C100: How to use the edge monitor focusing aid on the C100

S

sodotoguwangus

Well-known member
I see three red boxes and a horizontal strip at the bottom of the screen.

Specifically what do these mean/represent and how do I use this tool for better focus. I have a rough idea how to use the strip at the bottom of screen (it grows the sharper your focus, I think), but I have no idea what the three red boxes represent.

Please help and be as specific as possible. Thanks.
 
I always thought it was an exposure aid (modified waveform monitor). Shows how much I know. :(

I'd suggesting reading the manual tbh. I haven't and have frequently regretted it lol. I hate how all these digital cameras are just computers. With the Alexa, your AC needs a single page of info and you're done. Wish Canon were as user-friendly; at least they trounce Sony in this regard!
 
Geeeeze.... Why don't you read the manual before posting a rookie question like that? It's Video 101.
 
Last edited:
nedcam said:
Geeeeze.... Why don't you read the manual before posting a rookie question like that? It's Video 101.
Click to expand...

Calm down, bub. Practice proper forum etiquette. It's not adequately discussed in the manual. I checked. And did my homework. If you don't like it then why bother responding in the first place? Nobody forced you to read the post and the content was obvious by the subject line. So the question begs to be asked: why did you click on it in the first place? Pretty thoughtless.
 
Last edited:
Policar said:
I always thought it was an exposure aid (modified waveform monitor). Shows how much I know. :(

I'd suggesting reading the manual tbh. I haven't and have frequently regretted it lol. I hate how all these digital cameras are just computers. With the Alexa, your AC needs a single page of info and you're done. Wish Canon were as user-friendly; at least they trounce Sony in this regard!
Click to expand...

Policar, believe it or not the first thing I did was read the entire manual cover to cover and I constantly refer back to it. Unfortunately it is rather vague with regard to this topic.
 
Thanks again, avian:)

However, I did happen to already watch that video and he doesn't really address the 3 red boxes. Can you (or anyone) explain SPECIFICALLY how and what the red boxes are used and what they represent? Can't figure it out. I understand the meter at the bottom of screen but not the boxes:(

We must understand that we are not all at the same level of experience so IMO there is no such thing as a stupid question (as long as you do your due-diligence and research to see if the question had already been addressed before. My searches yielded no satisfactory results--hence the question.
 
Last edited:
In the Type 1 mode (three red boxes) you are looking at the edge monitor. That means that the green waveform is sharpness distribution. In addition to this, overlaid on top of the green edge monitor wfm, you get additional WFM sharpness information relating to each of the tree red boxes.

In other words: you get edge monitoring from the whole picture, and additionally highlighted WFM information from the three red crop areas (boxes). Kind of like "spot edge monitoring".

-----------
UPDATED post after reading the manual and Andy's explanation in post #12.
 
Last edited:
sodotoguwangus said:
Policar, believe it or not the first thing I did was read the entire manual cover to cover and I constantly refer back to it. Unfortunately it is rather vague with regard to this topic.
Click to expand...

The video is vague, too!

Sounds like AndreeOnline has a good description of it. So I guess I wasn't wrong there's some exposure stuff there, too.

I hate reading all these manuals, though. I couldn't even find the record button on the Scarlet lol. Thankfully your AC will handle this for you 95% of the time, but for single owner/ops it is obnoxious being faced with this impenetrable interface. The C100's really not bad, but you can learn to operate an Alexa in 5 minutes. It's like an Apple product in that it doesn't need the manual, except, unlike most Apple products, it ACTUALLY doesn't need one. Sigh.
 
My normal setup is the exposurewaveform and peaking for focus confidence
I've never used the waveform with the three red boxes on a shoot so can't comment on the usefullness of this function.
 
Yes, perhaps I was too harsh. Sorry. I never use that feature so I don't know if it was thoroughly mentioned in the manual. Your post implied you didn't look in the manual before posting because you didn't mention the manual.

It took me quite awhile to feel comfortable with the C100 compared to the many cameras I have owned over a 35 career of freelance DPing. It is not that easy to feel exact with this unit about exposure, WB and focus. However, dependence on the WF and various focus assists slows me down since I work in a documentary style, often handheld. The way I have solved this is to get to know my EVF very well. VERY well...

