C100: Is the Canon C100 a good buy in late 2015

M

mitteg

Active member
Hello,

Original Canon C100's price dropped to just 3000€. Do you think that in late 2015 is still a good buy? I'm aware of its weaknesses:

Low-res viewfinder
Low bitrate codec
Lack of 50p

But for me the image quality of 1080p and the "Canon colors" are second to none.

These are the cameras that I'm considering as well:

Sony A7s
Good in low light, good codec, but awful battery life and Sony colors out of the box are pse-pse

Sony A7s II
Good specs, but too expensive for a video DSLR without proper "camcorder" controls (no ND) and it requieres adapter for Canon lenses...

Panasonic GH4R
Good picture quality and 4k but not a fan of micro 4/3

Sony FS700
Amazing piece of engineering, full featured, great slow motion, will see if after the introduction of the FS5 its price will drop.

Sony FS5
The greatest of all them (on paper), but I guess it will be far of my price range

Canon C100 mark II
Best all rounder camera but overpriced as per today standards. Still no 4k (no really need it now actually) and consumer codec (AVCHD) although I know it has a very good implementation. Lack of high framerates mode which for me (I shot sports) are very useful.

Well, what are your thoughts regarding the initial question: "Is the original C100 outdated now in late 2015 or still a good buy given its price tag?"

Thanks!!
 
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Josh Bass said:
What about the upcoming Ursa Minis? One of them is $3000 NEW.
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How does the Ursa Mini handle low light situations?

C100 is still an amazing buy. You answered your own question. Image quality and Canon Colour. Not sure if it is the right camera for sports though? XF100 is great for sports. Worth a look and you can tweak profiles that make this camera great for sport. Good stabilisation, great zoom and good price. Great all round camera.
 
Yeah but I consider blackmagic cameras not mature enough for run-and-gun shooting situations. For studio or a completely controlled set it must be a great camera. Also you need to add to the cost a monitor, rig, batteries, viewfinder... I see blackmagic cameras like RED's, ultra modular but I need a complete package.

Thanks for the tip.

Josh Bass said:
What about the upcoming Ursa Minis? One of them is $3000 NEW.
Click to expand...
 
Always surprised when people try to use s35 or full frame cams for sports. Seems insane. So the Black Magic cams, even the newer ones, are not supposed to be good for more run n'gun stuff? That's too bad.
 
Well it depens on the mood of the video. Have a look at RedBull's clips of Surf, Mountain Bike, etc. The FS700 is the most used camera for these type of sports and it is S35. Especially for the Slowmo features. I agree with you that sometimes focusing becomes a challenge.

Josh Bass said:
Always surprised when people try to use s35 or full frame cams for sports. Seems insane. So the Black Magic cams, even the newer ones, are not supposed to be good for more run n'gun stuff? That's too bad.
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Depends on the type of video you shoot the most. If you need an easy to use camera that shoots very clean and sharp 1080p then the C100 is perfect. Stick a Ninja Star on it and pull ProRes out of it.

The C100 is a really good all-round camera and is certainly not outdated in the slightest unless you need 4K.

I'm shooting 8 days of ProRes LT with it for TV broadcast starting next week.
 
You left off Sony PMW-F3, waaaay cheaper secondhand. And far better quality too.

Though for your needs, sounds like an FS700 could be great. Then pick up an Odyssey in the future when they get cheap. And unlock 4K raw!
 
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Personally, I wouldn't shoot sports with a camera that isn't capable of 60p and preferably, much higher frame rates. Even though I am not a Sony fan, a used or b-stock FS700 would be better for that IMHO, a couple of years ago, I shot some track events and windsailing with the FS700 and the ability to shoot 120 or 240 FPS resulted in some beautiful sports footage. I think the Sony skin tones are substandard so it wouldn't be my go to interview camera but for sports, it works very well.
 
I think the C100...especially the 1st gen with the now lower price...it a great buy. Its a fantastic little camera that is super easy to use. It looks solid out of the gate and is now a super cheap camera.

If you went that route, its a great camera for the money and I'm sure you'd be happy with the results. The 60i conversion for slow mo is easy and looks pretty darn good. Buy used....you can't go wrong.
 
analog_addict said:
Depends on the type of video you shoot the most...
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AKA the video the clients ask for (and pay). Which leads to a followup. How's the locale handling the transition to 4K? If slowly, then C100 just might do for a while. If rapidly, then some flexibility - and/or a functioning used gear market - can save lot of time/money in the long run. Meaning that, in major US cities, there's usually a healthy used equipment exchange, second- or third-hand. But, if one buys the camera and then is stuck with it, then long-range planning is required.
 
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I own a gh4 and decided today that I needed a C100 to strengthen its weaknesses, but the number one reason was colour science, iv tried a lot of cameras including black magic and for the price I just prefer the canon line, at the price it is now plus with the ninja blade at half price almost, it's a no brainer, I mainly want it for short and feature films but to look good in front of clients also, I work a lot with middle eastern people who never ask about 4K but if they do up flash the GH4 but for the C100 I'm confident I can gain more Rep than with holding a tiny mirrorless camera :)
 
I just made the same decision on the C100. I wanted one when it was first released, but they priced it way too high. Now at $3k new and ~$2k used its about right, so I bought one. The cool thing is cameras are released so quickly that the less than 3 year old models like the c100 are no longer the flavor of the month and can be had for less than half the price of the new hotness.
 
Well I would say the gh4 is much better for sports than the c100. I had two c100s and traded them in for two gh4s because we shoot live animals... mainly dogs and that s35 is harder than you think on a fast moving object. With the gh4 you can widen the shot put it at f7 and everything will be in focus just fine. It does not look too video and now with vlog you can make it even less video if you wanted... With 4k you can also crop in on that footage as well which is a huge help. I love the c100 and every time I do a shoot in doors I miss it even more but glad I made the switch. :) also... to clients or normal people they will never be able to tell the difference between a c100 and gh4 footage and if any of it goes online they really cant tell the difference. Hope that helps
 
Can you not do the same thing on a C100? Stop down to gain more DOF? Again, seems like sports would be insanely tough with these sensor sizes, unless the distance to the subjects compresses the focus plane enough to make it "easier."
 
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