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Zak Forsman said:
Ha! When Matt says he’d choose the EVA1 over any other camera in its category, is that him trying his best to make positive points?
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That flat out isn't what he said, as you just said. He said, he prefers it over them. He never said he'd choose it - as far as I'm aware, Matt chooses the Alexa. You're also focusing a bit too much on 1 sentence in a 10,000 word article. There was a caveat to every other aspect of the camera - that's dismal. Nothing blowing you away other than that it's a lightweight camera. He even says the weight makes the idea of mounting an external recorder to it seem awkward - that's a negative for a camera with a selling point of 5.2k external raw.

But seriously, if you're a Panasonic 'fanboy' why are you floating around the Canon section? Is this site part of Panasonic's marketing department or something?
 
nyvz said:
Panasonic EVA1 you do have to drop down to 100Mbps 8bit to get up to 60fps, but it is HFR so it maintains the project framerate and bitrate, so if you dial it up to 60fps it's actually writing at 250Mbps. Framerates are also selectable in 1fps increments and selectable with one click without having to go into menus unless you have to change recording format.

I have only used C300mk2 on one project but all the DR tests I've seen place it and C200 as almost identical to an FS7. Color of course could be a different story. The CML test is especially enlightening btw.
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That sounds like a great aspect and an advantage to this camera. Wish Canon had that feature.
 
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