Every day before reformatting cards for the next shoot, I spot-check footage and compare what I saw in the EVF to how it looks in FCP. In the beginning I was way off on WB, sometimes on focus, exposure was hit or miss. So in sum, my two cents to you: Experiment, Experiment, Experiment until you can trust your EVF. WYSIWYG. The only situation I have the time to consult my WF is during sit down interviews.

Best regards,

Ned

P.S. When I first bought the C100, as with many previous cameras, I cut and pasted the best advice offered by the pros on the camera's forum and created my own "manual", 3-ring notebook like high school, with highlighted factoids, preferences, scene files, etc. and tabs. Make your own manual but always have the Canon manual, which isn't great, in your camera case. Too bad Barry Green doesn't make a Canon book.
 
Last edited:
I'm pretty sure the three red boxes correlate to the 3 red parts of the edge monitor on the bottom. So you can see what you are throwing into and out of focus depending on what you have in the three red boxes. It doesn't feel as intuitive to me as using magnification with B&W and peaking, so I rarely use it.
 
It's one of those things that is unintuitive and gets in the way(if you use it) more than it helps. Color peaking is 100x more intuitive and useful, at least in my opinion.
 
nedcam said:
Yes, perhaps I was too harsh. Sorry. I never use that feature so I don't know if it was thoroughly mentioned in the manual. Your post implied you didn't look in the manual before posting because you didn't mention the manual.

It took me quite awhile to feel comfortable with the C100 compared to the many cameras I have owned over a 35 career of freelance DPing. It is not that easy to feel exact with this unit about exposure, WB and focus. However, dependence on the WF and various focus assists slows me down since I work in a documentary style, often handheld. The way I have solved this is to get to know my EVF very well. VERY well...

Every day before reformatting cards for the next shoot, I spot-check footage and compare what I saw in the EVF to how it looks in FCP. In the beginning I was way off on WB, sometimes on focus, exposure was hit or miss. So in sum, my two cents to you: Experiment, Experiment, Experiment until you can trust your EVF. WYSIWYG. The only situation I have the time to consult my WF is during sit down interviews.

Best regards,

Ned

P.S. When I first bought the C100, as with many previous cameras, I cut and pasted the best advice offered by the pros on the camera's forum and created my own "manual", 3-ring notebook like high school, with highlighted factoids, preferences, scene files, etc. and tabs. Make your own manual but always have the Canon manual, which isn't great, in your camera case. Too bad Barry Green doesn't make a Canon book.
Click to expand...

Which EVF are you using, Ned?
 
Andy Young said:
I'm pretty sure the three red boxes correlate to the 3 red parts of the edge monitor on the bottom. So you can see what you are throwing into and out of focus depending on what you have in the three red boxes. It doesn't feel as intuitive to me as using magnification with B&W and peaking, so I rarely use it.
Click to expand...

Andy, after reading your post I decided to dig into the manual and look it up—and you are correct.

Type 1 is strictly edge monitoring, and there is no brightness information, as I speculated in my first post (been a while since I shot with it).

So that means that the red boxes are simply highlighting the edge monitoring for those three smaller areas. It's a bit redundant, but might help the user focus on the area of the waveform that's important.

From the manual:

"The waveform that represents the focus of the entire picture is displayed in green. In addition, the waveform of the area in the three red frames is displayed in red on top of the previous waveform."

Note to self: don't answer questions based on what I think I remember… =)
 
Hi Drummondb,

I use the DP4, mainly for it's size. The way I "calibrated" it is I matched it to what I see in my FCP window under various conditions. That's how I learned to trust it while handheld, meaning I can't flick on the WF. I don't even have zebras in it so I have taught myself how to tell when it's too hot or dark. I also don't love how the C100 WBs so I often will roll in a guesstimate of what I think the color temp is. But that's correctable within limits, my main concern is focusing on the fly. I have gotten better and by studying my footage after every shoot I am better at it. When in doubt I go wider.
 
nedcam said:
P.S. When I first bought the C100, as with many previous cameras, I cut and pasted the best advice offered by the pros on the camera's forum and created my own "manual", 3-ring notebook like high school, with highlighted factoids, preferences, scene files, etc. and tabs. Make your own manual but always have the Canon manual, which isn't great, in your camera case. Too bad Barry Green doesn't make a Canon book.
Click to expand...

This is a good tip and I have a habit of doing something similar but I haven't actually compiled it into a manual format. I think I will.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top