C100: Is the c100 still relevant? Or is the lack of 4k a dealbreaker?

Just received some c300mk2 vision for an edit, was stunned how little the difference was in HD to my c100mk1, and it should shine in HD, the operator wasn’t the best I must say though...
 
If it looks a bit soft. I'll apply some sharpening - I like Cineflare Detailer, but Samurai Sharpen looks interesting. To make it more natural looking, I use a mask to just sharpen faces. If a face is sharp, people tend to ignore the rest. But for scenery that trick doesn't work.
 
Barry1908 said:
Just received some c300mk2 vision for an edit, was stunned how little the difference was in HD to my c100mk1, and it should shine in HD, the operator wasn’t the best I must say though...
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Also to be fair there's about 20 different ways to record HD on the C300 MKII.
 
Just came across this. I have to agree C100 still pulls a punch. Personally haven't used the camera though I color corrected some footage from it, especially the Mark I. Newmann films released sample footage to people who wanted to fiddle with it several years ago when it barely came out. I used these samples just to see if it was true that the footage quickly falls through.

Covenant_2_Look.jpg This is C-LOG footage straight from the C100 MKI (no external recorder)

Covenant_2_Graded.jpg This is the final color graded. Went for the Alien:Covenant look seen at the beginning of that film.

These stills don't do it justice, so forgive for the micro blocking and or artifacts etc since its not seen on the actual footage.

What I noticed, you need to be careful, though that AVCHD still kicks it. Add, an Atmos External recorder, and you'll be golden. Like some have mentioned, I was shocked at the image quality and resolution this camera is able to pull off for such a cheap price.

I agree if your doing low budget, and or people don't ask for 4k. I'd get the C100 or the Sony PMW-F3 which I also have. Actually, I'm contemplating in getting a C100 Mk I as a B cam or when the F3 is too much (car use, cramp corners) the C100 can take over some of its duties.
 
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Yup, that's C-LOG from what they (Newmann films) labeled the file with when they released their footage in 2012.
 
Here's their (Newmann films) 'Canon Standard Profile' footage. The differences are noticeable with the contrast and the highlights look a bit overcooked compared to the C-LOG footage.

Covenant_Canon Standard.jpg
 
C-Log in the original cameras is/was pretty bad compared to today's standards. Some think 11 stops max (C100, C300, 1DC).

Even the C300 Mark II was barely pushing 12-13 (definitely not the 15 that was claimed, in my opinion).

But the C100 was one of the first affordable cameras to oversample 4K --> 1080p off of its 4K sensor, which is a main reason the images looked so good (especially 5-6 years ago).
 
Just wrapped production on a music video I shot almost exclusively with my two C100 I's (one of the three cameras on the band was a 5D III shooting raw). WideDR all the way.


Would it have looked better with a more recent camera? Maybe. But I'm convinced it was the right choice for this shoot which involved a lot hiking and shooting in blowing snow.
 
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Hey that is really nicely done. NOt that the camera isn't part of the equation but I can tell that in this case it's all in the DP...lighting, color correction, shot choice, etc.
 
QuickHitRecord said:
Just wrapped production on a music video I shot almost exclusively with my two C100 I's (one of the three cameras on the band was a 5D III shooting raw). WideDR all the way.


Would it have looked better with a more recent camera? Maybe. But I'm convinced it was the right choice for this shoot which involved a lot hiking and shooting in blowing snow.
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Lovely footage from the C100 MKI. You're right that perhaps it would look good in a newer camera, though in the right hands, these original Canon cinema cameras are still able to pull a punch in late 2018, and the used models quickly sell in eBay, Adorama and B&H.
 
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Josh Bass & 03recon, thanks for the feedback. I haven't done extensive side-by-side comparisons with the new crop of cameras, but the original C100 continues to serve me well and my clients are always happy with the footage. An upgrade to a C200 is imminent, but I'll probably hang on to the C100s (at least one of them). It's just a solid camera that's easy to use, especially when paired with an external recorder.
 
C100 is still a great camera if you don't need 4K and these days, honestly, few people need 4K cameras, they want 4K cameras. I regret that I had to sell my C100 MKI to finance my C200.
 
The only thing that I really whish it had is more frame rate options. At least 1080/60p and it would be nice. The C100mkii has it though.
 
Doug_EX said:
The C100mkii has it though.
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A lot of people thought the MKII wasn't worth the upgrade from the OG, but to me all the tweaks added up to a much better camera. In fact I'd call the MKII the "perfect" HD camera (for me).

I kinda wish I hadn't sold it. If the MKIII has 4K (no raw) and on-body XLRs I'd probably jump back in.
 
I'm starting to wonder if there will even be a C100 mkIII or if the C200 was the answer to that call.
 
It was an answer to that call but they can also make a cheaper, restricted 4K model.

They will most likely never release an HD-only camera ever again (besides their super inexpensive DSLRs).

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I would actually love if someone made a super high-end 1080p camera with its image off an 8K chip.
 
If they updated the mkii with 8bit 4k with the same bit rate as the xc15, I'd buy 3. Maybe even an updated handle so it rotates without the screw... And 2 xlr's on the body.... 1 cfast slot. Clog 3....production cam.....
 
It has been quite a while. It feels like they need a $4,500.00 4K EOS Cinema camera in their lineup but who knows? Canon's cinema camera strategy is always a mystery and they usually do something that none of us were expecting.
 
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